FBI: Leads Emerging In Amber Alert Probe For 5-Year-Old NJ Girl​

Tom Davis
Updated ·26 min read

NEW JERSEY – The FBI says new leads have emerged and the agency is "optimistic" it will eventually solve the Amber Alert case involving missing 5-year-old Dulce Maria Alavez that has now reached its first anniversary.

FBI special agent Daniel Garrabrant spoke to Patch about how there are "leads coming" and his agency has pursued them since Dulce first disappeared on Sept. 16, 2019, even as he suggested that cases like these sometimes can take years to solve.

"We're still optimistic that Dulce will be found," he said. "There's still information coming. We get lots of look-a-like leads."

Garrabrant spoke to Patch to update the public as the probe reaches its first anniversary. Dulce's disappearance from a Bridgeton park has sparked nationwide interest, and launched a search that's spanned several states.

Few solid clues have publicly emerged, however, since Dulce went missing while she was playing with her brother, and her mother waited in her car.

Garrabrant noted that the disappearance could bear a resemblance to other well-known cases where the missing person was hidden from public view for months, or even years.

Garrabrant cited the 1991 kidnapping of Jaycee Dugard, when she was 11 years old, and who then remained missing until 2009. He also cited the case of Elizabeth Smart, who was kidnapped at 14 and was discovered until nine months later.

In each of those cases, Garrabrant said, "what we see time and time again is that the community solves it."

And if the community can be cooperative and provide leads, he said, then Dulce will likely be found.

Also, in many of these cases, the kidnapper typically knows the kidnapping site, and lives in the area of the disappearance. Their understanding of the area, he said, usually helps them plan out the crime before it happens.

Garrabrant believes that's what's happened here, and the FBI has established the following from the case:

  • The FBI has video of vehicles in the area, but the quality of of the video is not good and the agency has been unable to identify what was there.

  • The FBI knows there were people in the park who could provide useful information, and the agency has made a plea for them to come forward. "If you were in the park between 3:30 and 4:30 (on Sept. 16, 2019), please contact us," he said.

  • The coronavirus has not likely impacted the investigation, although not having children in school has made it a little more difficult to track them. Also, it's harder to recognize children with masks on their face.

  • A March tip involving law enforcement officers in Austintown, Ohio, who said they conducted a search of an area based on a tip they received, proved to go nowhere. "Nothing came of that," Garrabrant said.

Garrabrant said the FBI also has sought to reassure the immigrant community that the agency is not interested in deporting anybody who may be in the United States illegally.

If the FBI or another law enforcement agency approaches them, he said, it's only to get information on Dulce. Their immigration status, he said, is "irrelevant."

"We are interested in one thing and that's bringing Dulce home," he said.

Garrabrant also said Dulce's mother and the extended family have been fully cooperative, and he's not interested in "judging" people's behaviors because that often goes nowhere.

The family has defended Dulce's mother against criticism that she hasn't appeared to be passionate enough in her public interviews.

"There is no indication that they're doing anything other than being fully cooperative," he said.

Dulce's mother, Noema, defended her behavior in a recent interview with ABC6, saying she loves her daughter:

Local authorities such as Bridgeton Police Chief Michael Gaimari and the Cumberland County Prosecutor's Office also say they're still involved in the probe even though Dulce has now been missing since Sept. 16, 2019.

The National Center for Missing & Exploited Children has sent out coupon booklets nationwide containing a “Have You Seen Me?” feature, and the child featured was Dulce.

Police officers and local residents have also continued to conduct a community outreach effort in the Bridgeton area to remind everyone that law enforcement is still seeking information that will lead them "to those responsible for Dulce's disappearance," according to the Cumberland County Prosecutor's Office. Officers have conducted road canvasses and door-to-door visits.

Cumberland County Prosecutor Jennifer Webb-McRae has said the case is active and that the family has been very cooperative as investigators have expanded their efforts.

Investigators have searched wooded areas, waterways and vacant buildings in the Bridgeton area, she's said. They've also checked on the status of sex offenders in South Jersey to see if they have any possible connections to the case.

Billboards have appeared on highways asking people to call police if they have any sign or any information that could lead to Dulce's discovery. A GoFundMe page was set up to raise money to pay for more billboards in the Bridgeton area.

Dulce is a Hispanic girl who is about 3 feet tall, weighing 60-70 pounds with brown eyes and brown hair. She was last seen at a Bridgeton park wearing a yellow shirt with an elephant on it, as well as black-and-white pants and white shoes, police said.

Detectives said they believe Dulce was taken by a light-skinned Hispanic male, 5 feet, 6 inches to 5 feet, 8 inches tall with a thin build, facial acne, no facial hair and wearing orange sneakers, red pants and a black shirt. He allegedly led Dulce from the park to a red van with a sliding side door.

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 by calling 911 immediately.

Investigators are continuing to analyze information they've received, along with the hundreds of tips that have been collected through the FBI tip line (800-CALL-FBI) and the police department’s TIP411 text alerts, prosecutors said.

Anyone with information they think is important to the FBI investigation is urged to call 800-CALL-FBI and choose option 4 and then option 8, or text the information to TIP411 subtext “Bridgeton." Anyone with video or pictures can upload them to http://www.fbi.gov/alavez .

Here is a timeline of events and what we know as of Thursday:

  • Just before her abduction on Sept. 16, 2019, Dulce was seen on video shopping for ice cream with her family.

  • Dulce was last seen after she went with her mother, Noema, to a playground area in Bridgeton City Park — behind the high school — around 4 p.m. Sept. 16, the mother told police.

  • The mother said she stayed in her vehicle while Dulce and her 3-year-old brother ran off to play, police told Patch. The mother said she stayed with an 8-year-old relative while the children were 30 yards away.

  • Ten minutes later, the 3-year-old ran back to the car and was crying. Dulce was gone, the mother told police. A family search began soon afterward but came up empty; police were contacted around 5 p.m.

  • A description was soon provided to police. Around that time, 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 around 4:20 p.m., police said. Here are some updated photos of the girl:


  • Law enforcement began to search Sept. 16, and police released photos and description of the girl at 6:42 p.m.

  • The search continued Sept. 17, 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 police dogs from throughout the state also assisted, police said.

  • Gaimari said water search-and-rescue 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. A waterway in the park also was drained. Here is a Gannett video of the search:

  • On Sept. 17, Noema Alavez issued a plea for her daughter's safe return.

  • Once the description of a possible kidnapping suspect emerged, state police issued a statewide Amber Alert around 11 p.m. Sept. 17, saying they believed the girl was abducted.

  • Gaimari said the Amber Alert was issued after interviewing and re-interviewing people who were in the city park near the ballfields.

  • Gaimari said officers and detectives have been conducting investigations since Dulce was reported missing, with officers focused on locating her and conducting a criminal investigation into her disappearance.

  • By Sept. 17, Dulce's mother had posted on Facebook a plea for Dulce to "come back" and added, "We miss you." By Sept. 18, the post was deleted; Alavez said she was getting harassed by people who were criticizing her behavior.

  • Alavez also said she stopped going to the park where her daughter disappeared because she's been dealing with an increasing level of criticism.

  • Her boyfriend, Edgar Martinez-Santiago, 27, a Mexican citizen who is not the father of Dulce, was taken into custody by the Immigration and Customs Enforcement custody, the agency said Sept. 18, and investigators said they hoped to interview him. Alavez told NJ Advance Media that Martinez-Santiago is the father of her unborn child, and she is 5 months' pregnant.

  • Also on Sept. 18, Alavez told NJ Advance Media police have suggested that members of Dulce’s family may have been involved in abduction, but she denied it. She also said her car was towed for inspection.

  • She also told NJ Advance Media a few people grew angry when they saw her eating pizza in the park area, and she told The Philadelphia Inquirer people criticized her on Facebook because of her past drug use, adding that she no longer smokes marijuana. She took down her entire Facebook page as a result.

  • “The police think our family did this,” she told the paper. “They think I did something to her. I didn’t. I love my daughter. I would never do nothing bad to her."

  • The Amber Alert remained in effect through the rest of the first week.

  • More than 50 law enforcement personnel scoured a ballfield near the park Sept. 19 and 20.

  • On Sept. 19, the FBI and the Cumberland County Prosecutor's Office sought to dispel rumors circulating about the case. Dulce's grandmother appealed for her safe return home.

