Dulce Maria Alavez: 6-year-old girl who was abducted from New Jersey park last year may still be alive, says FBI
A New Jersey girl who disappeared from a park nearly a year ago was probably snatched by a predator who was looking for an opportunity to grab a child, a new report has suggested. The latest in the Amber Alert report about the kidnapping of Dulce Maria Alavez, 6, were revealed by a lead investigator in the case, who spoke to NJ Advance Media just days before the anniversary of the girl's mysterious disappearance.
“If you are looking for a child to take the child, you go where children are,” said FBI special agent Daniel Garrabrant. “That’s one of the reasons that we believe that the target was a child — but it may not necessarily have been Dulce.”
The little girl disappeared on September 16, 2019, from Bridgeton City Park while playing with her 3-year-old brother Manuel. Noema Alavez Perez, their mother, drove them there and was still in her vehicle when the kids ran ahead to the playground. When she caught up with them a couple of minutes later, Dulce was nowhere to be seen. “In this case, it was broad daylight, mom being distracted for a short period of time and Dulce and her brother being far enough away,” Garrabrant said. “The offender felt like it was an opportunity for him to take Dulce and leave with her and that’s what he did.”
It's also possible that the abductor hadn't planned to take a child that day, but grabbed the opportunity when he saw it. “The person’s intent might not have been to take a kid,” said Garrabrant. “It could have been maybe to watch children because that’s what they liked, and the opportunity presented itself and they did what they did.”
That said, investigators are hoping Dulce is still alive. “I’m working under the premise and the assumption that she’s still alive,” said Garrabrant.
Based on witness statements, investigators previously described the possible suspect as a "Hispanic man about 5 feet 8 inches tall and about 30 to 35 years old, with acne."
“We do have some witnesses that saw a Hispanic male in the park in and around the playground that we have not identified. We don’t know who that is. It’s very possible that it’s the offender,” said Garrabrant.
Authorities said the suspect was seen ushering a girl into a red van shortly after Dulce's disappearance, but have not been able to trace the getaway vehicle. Garrabrant said his team has also spent thousands of hours scouring gigabytes of surveillance footage from surrounding buildings in the area around the park.
“We believe that, in all likelihood, we do have a suspect vehicle on video someplace,” he said.
Meanwhile, authorities are also attempting to establish a motive behind the kidnapping. Agents said it was unlikely that a family member was involved in the abduction. “Think about it, if a family member was going to plan this and take Dulce, it’s super high-risk because it’s in a public park where there could be potentially a lot of witnesses,” said Garrabrant.
According to him, someone knows who took Dulce but has failed to realize a change in behavior or habits of people around them since the girl disappeared. "The suspect might be a regular visitor to parks and behave awkwardly around children. He would have missed work or family get-togethers at the time or may have left town without warning," according to the New York Post.
Considering the nationwide manhunt for Dulce, her abductor may have even made a significant change to his appearance or changed the color of his car.
“I honestly think there are people out there that know who the offender is, interact with the offender, and might even describe them as socially awkward or odd,” said Garrabrant, adding that folks “may be afraid to say anything because they think, ‘Oh, this person would never take a child.’”
However, Garrabrant has urged anyone who may have noticed something unusual the day Dulce disappeared to step forward, adding that the kidnapper would have been in the park around 4 to 4.30 pm.
“We really believe that there are people out there that saw something that would be critical for us,” said Garrabrant.
The search continues.
If you or anyone your know has information about Dulce, you are urged to call New Jersey State Police at 609-882-2000, ext. 2554, or Bridgeton police at 856-451-0033. Tips may also be phoned in to 1-800-CALL-FBI and select option 4, then select option 8. Anonymous tips may be sent by text to TIP411 with “Bridgeton” in the message line.