THE family of a missing 11-year-old girl who was kidnapped in broad daylight from a park has shared the impact her abduction has had on her younger brother who witnessed the crime.
Dulce Maria Alavez was 5 years old when she was kidnapped from a playground in Bridgeton, New Jersey, on September 16, 2019 – her mother painfully remembers the day she last saw her daughter six years ago.
A vigil near the Bridgeton City Park playground in New Jersey, where Dulce Maria Alavez was kidnapped in September 2019[/caption]
“I remember driving with her to the park, the outfit she was wearing, how she was playing with her brother, and then the moment the police arrived,” Noema Alavez-Perez, Dulce’s mother, told The U.S. Sun from her home in Bridgeton, about an hour west of Atlantic City.
Dulce – who was last seen wearing a yellow T-shirt with a koala on the front, black and white pants with butterflies on it, and white sandals – and her younger brother were playing on the swings at Bridgeton City Park as their mother was in her vehicle about 30 yards away.
Alavez-Perez was helping another relative with her homework as Dulce and her brother, then 3 years old, played on the grassy playground.
However, when Alavez-Perez went to check on her children, she found her son alone, crying, saying someone took Dulce.
Bridgeton Police believe a man, described as a light-skinned Hispanic man around 5-foot-8, abducted Dulce from the park, into a nearby wooded area before fleeing in a red van.
In the years since Dulce’s kidnapping, investigators have worked dozens of tips, interviewed several people, and traveled to 11 different states, including visits to Mexico.
DESPERATE FOR ANSWERS
As the sixth-year anniversary of Dulce’s disappearance approached, the Alavez-Perez family found it difficult to contain their emotions, knowing their loved one is growing up without them being a part of it.
“The truth is, [it’s] very sad because it’s been six years without knowing anything about her. The truth is that’s the most heartbreaking thing for us,” Norma, Dulce’s grandmother, told The U.S. Sun in Spanish.
“To imagine her growing up without being with her, knowing how she’s doing, where she is at. It’s all very sad.”
Dulce’s mother described feeling desperate to find out what happened to her eldest daughter.
“We still don’t know anything about her or where she is. [I’m] desperate because we still don’t know what happened and who took her from us,” Alavez-Perez said.
“She was the oldest, her little brother still asks for her. He asks me every now and then, ‘When is Dulce coming back?’
“It’s so sad to hear that every time, I try to console him and when I put him to bed I leave the room and just break down in tears.
“Dulce was sweet, affectionate, she loved her little brother.”
“We talk about Dulce Maria to her other sister. We talk about her, we tell them that they have a sister named Dulce Maria,” Norma, Dulce’s grandmother, said.
“When Dulce Maria’s mom was pregnant, she [Dulce] knew that another sister was coming and she was always so happy about that.
“Now, her sister is the one who says, she doesn’t know her, but then at times she says, I miss my sister, I want to see my sister, and that makes me feel so sad.”
STOLEN MEMORIES
Norma still remembers her granddaughter’s love for dresses, “She would look at a lot of princess dresses and would imagine herself growing up to be a princess.
“She would do a lot of twirls and do these gestures as if she were a princess. The reality is she felt like a princess because I believe all children are like that, filled with imagination. She was very happy.”
Dulce’s mother, Alavez-Perez, added, “She really loved dresses and acting like a princess.
“She would be 11 now, I would imagine she’s more grown now, probably wouldn’t be so much into dresses and that’s really sad to think about that a large part of her childhood was stolen from us.”
As investigators continued to examine all the evidence surrounding Dulce’s kidnapping, the New Jersey State Police have begun processing the case through artificial intelligence, hoping the new technology can help investigators crack the case.
“Under this initiative, new investigators are reviewing all the evidence that has been collected since the inception of this matter,” Cumberland County Prosecutor Jennifer Webb-McRae said in a statement to NJ.com.
“In addition, the NJSP has begun to process the case through artificial intelligence anticipating that it will develop new lines of investigations.”
A FAMILY’S ANGUISH
For families of Mexican descendants, September 16 is a day of celebration, commemorating the nation’s independence from Spain in 1810.
But for the family of Dulce, who are of Mexican descent, September 16 is a day of heartache.
“The truth is, when September 16 arrives, I say it’s the day of independence for us Mexicans, but all I remember is that’s the day they took Dulce Maria,” Norma said.
“It’s all so sad, we feel sad because that’s the day they took her.
“Where is Dulce Maria. We ask ourselves, why, why do these things happen to us.
“I ask God, I say, Lord, give me strength because the truth is so sad being without her.
“I watched her grow up, when she began walking, when she said her first words, and at five years old they took her. It’s so sad being here and not knowing where she is.”
Alavez-Perez added, “It’s very difficult to be honest, I try to do my best for my other children.
“I have no other choice, I’m their mother. It’s painful, we visit the park where they took Dulce every year on September 16, but I can’t be around that area for too long, it’s too difficult.”
