Statewide Amber Alert For Endangered 5-Year-Old NJ Girl

UPDATE: New information has emerged regarding the 5-year-old girl's disappearance. Read more: Amber Alert For Missing NJ Girl: Everything We Know So Far

NEW JERSEY – A statewide Amber Alert was issued as the search for an endangered 5-year-old girl who went missing in New Jersey continued on Wednesday, police said. Now the State Police believe she was abducted, and search-and-rescue teams were continuing their work two days after her disappearance.

Detectives believe that Dulce Maria Alavez 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.

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.

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.

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.

Her mother, Noema Alavez, 19, also issued a plea for her safe return.

Bridgeton Police Chief Michael Gaimari said the Amber Alert was issued after interviewing and re-interviewing people who were in the city park near the ball fields on Monday afternoon.

Law enforcement continued the search all day 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.

The chief 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.

The chief said the waterway was eventually drained by city workers later on Tuesday afternoon to assist in the search, but the search "proved negative" for locating the child.

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.

He said search-and-rescue personnel would remain in the city park through Tuesday night and into Wednesday morning.

Dulce was last seen after she went with her mother, Noema Alavez, to a playground area in Bridgeton City Park – behind the high school – around 4 p.m., police said.

The mother stayed in her vehicle while Dulce and her 3-year-old brother ran off to play, police told Patch. Ten minutes later, the 3-year-old ran back to the car and was crying.

Here are some updated photos of the girl: