BRIDGETON — Nearly a month after 5-year-old Dulce Maria Alavez was last seen in a park, investigators have released a sketch of a man they would like to speak to about the case. The man is described as a possible witness, not a possible suspect or person of interest.

There has been no sign of the girl who vanished from a playground at Bridgeton City Park as she played with her 3-year-old brother on Sept. 16.

A State Police Amber Alert remains active and she remains on the FBI's Most Wanted kidnapping and missing persons list.

Dulce was last seen walking toward a red van with a man at Bridgeton City Park, according to a young witness who spoke to police.

"This sketch is NOT from the child witness of tender years who gave authorities an initial description which led to the Amber Alert of 9/17/19," Cumberland County Prosecutor Jennifer Webb-McRae said in a news release Tuesday.

Webb-McRae said the man in the sketch was reported to have been seen in the park around the time Dulce went missing. This individual has been reported to have been with one or two children under the age of 5 years old. A witness recently came forward to provided the description of the man.

"We are asking this person (or anyone who may recognize him) to come forward as investigators wish to speak with him as it is believed that he may have information that is helpful in determining the circumstances that led to Dulce’s disappearance," McRae said. She stressed that the man is a possible witness and not a suspect or person of interest.

This man was reported to have been wearing a white T-shirt, blue jeans and a white baseball hat. The man is reported to be a Hispanic, standing about 5 feet 7 inches with a slender build and between 30 to 35 years old.

Dulce Maria Alavez
Dulce Maria Alavez
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Webb-McRae said at an Oct. 4 press conference that despite numerous searches, there has been no physical evidence indicating with certainty where Dulce may have been taken.

McRae-Webb said that investigators do not believe the 5-year-old girl is in the Bridgeton area.

Webb-McRae has said investigators are still looking for the "key piece of information that we need to lead us to Dulce or the circumstances surrounding her disappearance."

Bridgeton Police Chief Michael Gaimari has said that no one has been "cleared" as a suspect in the case.

"Until the child is located and until we can determine what happened to the child, no one is cleared," Gaimari has said.

Webb-McRae said that Dulce's family has been cooperative in the investigation.

 

Information can be called in at 800-CALL-FBI (225-5324) option 4, option 8 or reported anonymously by calling the Bridgeton's TIP 411 text service by texting "Bridgeton" plus your tip to 847411.

Officials involved in the case have stressed they don't want anyone with information afraid to come forward, even if potential witnesses are in the county illegally. State Attorney General Gurbir Grewal told New Jersey 101.5 that Dulce's case is an example of the type his office seeks to aid through the Immigrant Trust Directive — a set of guidelines that limit local police cooperation with immigration authorities on civil immigration matters with the goal of getting more cooperation with police.

Contact reporter Dan Alexander at Dan.Alexander@townsquaremedia.com or via Twitter @DanAlexanderNJ

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