  • On Sept. 20, Gaimari shot back at a report that an arrest had been made, cautioning the media against publicizing information that's not verified.

  • Gaimari said there were no strong suspects in Dulce's disappearance and investigators had interviewed 70 to 75 people."Don't read anything into what happened today," the chief said. "We don't have the child."

  • Webb-McRae also thanked Noema Alavez for her cooperation, despite the criticism she's received on social media for her behavior.

  • Gaimari said law enforcement expanded its search by about 1-1/2 miles in each direction.

  • Law enforcement, in perhaps its biggest gathering yet, scoured the woods near the park Sept. 20.

  • A vigil was held Sept. 21 for Dulce at the park where she disappeared.

  • On Sept. 23, Webb-McRae provided a list of possible signs to look for: The offender may suddenly miss work or school and use excuses such as a death in the family, illness or car trouble. The offender may miss scheduled appointments and may suddenly leave town. Their use of alcohol and drugs may change.

  • Also on Sept. 23, investigators from all the participating law enforcement agencies returned to the scene in the Bridgeton park where Dulce disappeared, according to prosecutors. The investigators were tasked with gathering information that could help identify any possible additional witnesses, according to prosecutors. They also asked any members of the public with any cell phone video or other images to come forward.

  • On Sept. 24, investigators said they've collected a significant amount of video, both commercial and residential, from the area where Dulce disappeared. The videos were obtained based on investigative leads, including one that was broadcast on NBC10 Sept. 23 showing a red vehicle, according to Webb-McRae.

  • Investigators succeeded in reaching Dulce Maria Alavez's father, who lives in Mexico, by telephone Sept. 24, according to reports. The development came as local law enforcement and the FBI were still in New Jersey and continuing to investigate and track down leads received from the public, according to the Cumberland County Prosecutor's Office.

  • The FBI also was working on having agents interview the father face-to-face, according to ABC6, so he can perhaps shed light on the abduction.

  • It's a video that's heartbreaking: Dulce singing, "Let It Go" from the movie "Frozen," long before she disappeared. But releasing the video to the public on Sept. 26 also gave the family hope that it will help lead to her discovery.The video below shows Dulce being playful and singing between the 30 second and the 1:07 marks:

  • Authorities made a plea for more information on Sept 27, particularly targeting immigrant communities who may fear deportation if they're approached by an officer. "Do not be afraid," Attorney General Gurbir Grewal said. Anyone with information on Dulce, he said, can feel safe talking to police no matter what their immigration status."We need your help," he said in a video plea.

  • On Sept. 30, Dulce's family also made another call for help, with Noema Alavez saying: "She's just a little girl. She's innocent. She's just living her child life."

  • On Oct. 3, the 911 call reporting Dulce's disappearance was released. "I can't find my daughter," her mother said through tears. "People say probably somebody took her."

  • On Oct. 3, Gov. Phil Murphy also made a plea to the immigrant community to provide information, if it's available, on Dulce's disappearance. During a press conference, the governor said information would be provided without fear of consequences (go to 24:00)

  • The governor also made a plea on Twitter.

  • Authorities, speaking during a press conference on Oct. 4, said that no one has been cleared in the investigation.

  • Prosecutors are working under the assumption that Dulce is still alive, so the family and Bridgeton community asked people to show up to the park where she disappeared to search for the girl, at 12:30 p.m. Oct. 6, wearing long plants, hiking boots or rigid footwear.

  • Webb-McRae, however, told The Vineland Daily Journal that extensive searches have already been conducted and turned up nothing, so it was more than likely she was no longer in the area.

  • “I would think that, because of the amount of law enforcement that has been in this area and has contributed to this investigation, that it may be probable that she’s not in this area,” Webb-McRae told the publication.

  • The reward for information leading to the whereabouts of Dulce Maria Alavez was increased to $52,000 by Oct. 11. Gaimari said that contributions from the unions representing state troopers, non-commissioned officers and superior officers of the New Jersey State Police contributed $10,000 collectively toward the reward.

  • He also said more than 300 officers from local, Cumberland County, state and federal agencies have contributed to this investigation thus far. "These investigators continue to work tirelessly to determine the whereabouts of Dulce and the circumstances surrounding her disappearance," he said.

