Janie Santana has allegedly been profiting from the scam after she claimed her son was missing for the last eight years

What exactly happened to Mr Farias over the past eight years, why his mother sought to deceive authorities and how she seemingly succeeded for all this time continue to be something of a mystery, Rachel Sharp reports

‘I honestly had always thought that Janie [Santana] had something to do with it,’ Jacque Brunswick says

Rudy Farias was reported missing on 7 March 2015, sparking an eight year search. In reality, police say he was at his mother’s house all along

Brenda Paradise tells The Independent’s Bevan Hurley the bizarre missing person case is rooted in greed and mental health issues

EXCLUSIVE: Community activist Quanell X tells The Independent: ‘I believe that Rudy is absolutely a victim’

Private investigator told The Independent she grew suspicious of Janie Santana after devoting hundreds of hours to finding Rudy Farias