The viral Raymon Alvarez and Felisha Scroggins case, explained

This article mentions child sex abuse and sexual assault. Please read with caution.

In early 2024, a good deed in Paris, Texas, uncovered a shocking true crime — a child endangerment case spanning two generations — and helped solve a Louisiana missing persons case from 2017.

Raymon Alvarez and Felisha Scroggins, ages unknown, were living in a broken down van covered in large Jesus-related decals in the small town of Paris, about 100 miles northeast of Dallas. As KTEN.com reported, they were relying on the goodwill of a couple who helped them with food and money, and another of the local residents offered to help them fix the vehicle.

Reportedly, Alvarez reluctantly accepted the man’s help. But once the van was towed to his home garage from the Home Depot parking lot where it had been located, the man offering his services found a young girl living inside the van and called the police for a welfare check. According to Jennifer Bramlett, one of the Paris, Texas residents who tried to help Alvarez and Scroggins, “[The child was] in a space underneath where they kept their little plastic dresser.” When police arrived, Alvarez locked Scroggins and the child inside the van and refused to speak to the authorities.

The girl was between 8 and 10 years old

The girl found living inside the van was between 8 and 10 years old, and according to Paris police Captain Terry Bull, she didn’t know her last name or date of birth. She also didn’t know where she was born. The young girl seemed to live in the van full-time in what authorities described as deplorable conditions, using a bucket for a toilet. A DVD maker and flash drives were reportedly recovered from inside the vehicle.

At first, Raymon Alvarez, who at first kept Scroggins and the child from speaking to the police, identified himself as Ray Maccabee and said Felisha Scroggins’ name was Ruth Maccabee. A New Mexico driver’s license and the vehicle’s registration helped the police determine Alvarez’s real name. Ruth told the police her name was Felisha Lynn Scroggins once she was in custody.

After the welfare check, the girl was transferred to child protective services, KPLCTV.com reported. According to Paris police, “The child was unusually uncooperative.” The identity of the child’s father had not been determined.

Scroggins was reported missing in 2017

As news spread of Raymon Alvarez and Felisha Scroggins’ arrest, KPLCTV.com reported that Scroggins, along with her daughter — presumably the same child found living inside Alvarez’s van — were reported missing from Leesville, Lousiana in 2017. Scroggins was 24 when she vanished, and her daughter was 3. Once Scroggins was reported missing by her mother, the authorities caught up with her in South Carolina but said she didn’t seem to need help. Scroggins was reportedly with Alvarez from the beginning.

According to Scroggins’ mom, Brandy Graham, when Felisha disappeared, “She was coming off drugs, she got into the Lord. She went and found this man … preaching the word of God,” KXII reported. Over the years, Graham said she tried to contact her daughter, who she knew lived in Alvarez’s van, but when she did, her daughter screamed, “‘Brandy Graham, you’re going to go to hell! You are not my family no more,’” Graham said.

Alvarez has older children

With Raymon Alvarez and Felisha Scroggins’ arrests in the news, 22-year-old Jacklyn Houston reported that, for almost eight years of her life, she lived inside that same van with Alvarez, with Houston’s mother and Houston’s younger sister, KXII.com reported. Houston called Alvarez her dad. She said she escaped from him when she was 16 years old.

Recalling her life with Alvarez, her mom, and her sister — who, as of this report, have not been identified and whose whereabouts are unknown — Houston said, “We would spend a night on random gas stations in the middle of nowhere with no lights.” And when Alvarez found out Houston tried to get help, “he was like, well, let’s run, and he took us.”

KXII.com says Houston planned to file rape charges against Alvarez. Speaking with KXII, Houston added,

“Nobody believed me before. I feel like now that he’s arrested, I feel like it’s going to be a little bit easier, you know? … I am so surprised that I am still here, you know, because the abuse that I went through, he could have killed me, but I’m here, and so things could have gotten so much worse.”

As of this report, Alvarez and Scroggins were arrested and charged with child endangerment and for failure to identify as witnesses. The Alvarez and Scroggins investigation was ongoing.

If you know someone suffering from sexual violence, contact RAINN or the National Sexual Abuse Telephone Hotline at 1-800-656-4673.