File:Dulce-maria-alavez.pdf — Credit: Federal Bureau of Investigation · Public domain
Dulce Maria Alavez, born April 25, 2014, was five years old when she disappeared from Bridgeton City Park in Bridgeton, New Jersey, on September 16, 2019. She and her brother were playing on the park's swings while their pregnant mother sat in a car roughly 30 yards away, playing a scratch-off lottery ticket and helping Alavez's younger sister with homework. Sometime between approximately 4 p.m. and 6 p.m. Eastern Time, Alavez vanished from the playground. When her mother went to check on the children, she found only Alavez's brother alone at the swings, crying.
More than 30 police officers searched the surrounding woods in the hours after Alavez was reported missing, but the search did not locate her. A possible suspect has been described as a light-skinned Hispanic male approximately 5 feet 8 inches tall, seen driving a red van in the area. As of June 15, 2023, no strong suspect had been identified in the case.
The disappearance drew national media attention, including segments on the Dr. Phil show and In Pursuit with John Walsh. In February 2021, investigators followed a set of leads that led to a search for Alavez in Austintown, Ohio. Later that year, the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children released two age-progression images depicting how Alavez might appear at age seven. Around the same time, FBI Special Agent Daniel Garrabrant said the person who took Alavez "was likely there for a period of time" and described the case as "a crime of opportunity," with the abductor apparently looking for a child of about Alavez's own age or gender. Investigators have also used artificial intelligence to generate additional images estimating how Alavez's appearance has changed as she has grown older.
The case has also been complicated by misinformation: in 2020, a false claim spread on social media asserting that Alavez had been found dead. No such discovery has been confirmed by authorities, and her case remains classified as an unresolved disappearance believed to involve an abduction.
Alavez, age 5, disappears from the playground at Bridgeton City Park in Bridgeton, New Jersey, while playing with her brother; her pregnant mother was seated in a car about 30 yards away. Over 30 police officers subsequently search nearby woods without locating her.
2020
A false claim circulates on social media asserting that Alavez had been found dead; the claim is not substantiated.
2021-02
Following investigative leads, a search for Alavez is conducted in Austintown, Ohio.
2021
The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children releases two age-progression images of Alavez as a seven-year-old; FBI Special Agent Daniel Garrabrant describes the disappearance as "a crime of opportunity."
2023-06-15
As reported at this date, police have not identified a strong suspect in Alavez's disappearance.
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Titles and descriptions are the creators’ own and may not reflect current legal status; see the dossier above for sourced case facts.
VIDEO
Stephanie Harlowe / 39 min
Coffee and Crime Time: Where is 5 Year Old Dulce Alavez ?
People
Dulce Maria Alavez
VICTIM
Reported missing at age 5 from Bridgeton City Park in Bridgeton, New Jersey, on September 16, 2019; believed to have been abducted.
Daniel Garrabrant
LAW ENFORCEMENT
FBI special agent who provided a 2021 update on the investigation, describing the disappearance as "a crime of opportunity."
Roles reflect public records and court outcomes at the time of writing — supporting citations are on file under Sources.
Archival records
portrait victim
File:Dulce-maria-alavez.pdf
Credit: Federal Bureau of Investigation · Public domain · Source
Five-year-old Dulce Maria Alavez vanished from a playground at Bridgeton City Park in Bridgeton, New Jersey, on September 16, 2019, in a suspected abduction that remains unsolved.