  • Investigators obtained and were poring over videos from a myriad of sources of not only the areas surrounding the place where Dulce disappeared, but from throughout Bridgeton and bordering townships, the chief said. They are continuing to review same to rule out and rule in vehicles that may continue to be of interest.

  • Investigators reviewed and continued to make contact with numerous sex offenders throughout the region to ascertain their whereabouts around the time Dulce went missing, the chief said.

  • The sketch of a possible witness in the potential abduction of Dulce Maria Alavez was released Oct. 15.

  • The State Police and Cumberland County Prosecutor's Office released a composite sketch of a person who was reportedly seen in the park around the time Dulce went missing.This person was reportedly with one or two children under the age of 5 years old at the time of the disappearance.

  • The person was reportedly wearing a white T-shirt, blue jeans and a white baseball style hat.The man is reportedly a Hispanic male, approximately 5 feet, 7 inches tall, with slender build and between 30 and 35 years old, the prosecutor's office said.

  • This composite sketch was developed after a witness who recently came forward was able to provide a description, according to the prosecutor's office. This sketch is not from the child witness who gave authorities the initial description that led to the Amber Alert on Sept. 17.

  • After the sketch was released, the nonprofit Missing Pieces Network said it spoke to Dulce’s mother about it. Noema Alavez reported that neither she nor her parents recognize the man. She also confirmed that her 8-year-old sister, who was in the car with her when Dulce disappeared, did not recognize the person in the sketch either, according to the Missing Pieces Network.

  • Kim Leigh Martin, co-founder and president of the Missing Pieces Network, told nj.com that it regularly checks with Dulce’s family, monitors developments in the case and provides updates on the group’s Facebook page.

  • “They’re not doing well. They’re still not sleeping well, not eating well. They’re struggling," she told nj.com, adding that Dulce’s mother is pregnant and recently learned she’s having a girl.

  • Another search turned up little to nothing on Oct. 27 at the Alden Field area, near where Dulce went missing, according to the family. Volunteers went go door-to-door with missing-person flyers.

  • “We are asking you, the public, to not give up hope on her,” Jackie Rodriguez, who has assisted the family, said during an Oct. 23 news conference.

  • Noema Alavez was at the press conference but did not speak, according to The Vineland Times-Journal.

  • Rodriguez said her silence was deliberate to lower her profile because of public criticism of her, or what she called “bullying.”"It's very difficult. We have the good, and we have the bad. We have the people who have hope, and we have the people who don't have hope," Rodriguez said in the Fox29 video of the press conference. "It's hard to not lower yourself to the people out there bullying and criticizing. There is a lot of evil out there, and it's sad."

  • An extensive search took place Nov. 3 to find Dulce. Community volunteers searched the area where Dulce disappeared almost two months before, since rain hampered their efforts during the previous weekend.

  • The prosecutor's office said its investigators — as well as the Bridgeton Police Department, the New Jersey State Police Missing Persons Unit and the FBI — were also on-site and that their investigation was continuing.

  • Volunteers arrived at 9 a.m. and were expected to visit areas that had not been previously checked, such as other parks in Bridgeton.

  • Both Rodriguez and Noema Alavez traveled to New York City in November for an interview with Phil McGraw, host of "Dr. Phil." McGraw said he would raise the reward money to $75,000 if police agreed.

  • The program aired Dec. 6, and during the episode, Dr. Phil told Rodriguez he's been doing this kind of work "for 45 years, and I have never worked with a mother who has been as emotionally flat about a missing child as Noema.""Is she that way all the time?" he asked Rodriguez."I want to believe she cries at night. I want to believe she's strong. I want to say she's strong for the public, for herself," she said.

  • "You think she may know more about what took place than she's telling?" Dr. Phil asked."Yes," Rodriguez said."Why?""She seems too calm," Rodriguez replied. "I feel like she knows that the child is OK. She's missing her, but I feel like she knows that the child is OK."

  • Alavez's family has been really upset and "they're upset at her, I'm assuming, because she stayed in the car and allowed them (Dulce and her brother) to go alone" in the Bridgeton park where she disappeared."She's told me they're upset because she might know something," Rodriguez said.

  • Alavez also told Dr. Phil she's not sure if Dulce is alive and she doesn't know why she doesn't cry in front of people.Police, Noema said, gave her a polygraph test but she claims they never told her the results. She said police were "clearly suspicious" and asked her if she set up her daughter's kidnapping or if she tried to "sell" her.

