Girl, 5, abducted from a playground in broad daylight by man in red van
Police are conducting a massive search for a five-year-old girl who was abducted in broad daylight on Monday.
Authorities say Dulce Alavez was taken from a playground in Bridgeton, New Jersey as she played with her three-year-old brother.
The man reportedly led Dulce to his van then drove away. Police have described him as a light skinned, possibly Hispanic male who was driving a red van with sliding doors and tinted windows.
Neoma Alavez, Dulce’s mother, issued a plea for her daughter’s return, but said police have suggested that Dulce’s family played a role in the abduction.
Alavez told NJ Advanced Media: ‘The police think our family did this. They think I did something to her. I didn’t. I love my daughter. I would never do nothing bad to her.’
Update: Dozens of police in Bridgeton, Cumberland County resume search in Bridgeton City Park for missing 5 year old Dulce Maria Alavez. She’s been missing since yesterday and last seen in this very large park surrounded by woods and water @fox29philly pic.twitter.com/MnfaoDohph
— Steve Keeley (@KeeleyFox29) September 17, 2019
Alavez said she drove her children to the playground on Monday shortly after stopping by a Sunoco convenience store for ice cream.
Surveillance video from the store shows Dulce wearing a yellow shirt with an elephant on it, white pants, and white shoes. She is described as being three feet tall.
On Tuesday, investigators searched the 1,000-acre Bridgeton park. 50 officers combed through the park on foot alongside K-9 units before a state police helicopter conducted a fly by over the area, but there was no sign of Dulce.
Authorities also said they will drain a body of water in the park to ensure she is not there, according to Fox 29.
Volunteers searched the park on Wednesday. Kristen Dill, from neighboring Salem County, said: ‘We’ve been everywhere.’
‘We’ve been on the raceway, we’ve been behind the zoo, We’ve been under bridges, in bushes, in trees. We’ve been absolutely everywhere and nothing. We’re exhausted. We’re tired and we’re just praying to God.’