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(NewsNation) — A relative of a reportedly missing man who was actually at home for the past eight years says the now-25-year-old’s mother is a “manipulative” person who likely took advantage of her son.

Rudy Farias was reported missing in 2015 but was found outside a church in Houston last week with cuts and bruises. His mother, Janie Santana, has disappeared.

Michelle Rodriguez described Santana as someone who “tries to make people fear her.”

“She’s very conniving. She’s very manipulative,” Rodriguez said Thursday on “CUOMO.” “Unless you really know her, know what she’s about and how she is as a person, you won’t have any fear of Janie.”

When Farias was initially found, the story was reported as miraculous, with Santana telling reporters her son was nonverbal and that she believed he had been abused.

Shortly after Farias was discovered, however, neighbors and friends began to come forward to say the man was never missing at all. They reported Farias was regularly seen at his home and in the neighborhood, though his mother continued to raise funds to search for him.

“Janie has always been one to be after money in any way she can get her hands on it,” Rodriguez said.

Farias and his mother met with police Wednesday along with local activist Quanell X, who said Farias told police he had been abused by his mother.

“One of the things he first said to me that stood out was, ‘I just wanted to be free, I felt like a slave,'” Quanell X said Thursday on “CUOMO.”

Quanell claims Farias told police during the meeting he was sexually abused and held captive by his mother.

However, police said Thursday that there was no disclosure of sexual assault during their interview with Farias, though when asked if Farias mentioned a sexual relationship with his mother, police said they do not release any information on sexual assault cases.

Quanell suggested police aren’t being honest about what they were told and know.

“The sergeant detective sat right next to me for the entire hour and 15 minutes that Rudy talked to both of us,” Quanell said. “The exact explicit details that I’ve shared were the exact details that were shared with the sergeant detective sitting right next to me.”

Santana was seen by neighbors leaving her house late at night Wednesday, The New York Post reported.

“My understanding is she is hiding here in Houston somewhere,” Rodriguez said.

Houston police said Farias actually had contact with Houston Police Department officers since he was reported missing, though both he and Santana used fake names and birth dates when interacting with police.

Police said at present, the district attorney was not pressing charges related to making false reports or failing to properly identify themselves, a decision Rodriguez criticized.

“They’re just not doing their job. They don’t want to believe anything,” she said. “I mean, I don’t believe that she was giving fake names and just getting away with it.”

NewsNation digital producer Stephanie Whiteside contributed to this report.