Rudy Farias has a half-brother with the same name who's 9 months younger

• News stories, missing-person websites, police, and private eyes don't agree on Rudy Farias' age.
• It could be because he has a half-brother with the same name who is barely a year younger.

Rudy Farias IV disappeared when he was 17. Or when he was 18. And now he's 25. Or is it 26?

For the past week, news outlets, police, and others have been sharing different ages of the young Texas man who was reportedly found on the steps of a church after being missing for eight years.

Part of the issue could be that the Rudolph "Rudy" Farias IV who is the subject of news coverage — born October 1996 — has a half-brother with the same first and last name. He's just about nine months younger, according to records from the Texas Birth Index.

Both men are the son of police officer Rudy Farias III.

The Rudy Farias who was reported missing in 2015 reportedly experienced pain and hardship in the years before his disappearance, whose circumstances have now been called into question.

His older brother died in a motorcycle crash. And his father reportedly died of suicide in 2014 amid a departmental investigation.

The elder Farias' obituary mentions several children, including R. Gabriel Farias IV. He was born in July 1997, according to Texas birth records.

The Rudy Farias who was reportedly missing for several years was born in 1996, making him 18 when he went missing, according to the birth index and one of several private investigators who worked on the case and spoke to Insider.

Houston Police Lieutenant Christopher Zamora said at a Thursday press conference that a district attorney has so far declined to bring charges against the older Farias' mom for deceiving police in the missing person case.

Police officials said their investigation was ongoing.

Editor's note July 6, 2023 [6:15 p.m.]: This story has been updated to reflect the fact that Rudy Farias IV, who was reported missing in 2015, has a half-brother with the same name. The story originally stated Rudy Farias had voted three times while he was supposedly missing, but Insider cannot verify which Rudy Farias IV the voting records pertain to.