5-year-old girl was abducted from playground, NJ police say
BRIDGETON, N.J. – New Jersey State Police issued an Amber Alert late Tuesday night for a missing 5-year-old girl as law enforcement officers redirected their efforts from a search-and-rescue operation to an abduction scenario.
Multiple agencies, including the FBI, now are involved in a search for a man who may have taken the girl to a van and driven away from the park.
Search and rescue crews and first responders have been scouring Bridgeton’s City Park and nearby bodies of water for Dulce Alavez since late Monday, based on information from her mother on where she was last seen.
Bridgeton police were contacted at about 5 p.m. Monday with information that Alavez had disappeared while in a city park near Bridgeton High School with her mother and younger brother.
However, police also said that a criminal investigation was underway at the same time.
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Police Chief Michael Gaimari late Tuesday said the girl's mother is not suspected of misleading investigators but was not in a position to see what happened to her daughter.
"The mother was about 30 yards away, sitting in her vehicle with an 8-year-old relative," Gaimari said. "The 3-year-old and the 5-year-old who’s missing were playing on a swing set, which was partially blocked from her view but about 30 yards away. And then she saw the 3-year-old run back to the car. She got out of the car, and she started looking for the 5-year-old and couldn’t find the 5-year-old."
An Amber Alert issued at 9:53 p.m. Tuesday.
The alert states the man led Dulce from the playground to a red van with a sliding side door and tinted windows. Dulce was seated in the back seat and the van drove away.
The girl is about 3-foot-5 and weighs about 40 pounds, with black hair, and a light complexion.
Gaimari said the girl's father is not involved with her mother and is believed to be in Mexico.
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This article originally appeared on Vineland Daily Journal: Amber Alert issued for Dulce Alavez, missing Bridgeton girl
