© Joe Warner | For/NJ Advance Media Noema Alavez Perez and Norma Perez, mother and grandmother of Dulce Maria Alavez pose for a picture while holding a picture of Dulce on the porch of their home in Bridgeton, Tuesday, Sept. 1, 2020. Dulce disappeared from Bridgeton City Park on Sept. 16, 2019.
A day before the second anniversary of her disappearance, authorities released renderings of how missing Bridgeton girl Dulce Maria Alavez may now appear.
Dulce was 5 years old when she was reported missing during a family outing to Bridgeton City Park on Sept. 16, 2019.
The case drew widespread attention but few concrete leads as Dulce’s image was plastered on fliers, billboards and TV programs and shared across social media. A reward stands at $75,000.
The age-progression images of the now-7-year-old Dulce were created by artists with the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.
Officials hope these new pictures will stir new leads in the case, which authorities say remains a top priority for investigators.
“We hold out hope that Dulce is alive (as we have no evidence of her demise) and want the public to know that this case will remain open until such time as we locate Dulce and determine those responsible for her disappearance,” Cumberland County Prosecutor Jennifer Webb-McRae and Bridgeton Police Chief Michael Gaimari said in a joint statement with the new image.
The child’s mother, Noema Alavez Perez, took her kids to the park after getting ice cream and remained in the car while Dulce and her 3-year-old brother ran off to a playground about 30 yards away.
When the mom realized she couldn’t see the kids a short time later, she walked over to the playground and found her son in tears. Dulce was nowhere to be found.
Many people were at the park the day Dulce vanished and two descriptions emerged of what investigators believe is the same person — a man about 5 feet 8 inches tall and about 30 to 35 years old, with acne. That individual could be the abductor, FBI special agent Daniel Garrabrant said last year, noting that the man had yet to be identified and located.
Garrabrant said at the time that Dulce was likely abducted by a stranger in a crime of opportunity, through local investigators say all theories remain under consideration.
A group of supporters will hold a “Silent Walk” for Dulce on Thursday afternoon. They will begin at the park where she disappeared and head to the local police department, lighting electric candles along the way.
Anyone with information about Dulce is asked to contact authorities via one of these options:
- Bridgeton Police: 856-451-0033
- Cumberland County Prosecutor’s Office: 856-453-0486
- New Jersey State Police: 609-882-2000, ext. 2554
- FBI: 1-800-CALL-FBI. Select option 4, then option 8.
- Anonymous tips may be sent to Bridgeton Police at bpdops.com/tips or to the prosecutor’s office at njccpo.org/tips.
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Matt Gray may be reached at mgray@njadvancemedia.com.