Where is Alicia Navarro? Autistic teen disappeared leaving note promising to be back
Glendale mom Jessica Nuñez has been waiting for over two years for her daughter Alicia Navarro to return home. The 14-year-old high-functioning autistic teenager went missing on September 15, 2019, after leaving a handwritten note in her bedroom, promising she will be back. Nuñez hasn't heard or seen any trace of her daughter since then.
Gabby Petito's disappearance and the hunt for her fugitive boyfriend Brian Laundrie who has been named as a person of interest in her disappearance has shone a light on the other unsolved missing cases. Along with Alicia Navarro, the disappearance of Daniel Robinson, Natalee Holloway, and Carla Elizabeth Losey too have gained steam. For the full list click here.
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'I ran away. I will be back. I swear'
According to a report, Navarro asked her mother if she could skip school on September 13, 2019. Alicia had recently started her classes at Bourgade Catholic High School in Phoenix. Nuñez allowed it figuring Navarro was nervous about going to school. The mother-daughter duo spent the following day together and even visited a chocolate factory which according to Nuñez made Navarro very happy. In the early hours of September 15, Navarro asked her mom what time she was going to bed. She left the house in the next couple of hours.
Alicia was diagnosed with autism at a very young age and her mother fears the challenges her daughter must have faced alone during the pandemic. Nuñez said Navarro was a "simple girl" who kept to herself most of the time except for a small group of friends she kept since childhood. “She never asked for brand clothes or anything like that,” Nuñez added. Navarro's mother said her daughter had developed sensory abilities and intelligence since she was a little girl. Navarro's mother said, her daughter described herself as “introverted, nerdy, shy," on the first day of school.
One of her other bigger fears is that her daughter might've been abducted. She loved gaming and would spend most of her time playing online and her mother thinks this hobby might have led to her abduction. "I’m more than 90% sure that my daughter met this person online. I didn't even think these types of people existed that would lure our youth. I know this world can be evil, but honestly, that didn't cross my mind at all. Knowing the way my daughter's personality is, I don't think that she would have fallen for that. This person probably took a while to be able to gain (her) trust," Nuñez said.
Two years have passed since Navarro was last seen but Nuñez stays determined to bring her daughter home safely. Anti-Predator Project, the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, and law enforcement agencies have joined in the search for Navarro who turned 17 on September 20.