Welcome to Mysteries of the Missing, a blog about missing person's cases. You can find my my blog and my social media pages on my Linktree at: https://linktr.ee/MysteriesoftheMissing.
Keep in mind that I am only reporting the events of what have happened, per my research through various media outlets. I’m not trained in any way in true crime. Instead, I'm a published author who loves to blog. Also, I’m solely a human being that’s trying to do my part to get the message of the story of Dulce Alavez out there so that one day, hopefully, she may be found, and her case may be solved. Join me as I dive into the last day that people saw Dulce, and what happened after she was last seen.
This is my tenth episode, and I'm pretty excited, so let's dive in, shall we?
Warning: This blog post contains details about a child being kidnapped. Reader discretion is advised.
Here's a little background on the city where the child we'll be learning about was abducted from: Bridgeton, N.J. is a city with a population of 25,000 located 70 miles from Trenton. According to the statistics that I found, Bridgeton has a crime rate seven times higher than the state of New Jersey as a whole. That's a lot y'all! One can definitely say that this is not a safe place to live.
Dulce Marie Alavez, age progression photo
Dulce Maria Alavez was born on April 25, 2014. Today, she would be nine years old. Her mother described her as a lively child, always playing around.
On September 16, 2019, Dulce (age five at the time) and her brother (age three) were playing on the swings at Bridgeton Park in Bridgeton, New Jersey. Dulce's mother (Noema Alavez Perez) was in the car about thirty feet away for ten minutes, helping Dulce and her brother's sister with her homework and playing a lottery scratch off. In addition, the mother said she couldn't see the swings because there was a hill blocking her view.
At around 4-5 pm eastern time, Noema went to the swings to see where her kids were. She found Dulce's brother, crying and alone. When Noema asked where Dulce was, her brother just pointed behind the building at the park, which Noema says is because he didn't speak at the time. After the incident, Noema called 911 to report her daughter missing.
What makes me mad is that authorities didn't issue an Amber Alert for more than 24 hours. Their reasoning? There was no evidence of an abduction. Come on man!!!! She could've been found! The FBI states that when a child is abducted, about 74% of them are killed within the first three hours. If the Amber Alert had been issued immediately after the 911 call, if the police had listened to Dulce's mom when she phoned them, maybe the girl could've been found.
It doesn't surprise me that the police dropped the ball yet again...but it does disappoint me. I still have hope in my law enforcement. While there are many good law officials out there, many of them don't do their jobs efficiently or correctly. No, I'm not a police officer, but it's easy to see in this case when something isn't being done right.
In most of the cases that I've covered since my first one about Jennifer Kesse, I have noticed a pattern in police behavior that is downright negligent and should be prosecutable: Many police don't do the simple job of following protocol after people disappear, which in this case would be issuing an Amber Alert immediately.
Dulce's brother saw her going toward a red van with a man. The person who took Dulce is described as a light-skinned, 5'8" Hispanic man between the ages of 30-35, wearing orange shoes, red pants, and a black shirt, and driving a red van.
There is a potential witness in the case: He was wearing a white t-shirt, a white baseball cap, and blue jeans and he was with two children under the age of five years old.
Dulce's dad lives in Mexico and even though there's a custody battle over Dulce, her mother doesn't think that he took her because he doesn't have any money to come to America to get her. Also, Noema's boyfriend (whose child she was pregnant with at the time of Ducle's disappearance) was working in Philadelphia on the day of Dulce's disappearance, so he is ruled out as a firsthand suspect.
Dulce's mom was quoted as saying, "On that day my life changed for the worst. I have not been the same ever since. People are saying bad things about me. Please stop the rumors. Please stop pointing fingers when you don't know and you don't know who took her. People are judging me because of what I did in the past. Just because of my past doesn't mean I'm doing the same thing."
