Lonestar miracle: Texas teen who disappeared 8 years ago rescued by Good Samaritan at Houston church

A Texas man that went missing as a teenager was found alive more than eight years later sleeping in front of a Houston church, authorities said. 

Rudolph “Rudy” Farias IV went missing on March 6, 2015, when he was 17 years old, according to the Missing and Unidentified Persons System. He was walking his two dogs in northwest Houston when he suddenly disappeared, leaving no trace behind. The two dogs later returned home without their leashes. 

Last week, on June 29, Houston Police Department officers were asked to go to a church in east Houston, where they found Farias, according to a department spokesperson. He was unresponsive and was covered with cuts and bruises, and had blood in his hair. 

When officers found him, Frias had an item on him identifying a family member. Police called the number and the mother arrived at the scene. Farias was transported to a hospital to receive treatment for his wounds. 

Police did not reveal where Farias, now 25 years old, had been over the past eight years or what led to the call that took officers to the church in Houston.

"It's a miracle that he was found but now the question is, you know, what’s happened?" said Tim Miller, an investigator with Texas EquuSearch who was looking for him. "Where has he been? Why? And what’s he been doing over these last eight years?"

In September 2018, however, police received a tip from a family member that he had been spotted sleeping behind the house of another family member, police said. 

Farias is “receiving the care he needs to overcome his trauma,” his mother, Janie Santana, said in a statement. She said that he had been found by a Good Samaritan that called 911 to report him.