A 5-year-old girl who disappeared from a New Jersey playground was apparently abducted by a man in a red van, police said.
An Amber Alert issued late Tuesday for Dulce Maria Alavez says the girl was taken from Bridgeton’s City Park on Monday by a light-skinned white or Hispanic man who wore orange sneakers, red pants and a black shirt.
The suspect drove off with the girl in a red van with tinted windows and a sliding rear passenger side door, New Jersey State Police said.
Dulce, who vanished as roughly two dozen people were playing basketball at a nearby playground, was placed in the back seat by the suspect, who drove off with the girl at about 4:20 p.m. Monday, according to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.
The girl’s mother, Noema Alavez, has told police that she stayed in her car with an 8-year-old relative as her daughter and her 3-year-old son went to a playground. Alavez’s son then told her that his sister was gone, setting off a frantic search for the girl that continued into late Tuesday.
The search included dozens of cops and a State Police helicopter, as well as an ice cream vendor who played his truck’s jingle in hopes that it would attract the 5-year-old girl, the Philadelphia Inquirer reports.
The girl was last seen wearing a yellow shirt with a koala bear on the front and black and white pants. Anyone with information about her whereabouts is asked to call Bridgeton police at (856) 451-0033.