'I was brainwashed': Rudy Farias speaks out on fabricated 8-year disappearance

HOUSTON, Texas - After nearly a decade of deception and betrayal, Rudy Farias is sharing why he went along with his mother, who police say lied about his disappearance.

The eight-year saga came to a dramatic climax late last month when Farias was found sleeping outside a church.

A week later, police interviewed him, and declared publicly that Farias was never missing. They say he was hiding in plain sight.

"I wanted to live my life but something in my brain kept going back to her," Farias told KTRK's Brooke Taylor. "She was life support I needed her or at least she made me feel that way. She never gave me the confidence, or guidance I needed."

Farias was 17 years old when his mother first reported him missing in 2015. Houston Police now say he returned home the next day and he and his mother have been lying ever since.

Farias said he was stuck at home, often made to hide. 

"If someone would come over, my mom would say, 'stay in your room, keep it locked, don't make any sounds,'" Farias told KTRK.

Even though Farias is an adult, he says his mother brainwashed him.

"She never locked me in or handcuffed me," said Farias. "I had free will to leave but it felt like brainwashed. It was confusing the way she would manipulate me and say, 'You're going to get arrested.'"

His father was an HPD officer who took his own life in 2014 while he was being investigated for a ticket-rigging scheme. 

Farias says they never had a close relationship and that his half-brother was more like a father to him. He was killed in a motorcycle accident three years before his dad's death.

"After he passed I wasn't able to love myself for anything anymore," Farias said to KTRK. "I no longer had a father figure. He's my brother but I never really had a dad."

His mom he says is the only family he felt he had and could trust.

"She locked me in there mentally," said Farias. "She was my only parent, the only person I really had."

Last week, activist Quanell X spoke to Farias alongside HPD detectives. 

Afterward, Quanell cried in front of cameras saying Farias made sexual assault allegations against his mother; however, Farias says his words were twisted. He says boundaries were crossed but denies being assaulted.

"I used to have to sleep in her bed sometimes," said Farias. "Boundaries she would push or make me uncomfortable and I would say stop."

Quanell X told KTRK that based on his conversation with Farias and the details he was told, he considers that sexual assault.   

Farias says he isn't exactly sure why his mother forced him to lie. He says he asked her about it but says he never got any real answers.

He remembers she created a GoFundMe shortly after she reported him missing.

"I would ask her when am I going to have a job, make my own decisions, go out and be free," Farias told KTRK's Brooke Taylor. "She's like, 'You can't get a lawyer because it's too much money.' Everything was money and money, money."

The District Attorney's Office declined charges and asked for further investigation.

Police Chief Troy Finner says they need to finish their investigation and would not say whether police believe Farias is a victim.

When asked if he would call himself a victim, Farias answered, heavily, he would.

"I just want to live my life, a family, a car, I just want to live my life and be happy," he said. "I just want to be happy."