Your Phone Could Hold a Clue to Finding Missing 5-Year-Old
BRIDGETON — Dulce Maria Alavez remained missing on Monday, a week after the 5-year-old she disappeared from a park playground.
Dulce was last spotted walking toward a red van with a man at Bridgeton City Park late on Monday afternoon, according to Bridgeton police. As the investigation progressed, an Ambert Alert was issued by State Police.
Police have described a light-skinned, possibly Hispanic man, between 5-foot-6 and 5-foot-8 with a thin build, no facial hair, and with acne on his face. He's been described as wearing orange shoes.
Cumberland County Prosecutor Jennifer Webb-McRae Monday again asked the public for its help in the investigation — and asked anyone who may have been at the Bridgeton City Park Recreational Area on Monday, Sept. 16 to check their cell phones to see if they took photos and/or videos while they were in the area.
"Their media may contain information which seems innocuous to them but is a valuable piece of the puzzle in helping us bring Dulce home to her family," Webb-McRae said in a statement.
Files may be uploaded to a special site created by the FBI.
Webb said that her office along with the Bridgeton Police Department, the New Jersey State Police Missing Persons Unit and the FBI worked through the weekend and continue to work on this investigation.
"We have received numerous tips and information from the public. We thank the public for their cooperation and continue to track all leads," the prosecutor said.
While Webb-McRae would not answer specific questions about reporting rumors as tips, she wrote on her office's Facebook page, "each time someone posts a false rumor like this, it pulls our attention away from doing all that we can to locate Dulce." Authorities stressed late last week that despite rumors to the contrary, Dulce's mother had not been arrested in the case.
More than $35,000 in reward money has been put up in hopes of receiving information that will help locate Dulce, including $10,000 from the NJ State Policemen's Benevolent Association, $10,000 from Newfield National Bank, $5,000 each from the Cumberland County Prosecutor's Office, $5,000 from the Tortilleria El Paisano restaurant and $1,000 from the Lakewood Scoop.
Contact reporter Dan Alexander at Dan.Alexander@townsquaremedia.com or via Twitter @DanAlexanderNJ