The mother of a 5-year-old girl apparently abducted from a New Jersey playground is pleading for her to be returned safely — while denying that she or relatives had anything to do with her disappearance.
Noema Alavez said Wednesday that police have suggested that a family member is somehow connected to the disappearance of Dulce Maria Alavez, who was last seen at Bridgeton’s City Park on Monday.
“The police think our family did this,” Alavez told NJ.com. “They think I did something to her.”
Alavez did not elaborate on that alleged claim, but denied that she or any of the girl’s other relatives was involved in her apparent abduction.
“I didn’t,” Alavez continued. “I love my daughter. I would never do nothing bad to her.”
The girl’s father lives in Mexico, but still has relatives in Bridgeton who told him about his daughter’s disappearance, said Alavez, who pleaded with whoever took the girl to return her safely.
“Stop making her family suffer so much,” she told NJ.com.
State police issued an Amber Alert late Tuesday for the girl, who vanished as roughly two dozen people were playing basketball at a nearby playground. Investigators believe Dulce was abducted 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 read passenger door, New Jersey State Police said.
Bridgeton Police Chief Michael Gaimari said the case initially was considered a missing child investigation, but witness interviews from the scene late Tuesday led to the Amber Alert.
Alavez has told police she stayed in her car with an 8-year-old relative as her daughter and her 3-year-old son went to a playground inside the park. About 10 minutes later, Alavez’s son told her that his sister was gone, setting off a frantic search for the girl.
“Come back,” Alavez posted on Facebook early Wednesday along with a photo of Dulce and a boy believed to be her brother. “We miss you.”
The post was later deleted.
The girl was last seen wearing a yellow shirt with a koala bear on the front and black and white pants. Anyone with information on her whereabouts is asked to call Bridgeton police at (856) 451-0033.