Birthday Party Held For Missing South Jersey Girl Dulce Maria Alavez

BRIDGETON, NJ — Friends and family of missing South Jersey youngster Dulce Maria Alavez held a birthday celebration for her on Monday, according to 6abc.com.

The girl's 8th birthday was on Monday.

The decorations were reported to be based on the Disney character Moana, who one of Dulce's favorites, the station said.

"I feel sad, empty that Dulce's not here today," 6abc.com quoted Noema Alavez-Perez, the girl's mother, as saying at Monday's event.

Meanwhile, the investigation into Dulce Maria Alavez is ongoing, authorities said Monday.

"In the absence of evidence to the contrary, we hold out hope that she is alive," a post on the Cumberland County Prosecutor Office's page reads. "This is an ongoing investigation."

Dulce's mother, Noema, has previously said that on Sept 16, 2019, her children were out-of-sight for no more than 5 to 10 minutes, and that she was scratching a lottery ticket and helping her 8-year-old sister with her homework when Dulce disappeared.

Investigators say they have searched wooded areas, waterways and vacant buildings in the Bridgeton area, and checked on the status of sex offenders in South Jersey to see if they have any possible connections to the case.

At the time of her disappearance, Dulce, who is Hispanic, stood about 3 feet tall, weighed 60 pounds to 70 pounds, had brown eyes and had brown hair. She was last seen wearing a yellow shirt with an elephant on it, as well as black-and-white pants and white shoes, police said.

Last September, The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children released age-progressed images of what Dulce she might look like now.

Detectives have said they believe Dulce was taken by a light-skinned Hispanic male, 5 feet, 6 inches to 5 feet, 8 inches tall with a thin build, facial acne, no facial hair and wearing orange sneakers, red pants and a black shirt. He allegedly led Dulce from the park to a red van with a sliding side door.

Anyone with information on Dulce's disappearance is asked to contact the New Jersey State Police Missing Persons Unit at 609-882-2000, ext. 2857; the Bridgeton Police Department at 856-451-0033; or by calling 911 immediately.

Patch has been following Dulce's story since the girl vanished. A summary of some of the more notable developments into her disappearance follow.

Man Says He Has Nothing To Do With Dulce's Disappearance

About 1 year ago, reports surfaced that police were reportedly looking at a video about the child.

A man identifying himself as Edgar Perez, Dulce's father, posted a video to YouTube saying he had nothing to do with her disappearance.

The video shows Dulce with, presumably, her father and has music playing in the background. He was deported in 2018 and is living in Mexico, according to NJ Advance Media .

"I don't know where she is," the man said in the video, noting that Dulce just turned 7 years old. "Just like everyone, I want to know where she is."

Bridgeton Police Chief Michael Gaimari said authorities are investigating and trying to verify if the man is her father, NBC10 reported at the time of the video's surfacing.

Dulce Family Spokesperson, Mother Appear On National TV

In December 2019, Jackie Rodriguez, who had been acting as the family spokeswoman in the immediate aftermath of Dulce's disappearance, and Dulce's mother, appeared on "The Dr. Phil Show."

Dr. Phil told Rodriguez he's been doing this kind of work "for 45 years and I have never worked with a mother who has been as emotionally flat about a missing child as Noema."

"Is she that way all the time?" he asked Rodriguez.

"I want to believe she cries at night. I want to believe she's strong. I want to say she's strong for the public, for herself," she said.

"You think she may know more about what took place than she's telling?" Dr. Phil asked.

"Yes," Rodriguez said.

"Why?"

"She seems too calm," Rodriguez replied. "I feel like she knows that the child is OK. She's missing her but I feel like she knows that the child is OK."

Rodriguez also said she's never seen Noema "freaking out" and she saw her cry just once.

Her family, however, has been really upset and "they're upset at her, I'm assuming, because she stayed in the car and allowed them (Dulce and her brother) to go alone" in the Bridgeton park where she disappeared.
"She's told me they're upset because she might know something," Rodriguez said.

As for Noema, she told Dr. Phil she's not sure if Dulce is alive and she doesn't know why she doesn't cry in front of people.

Police, Noema said, gave her a polygraph test but she claims they never told her the results. She said police were "clearly suspicious" and asked her if she set up her daughter's kidnapping or if she tried to "sell" her.

A few months after her daughter's disappearance, on the "Dr. Phil" show, Noema said she went and looked around for Dulce, thinking she was playing hide-and-go seek.

"I didn't want to believe that somebody took her," she said.

Noema also said she doesn't know anybody who would be responsible for Dulce's disappearance, but Dr. Phil pressed her. "If you had to name somebody, who would be your first choice?" he asked.

Noema added said she has an old friend who has wanted to date her, and who was trying to "get
to me" and she rejected him. He insisted, Noema said, but she just said no.

During the appearance on "Dr. Phil," Noema struggled to explain why Dulce would go to a stranger when she would never do something like that, adding that other people in the park saw a "black man" running at the time of the disappearance.

Noema said she doesn't know any black men, and told Dr. Phil that she's instructed Dulce to "scream" if a stranger approached. But no one heard a scream.

This story contains reporting by Anthony Bellano and Tom Davis.

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