NJ Teacher Removed After Comment On Amber Alert Search For Girl

NEW JERSEY – A New Jersey school district disciplined a teacher this past week for making what it calls "unacceptable" comments about a missing 5-year-old girl in an Amber Alert search.

Jennifer Hewitt Bishop has found herself in trouble with the Vineland Public School District, a school official says, after making comments about Dulce Alvarez's family and culture.

The district says it may take additional action against Bishop, an in-class resource teacher, who responded to a Facebook post that questioned the behavior of Dulce's mother by saying: "They're Mexican, it's their culture. They don't supervise their children like we do."

The response, which was discovered on Sept. 20, was referring to the mother's decision to stay in her car while Dulce went to play on the playground with her 3-year-old brother. Dulce disappeared soon afterward.

Joseph Rossi, the district's executive director of personnel, said the teacher was not in her classroom on Wednesday. The school district was expected to meet Wednesday to discuss the matter.

Read more: Father Contacted In Amber Alert Search For Missing NJ Girl

Authorities, meanwhile, successfully contacted the father of the missing 5-year-old girl as the Amber Alert search entered its ninth day on Wednesday.

Investigators were successful in reaching Dulce Maria Alavez's father, who lives in Mexico, by telephone on Tuesday, according to reports. The development came as local law enforcement and the FBI are still in New Jersey and continue to investigate and track down leads received from the public, according to the Cumberland County Prosecutor' Office.

The FBI is working on having agents interview the father face-to-face, according to ABC6, so he can perhaps shed light as to why his daughter was apparently abducted from a New Jersey park.

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, at a Bridgeton park, 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. He allegedly led Dulce from the park to a red van with a sliding side door.

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.

Investigators continue to analyze any information they've received, as well as the hundreds of tips that have been collected through the FBI tip line, (1-800-CALL-FBI) and the police department's TIP411 text alerts, the CCPO said.

Anyone who possesses any information that they believe would be pertinent to this investigation is urged to call 1-800-CALL-FBI, OPTION 4 and then OPTION 8, or text your information to TIP411 subtext "Bridgeton." Anyone with video or pictures may upload to http://www.fbi.gov/alavez.