  • Alavez said her children were out of sight for no more than five to 10 minutes, and that she was scratching a lottery ticket and helping her 8-year-old sister with her homework when Dulce disappeared. "Your daughter was kidnapped while you were scratching a lottery ticket," Dr. Phil said. "Looking back on it, does it seems like as bad decision? "Yes," Alavez said.

  • Alavez said she went and looked around for Dulce, thinking she was playing hide and go seek. "I didn't want to believe that somebody took her," she said.

  • Alavez said she doesn't know anybody who would be responsible for Dulce's disappearance, but Dr. Phil pressed her. "If you had to name somebody, who would be your first choice?" he asked. Alavez said she has an old friend who has wanted to date her and who was trying to "get to me" and she rejected him. He insisted, Alavez said, but she just said no.

  • Alavez struggled to explain why Dulce would go to a stranger when she would never do something like that, adding that other people in the park saw a "black man" running at the time of the disappearance.

  • Alavez said she doesn't know any black men and told Dr. Phil that she's instructed Dulce to "scream" if a stranger approached. But no one heard a scream.

  • Gaimari told Fox29 on Jan. 5 that law enforcement has made "significant progress" and that the FBI, state and local officials are actively investigating on a daily basis.

  • "I just want to assure everybody that it's still a top priority for law enforcement," he said.Gaimari told Fox29 that "everybody is still in play" and that law enforcement has interviewed close to 1,000 people."Some people we bring in for second interviews," he said. "Some people we further investigate, and we've continued to do that."

  • On Feb. 3, the FBI provided an update, saying it remains involved in the Bridgeton area investigation and will stay involved, Special Agent in Charge Gregory W. Ehrie told Patch. "We will not stop looking for that child until there is a resolution," he said.

  • The FBI included Dulce on a social media push for National Missing Persons Day in February.

  • Rodriguez, however, began to express dismay about the public's declining interest in the probe, saying local residents are still conducting searches, but morale has been weighed down by a lack of leads and declining interest.

  • She's also not pleased that Phil McGraw, host of the "Dr. Phil" TV program who interviewed the family for a November show, hasn't really followed through on his promises to help find the possible kidnappers, she said. Efforts to contact a representative of his show were not immediately successful.

  • On Feb. 8, police acknowledged that they've taken a surprising approach in the nearly five-month Amber Alert search for 5-year-old Dulce Maria Alavez: They've followed psychic tips, even as they warned against relying too heavily on that questionable form of investigation.

  • Gaimari said investigators have followed up on several of the “tips” provided by psychics through personal contact or social media only when the information may have some “slight possible connection.”

  • In March, the Office of Attorney General said it believes that fear of prosecution is preventing people from coming forward to help. "I know it is," said Grewal, who has been under fire recently for so-called "sanctuary" policies that protect immigrants from prosecution or deportation.

  • Grewal made the statements as the Trump administration reportedly planned to send agents to New Jersey and elsewhere as part of an ICE crackdown. Read more: Trump Administration's ICE Crackdown In NJ, Elsewhere: Reports

  • In early March, law enforcement officers in Austintown, Ohio conducted a search of an area based on a tip they received, Gaimari said.

  • Gaimari said investigators from the Bridgeton Police Department, the Cumberland County Prosecutor’s Office, the New Jersey State Police and the FBI continue to follow all substantive leads and tips that are provided.

  • They continue to seek any new information from the public that could assist in the investigation.However, the Bridgeton department also has received erroneous information from less-than-credible sources during the course of this investigation that has resulted in manpower being re-directed, he said.

  • At the first anniversary of her disappearance, the FBI said new leads have emerged and the agency is "optimistic" it will eventually solve the Amber Alert case.

  • Dulce's mother, Noema, also defended her behavior in an interview with ABC6, saying she loves her daughter:

  • The FBI spoke to Patch about how there are "leads coming" and his agency has pursued them since Dulce first disappeared on Sept. 16, 2019, even as the agency suggested that cases like these sometimes can take years to solve. Read more: FBI: Leads Emerging In Amber Alert Probe For 5-Year-Old NJ Girl

This article originally appeared on the West Deptford Patch