Vigil planned for 3 year anniversary of Dulce Maria Alavez disappearance
BRIDGETON, N.J. - Family and community members on Friday will gather at a New Jersey park where a young girl vanished exactly three years ago while playing with her brother.
Dulce Maria Alavez disappeared from Bridgeton City Park on September 16, 2019, sparking a frenzied search that has so far turned up scant clues to her whereabouts.
Dulce was last seen playing on a swing set with her younger brother while their mother sat in a car nearby. Her brother returned to the car alone, with Dulce nowhere to be found.
Noema Alavez Perez, Dulce's mother, told FOX 29 last year that she was in the car helping her sister with her homework and scratching lottery tickets when she lost sight of the child for 10 minutes.
"I couldn’t find her, so I went everywhere to look for her, I didn’t want to believe she was missing," she said.
In the three years since her disappearance, investigators have shared composite artwork estimating what Dulce might look like today.
A vigil will be held Friday night near a tree dedicated to Dulce, who would be 8-years-old now.
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Organizers say there will be songs and prayers for her safe return, along with pictures and videos to help share memories of Dulce.
There is a $75k reward for anyone who knows Dulce's whereabouts.