Search For Dulce Alavez, Missing Since 2019, Continues In South NJ

CUMBERLAND COUNTY, NJ — The search for a missing South Jersey girl continues, as family and supporters gathered over the weekend to celebrate her ninth birthday and hope for her safe return.

Five-year-old Dulce Maria Alavez was last seen on the afternoon of Monday, September 16, 2019, while playing at Bridgeton City Park behind the high school. Federal and local officials are still encouraging anyone with information on her disappearance to share what tips they have.

Dulce was playing on the swings with her younger brother while their mother sat in a vehicle about 30 yards away, Bridgeton police said in the original Amber Alert. Her mother Noema Alavez Perez told police the three-year-old returned to the vehicle, but Dulce did not, and she was unable to find her daughter.

Officials said Dulce may have been led into “a red van with a sliding door on the side and tinted windows” and have followed multiple leads in the three and a half years since. No suspects have ever been named.

Dulce’s ninth birthday is on April 25. Officials have released age-progressed photos that show how she may look now (see below).

Her family gathered at the park Sunday to celebrate her life, according to social media posts and a report by the Press of Atlantic City. They held a small celebration by the tree in the park where Dulce was last seen, and where a missing poster is still tacked up.

The FBI is offering a reward of up to $5,000 for information that leads to her whereabouts, and there is a $75,000 reward offered by Cumberland County officials.

The Prosecutor’s Office released a composite sketch of a man they sought to question about her disappearance, a slender Hispanic man approximately 5’7″ and 30-35 years old (see photo below). Officials said this man is a possible witness.

Anyone with tips is asked to call the Cumberland County Prosecutor’s Office at 856-453-0486 or the FBI’s Toll-Free Tipline at 1-800-CALL-FBI (1-800-225-5324). Tips may also be made to the FBI at this link.

Cumberland County Prosecutor Jennifer Webb-McRae said investigators have traveled to 11 states and Mexico in an attempt to locate her.

“Since we hope to charge and prosecute the person(s) responsible for Dulce’s disappearance, we cannot speak about many of the details of our investigation,” Webb-McRae said last fall. “However, we want to reiterate that in the absence of evidence of Dulce’s demise, investigators hold out hope that she is alive.”

“Any information, no matter how small or insignificant, might be the puzzle piece that leads us to identify the person(s) responsible for Dulce’s disappearance,” Webb-McRae said.

This story contains reporting from Patch’s Russ Crespolini.