I don't know what Noema did in the past, but I do know one thing: If she had been sitting at the park swings with her kids, rather than in a car playing a lottery ticket, her daughter may have been with her instead of missing. You can call that judging if you want, but it's the truth.
Some thirty plus officers searched the wooded area around the park with K9's, but nothing turned up. As of today, more than three hundred law enforcement officers have worked on this case. Also, they've searched more than 200 locations and investigated more than 500 vehicles.
Plenty of tips have come in. As of 2023, more than 1,000 tips have been given about Dulce's disappearance. Sadly, a false alarm that Dulce was found deceased spread on social media in 2020. One bright spot of 2020 was that dozens of volunteers showed up a few times to search for Dulce in the wooded area near the playground. In February 2021, following a lead where the public library and the Hollywood casino received letters about Dulce, officers unsuccessfully searched Austintown, Ohio. The officer in charge of the investigation said he didn't provide the press with additional information about the content of the letters and the detectives were still trying to determine if the letters were mailed or dropped off.
"A letter and an index card referencing Dulce were recently mailed to a local library and casino/racetrack in Austintown, Ohio, located in the eastern part of the state, close to the Pennsylvania border. Details in the postcard prompted a search of a large wooded area in Austintown over the weekend, but nothing was found. The index card mailed to Hollywood Gaming at Mahoning Valley Race Course, however, contained details referencing a location in Austintown, prompting a search on Saturday night and Sunday that included drones and cadaver dogs. The writer also states '76 truck stop dead end St. entrance woods. Please look.' The area searched by police over the weekend is adjacent to the Youngstown 76 Auto Truck Plaza on Interstate 80. The letter to the casino was delivered by a U.S. Postal Service letter carrier. The letter sent to the library had a Cleveland postmark." (Source: https://www.nj.com/cumberland/2020/03/ohio-ice-cream-shop-was-recipient-of-3rd-letter-about-missing-nj-5-year-old-dulce-alavez.html)
Police conducted the search in Austintown, Ohio by foot and by drone, but nothing turned up. All three letters were handwritten and the handwriting appears to be the same.
"Bridgeton City Police Department Chief Michael Gaimari said that the COVID-19 pandemic had impeded some of the work involved in the investigation, but he maintained that authorities were still following 'solid' leads." (Source: https://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/national-international/officials-release-age-progressed-photo-of-dulce-maria-alavez/3276063/)
An FBI special agent named Daniel Garrabrant said, "The offender that took Dulce was likely there for a period of time. It was a crime of opportunity. They were looking for a child, maybe by their age or gender." Dulce is currently on the FBI’s Most Wanted kidnapping and missing persons list.
In my opinion, Dulce was kidnapped by a stranger who saw and took a chance. He may have been trolling for a little kid before he came upon Dulce and her brother playing at the Bridgeton, Park swings.
At the time of her disappearance in 2019, Dulce was described as 3 foot tall, 60 to 70 pounds, with brown eyes and long, brown hair. She was last seen wearing a yellow shirt with a koala on the front, black and white pants with butterflies and flowers on them and white dress sandals.
Dulce, if you're out there, I hope you're safe. I know you're only nine years old, so you're still a kid, but I hope you're listening to this and that you're in peace. People are looking for you, this person, me, I'm looking for you. I care about you and want you to come home. I can't look at your picture without being sad. You deserve justice.
There is an award for Dulce for the amount of $75,000. That's a lot! Also, there's a private Facebook group for Dulce called "Dulce Maria Alavez Community Search & Support." Police are asking the public with any possible leads to contact Bridgeton Police Department at 856-451-0033, you can call the FBI at 800-CALL-FBI. Anonymous tips may be sent by text to TIP411 with “Bridgeton” in the message line, or you may email me at mysteriesofthemissing2023@gmail.com.
Please share my Facebook, Instagram, and Wix blog posts so that we can get the message of Dulce out there, and hopefully bring her home.
This has been another episode of Mysteries of the Missing. Until next time, stay safe...
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