Crime & Safety

FBI Warning As Amber Alert Search For Missing NJ Girl Intensifies

Investigators intensified their search of certain NJ areas just as the FBI issued a warning regarding the 5-year-old girl's disappearance

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Dulce Maria Alavez
Dulce Maria Alavez (State Police/FBI photo)

NEW JERSEY – Investigators intensified and expanded their search on Friday in areas where a 5-year-old New Jersey girl disappeared, providing a live update to the public as the probe entered its fifth day.

The FBI and other investigators also issued a warning to the public just as the family's behavior has drawn criticism since an Amber Alert was issued. The FBI and other agencies are offering rewards that total $35,000 for information that leads to the whereabouts of Dulce Maria Alavez.

Reflecting the FBI's concerns about publicizing rumors, Bridgeton Police Chief Michael Gaimari shot back at a report that an arrest had been made, cautioning the media against publicizing information that's not verified.

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Gaimari said there were no strong suspects in Dulce's disappearance of 4 p.m. on Friday and that investigators had interviewed 70 to 75 people.

"Don't read anything into what happened today," the chief said. "We don't have the child."

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Cumberland County Prosecutor Jennifer Webb-McRae thanked the girl's mother, Noema Alavez, for her cooperation – despite the criticism she's received on social media for her behavior.

Webb-McRae said there could be any number of reasons why people react a certain way during the course of investigation.

"At this pont of the investigation, we are considering all possibilities," she said. "Nothing is off the table and we are actively considering all scenarios."

Dozens of investigators refocused their search on the Bridgeton park where Dulce Maria Alavez disappeared as well as the surrounding wooded areas. Gaimari said law enforcement expanded their search by about 1 1/2 miles in each direction.

Law enforcement, in perhaps their biggest gathering yet, scoured the woods near the park on Friday.

The FBI, meanwhile, told the public that it should not spread rumors on social media regarding the search for Dulce Maria Alavez.

The FBI added on Twitter: "Information is being released through official channels. Don't be responsible for distracting the focus of everyone's efforts. Let's unite to #findDulce."

The warning comes as the girl's mother, Noema Alavez, said she's stopped going to the park where her daughter disappeared she's been dealing with an increasing level of criticism. The Amber Alert remained in effect on Friday.

Her boyfriend, Edgar Martinez-Santiago, 27, a Mexican citizen who is not the father of Dulce, also is now in Immigration and Customs Enforcement custody, the agency said, and investigators say they hope to interview him.

Noema Alavez told NJ Advance Media that Martinez-Santiago is the father of her unborn child, and she is 5-months pregnant.

Alavez also claims that police were suggesting that her family could have been involved – something she denies – and that her car was towed for inspection. She told NJ Advance Media that a few people grew angry when they saw her eating pizza in the park area.

She also told The Philadelphia Inquirer that people criticized her on Facebook because of her past drug use, adding that she no longer smokes marijuana. She took down her Facebook page as a result.

“They’re saying I didn’t love my kids and I just gave my kids away to someone … and that supposedly my mom was prostituting me,” she said told NJ Avance Media.

On Thursday, Dulce's grandmother appeared with the Cumberland County Prosecutor's Office to make a tearful plea for the 5-year-old's return.

The FBI also has made appeals on Twitter while its Child Abduction Rapid Deployment unit has involved itself in the search.

Dulce is a Hispanic female who is approximately 3 feet tall, weighing 60-70 pounds and having brown eyes, and brown hair. She was last seen wearing a yellow shirt, with an elephant, as well as black-and-white pants and white shoes, police said.

Detectives believe Dulce was taken by a light-skinned Hispanic male, 5-feet-6-inches to 5-feet-8 inches tall with a thin build, having facial acne, no facial hair and wearing orange sneakers, red pants and a black shirt.

Anyone with information 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 CALL 911 immediately.

Here is a timeline of events and what we know as of Friday:

  • Within an hour of her abduction, Dulce was seen on video shopping for ice cream with her family.
  • Dulce was last seen after she went with her mother, Alavez, 19, to a playground area in Bridgeton City Park – behind the high school – around 4 p.m. on Monday, the mother told police.
  • The mother said she stayed in her vehicle while Dulce and her 3-year-old brother ran off to play, police told Patch. The mother said she stayed with an 8-year-old relative while the children were 30 yards away.
  • Ten minutes later, the 3-year-old ran back to the car and was crying. Dulce was gone, the mother told police. A family search began soon afterward, but came up empty; police were contacted around 5 p.m.
  • A description was soon provided to police. Around that time, the suspect was last seen leading Dulce from the Bridgeton City Park playground to a red van with a sliding side door and tinted windows at approximately 4:20 p.m. on Monday, police said.
  • Law enforcement began to search on Monday, and police released photos and description of the girl at 6:42 p.m.
  • The search continued on Tuesday, starting with an extensive ground search that began at 7 a.m. and involved more than 50 officers from various agencies within the region. Fire department personnel and K9s from throughout the state also assisted, police said.
  • Bridgeton Police Chief Michael Gaimari said water rescue-and-search teams from the fire department and Downe Township assisted in the search, along with the New Jersey State Police Aviation and Missing Persons units and the FBI Child Abduction Rapid Deployment unit. A waterway in the park was also drained.
  • On Tuesday, Noema Alavez issued a plea for her daughter's safe return.
  • Once the description of a possible kidnapping suspect emerged, State Police issued a statewide Amber Alert around 11 p.m. on Tuesday, saying they believe the girl was abducted.
  • Gaimari said the Amber Alert was issued after interviewing and re-interviewing people who were in the city park near the ball fields.
  • Gaimari said officers and detectives have been conducting simultaneous investigations since the child was reported missing, with officers focused on locating the child and conducting a criminal investigation into her disappearance.
  • By Tuesday, Dulce's mother had posted on Facebook a plea for Dulce to "come back" and added, "We miss you." By Wednesday, the post was deleted, and her page was taken down; Noema Alavez said she was getting harassed by people who were criticizing her behavior.
  • On Wednesday, Noema Alavez told NJ Advance Media that police have suggested that members of Dulce’s family may have been involved in abduction, but she denied it. “The police think our family did this,” she said. “They think I did something to her. I didn’t. I love my daughter. I would never do nothing bad to her."
  • The Amber Alert remained in effect on Thursday and Friday.
  • More than 50 law enforcement personnel scoured a ballfield near the park on Thursday and Friday.
  • The FBI made pleas for cooperation on social media as the search intensified on Thursday and Friday.

Here are some updated photos of the girl:


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