3 Years Missing: The Search For Dulce Alavez Continues

BRIDGETON, NJ — Friday marked three years since Dulce Alavez went missing from a park in Bridgeton. And authorities are no closer to explaining what happened to the then five-year-old.

In the years since the now eight-year-old girl vanished, investigators have traveled to 11 states and Mexico and followed up on tips —one of which was received earlier this month — in an attempt to locate her, according to Cumberland County Prosecutor Jennifer Webb-McRae.

"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. "However, we want to reiterate that in the absence of evidence of Dulce’s demise, investigators hold out hope that she is alive."

Investigators also said they are still looking for a slender Hispanic man aged 30 to 35 years, considered a person of interest in Dulce's case. And Webb-McRae urged the public to share all tips, large or small, with authorities.

"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.

Anyone with tips are asked to call the Cumberland County Prosecutor's Office at 856-453-0486.

"We want the public to know that if they are a witness in this matter, their immigration status will not in any way be used against them," Webb-McRae said.

Gone In A Flash

Three years ago Dulce’s mother, Noema Perez, told police her children were out-of-sight for no more than 5 to 10 minutes. During that time, Perez said she was scratching a lottery ticket and helping her 8-year-old with her homework.

About one year ago, the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children created and released age-progressed images of what Dulce may look like today.

In April of 2021, reports showed a man who said he was Edgar Perez, Dulce's father, sharing a video on YouTube saying he had nothing to do with her disappearance.

The video shows Dulce with, presumably, her father and has music playing in the background. He was deported in 2018 and is living in Mexico, according to NJ Advance Media.

"I don't know where she is," the man said in the video, noting that Dulce had just turned seven. "Just like everyone, I want to know where she is."

At the time, Bridgeton Police Chief Michael Gaimari said authorities were investigating and trying to verify if the man was her father, according to NBC10.

In December 2019, a few months after Dulce disappeared, Jackie Rodriguez, who acted as the family spokeswoman in the immediate aftermath of Dulce’s disappearance and Perez, appeared on “The Dr. Phil Show,” hosted by Dr. Phil McGraw.

During the show, McGraw told Rodriguez he's been doing this kind of work "for 45 years and I have never worked with a mother who has been as emotionally flat about a missing child as Noema."

"Is she that way all the time?" McGraw asked Rodriguez.

"I want to believe she cries at night. I want to believe she's strong. I want to say she's strong for the public, for herself," Rodriguez said.

"You think she may know more about what took place than she's telling?" McGraw asked.

"Yes," Rodriguez said.

"Why?" McGraw asked.

"She seems too calm," Rodriguez replied. "I feel like she knows that the child is OK. She's missing her, but I feel like she knows that the child is OK."

Rodriguez also said she's never seen Perez "freaking out" and said she saw her cry just once.

Perez's family, however, has been upset, and "they're upset at her, I'm assuming because she stayed in the car and allowed them (Dulce and her brother) to go alone" in the park where she disappeared.

As for Perez, she told Dr. Phil she's not sure if Dulce is alive, and she doesn't know why she doesn't cry in front of people.

Perez also said police gave her a polygraph test, but she claims they never told her the results. She said police were "clearly suspicious" and asked her if she set up her daughter's kidnapping or if she tried to "sell" her.

Dulce's mother also told McGrawl that a few months after her daughter disappeared, she looked around for Dulce, thinking she was playing hide-and-go-seek.

"I didn't want to believe that somebody took her," she said.

Perez also said she didn't know anybody who would be responsible for Dulce's disappearance, but McGraw pressed her.

"If you had to name somebody, who would be your first choice?" he asked.

Perez replied that she had an old friend who wanted to date her and was trying to "get to me" and she rejected him. He insisted, Perez said, but she just said no.

During her appearance on “Dr. Phil,” Perez struggled to explain why Dulce would go to a stranger when she would never do something like that, adding that other people in the park saw a "Black man" at the time of the disappearance.

Perez said she didn't know any Black men and told McGraw that she had instructed Dulce to "scream" if a stranger approached.

But reportedly, no one heard a scream.

This story contains reporting by Anthony Bellano and Tom Davis.

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