US man found alive eight years after he vanished as a teenager

A teenager who disappeared in Houston when he was 17 has miraculously turned up again years later.

Houston man Rudy Farias found alive eight years after he vanished as a teenager.

A 25-year-old missing US man was reportedly found alive on Saturday with cuts and bruises all over his body after he vanished as a teenager eight years ago, according to officials and family.

Rudy Farias, reported missing in 2015, was miraculously reunited with his family on Saturday, the Texas Centre for the Missing tweeted in a shocking update on Sunday.

Mr Farias, then 17, disappeared in Houston while he was walking his two dogs near his family’s home, reported the New York Post.

Houston man Rudy Farias found alive eight years after he vanished as a teenager.

While the dogs made it back home, Mr Farias never did, according to a missing person organisation.

The young man is now in the hospital after good Samaritans called 911 when they spotted him outside a church unresponsive, his mother said, according to reports.

He had cuts and bruises, and blood in his hair, she told Houston TV station ABC-KTRK.

His mother additionally confirmed to another network, KPRC, that her son was in “bad shape” mentally and physically, but she was grateful to have him back.

At the time of his disappearance, he suffered from depression, PTSD and anxiety, volunteer search and rescue organisation Texas EquuSearch said in 2015.

The now 25-year-old is recovering in hospital.

“It is possible he is disoriented as he has not been taking his medication,” the organisation said back then as it launched a search for Mr Farias.

Years before he went missing, his brother was killed in a motorcycle crash, the family said in 2015, according to Su network NBC News.

“He watched his best friend die right in front of him,” Brenda Paradise, a private investigator hired by the family, said in 2015.

Update: 7/1/23-- After 8 long years, Rudy has been located safe. Please continue to keep his family in your prayers as Rudy recovers in the hospital. https://t.co/AFqj9qvm9G

— TX Center 4 Missing (@TXCenter) July 2, 2023

Texas EquuSearch director Tim Miller called the latest development a miracle.

“How did this happen? We believe in miracles and this certainly was a miracle,” Mr Miller said.

“I can’t even tell you how many times we searched and how many leads and tips came in and they just kind of faded away and now all of a sudden, this.”

Mr Miller said there were a lot of questions swirling now that Mr Farias has returned.

“There’s a lot to investigate to kind of see what happened, where it happened, how it happened,” he said.

Authorities did not initially believe foul play was involved when he went missing.

This story was published in the New York Post and is reproduced with permission.