Rafael "Rafi" Alvarez

Rafael Alvarez
Without a Trace character
First appearance	Legacy (2004)
Last appearance	Off the Tracks (2005)
Created by	Allison Abner, Maria Maggenti
Portrayed by	Alex Fernandez
Information
Nickname(s)	Rafi
Gender	Male

Rafael "Rafi" Alvarez is a fictional character played by actor Alex Fernandez on the CBS television crime drama Without a Trace. He is the older brother of Danny Taylor.

Rafi and Danny come from a troubled background. Their father was an alcoholic and Rafi spent much of their childhood protecting Danny from their father's abuse. However, after their parents were killed in a car accident, Danny and his brother were put into foster care. Rafi became a drug addict and small-time criminal and was sentenced to prison. Eventually, Danny, who had straightened out his life, wanted to distance himself from Rafi and his past, so he changed his surname from Alvarez to Taylor. Danny did not want anything to do with Rafi, until Sylvia Marquez, Rafi's girlfriend and mother of his son, Nicky, came looking for him and Danny finally agreed to testify on his behalf at his parole hearing. Rafi was paroled and started working in Sylvia's brother's garage, but ran into trouble again when he tried to start his own garage. Sylvia called Danny when he disappeared, and he discovered Rafi had become addicted to drugs again. Danny was able to find him and finally reconcile totally with him.