The location where Dulce Maria Alavez went missing

Map

This is an aerial map of the area where Dulce Maria Alavez went missing.

That afternoon, Dulce and her younger brother, Manuel, were playing on the swings in the playground.

Meanwhile, their mother, Noema Alavez Pérez, and their aunt, Camila, remained in the car in the parking lot, which was roughly 75 yards away.

The most popular theory is that Dulce was picked up by a man who had parked his van on the southern side of the Department of Public Works building. The building in question is used to store equipment such as lawnmowers.

At the time, it was empty, as it closes every day at 3 p.m. (1 hour and 45 minutes before the abduction).

Noema Alavez Pérez's point of view

Image source: NBC10 Philadelphia

The image above shows Noema Alavez Pérez's point of view. This is what it would have looked like from her parked vehicle.

The swings were situated near the yellow canopy.

As you can see, her view of the playground wasn't great, as there was a fenced basketball court and a large tree in the way. Furthermore, the court sits on a raised foundation that obscures the playground.

Noema said that she could see most of the playground. However, the swings were slightly out of view.

Parking lot

Image source: Google Maps

This is a Google Street View image of the parking lot on Babe Ruth Street. Noema was parked near the red ellipse.

At the time, the park was relatively empty, except for a group of four young girls on the basketball court. Dulce and Manuel had the entire playground to themselves.

When Dulce went missing, Noema searched for her in the wooded area beside the park. After failing to find her daughter, she walked over to the basketball court and asked the group of girls if they saw anything.

Although one of them said that she saw "a black guy" passing by, the Amber Alert described the abductor as light-skinned and possibly Hispanic.

Bridgeton, New Jersey, has a large Hispanic population.

In Spanish, the words for a dark-skinned person can vary and do not neatly align with their English equivalents. Depending on the context and the cultural background of the speaker, the Spanish word can be much broader, referring to a Latino person, a Black person, or even an Asian person.

The description of the red van reportedly came from one of the girls who was on the basketball court at the time of Ducle's disappearance.

Playground

At the time of her disappearance, Dulce Maria Alavez was playing in this playground with her younger brother Manuel. Note that the playground no longer looks the exact same, as it has since been renovated.

As you can see, Ducle's mother, Noema, was parked a considerable distance away.

The Department of Public Works building is visible in the bottom image. Judging by Google Maps data, it is just 28 yards (25 meters) south of the playground.

Abduction site

It is believed that Dulce may have been abducted by a man who parked his red van on this access road behind the Department of Public Works building.

When Noema asked Manuel where his sister had gone, he reportedly pointed towards this building. Furthermore, one of the girls on the basketball court said that she saw a red van.

Google Street View

This is a Google Street View image of the alleged abduction site. The playground isn't visible, as it sits beyond the wall and the trees in the middle.

Sadly, Bridgeton City Park did not have any surveillance cameras at the time. Consequently, investigators had to rely entirely on witness accounts.

Dulce Alavez witness

The two images on the left are artist renderings of Dulce Alavez at age seven. If she is still alive today, she is now nine years old (turning ten in 2024).

The image on the right is a sketch of a "potential witness" that the police are interested in speaking to. It is believed that he was in Bridgeton City Park at the time of the incident.

The man in question is Hispanic and roughly 5 feet 7 inches tall.

At the time, his age was originally estimated to be between 30 and 35. However, the FBI revised this to 25–35 in a later statement.

On the day of Dulce's disappearance, he was wearing a white baseball cap, blue jeans, and a white t-shirt. He also had red marks on his chin, which may have been acne.

Roughly 400 motorists passed through the area at the time of Dulce's disappearance. At a press conference in September 2020, Bridgeton Police Chief Michael Gaimari Sr. noted that 80% of them had been tracked down and contacted. The remaining 20% of these could not be identified.

Although the park itself does not have any surveillance cameras, it is impossible to exit the location without being picked up by one. Notably, the police believe that the suspect's vehicle may be present in some of the footage that they have collected.

The authorities have asked the public to consider how those around them were behaving in the aftermath of Dulce Alavez's disappearance. For example, the suspect may have left town, missed work, modified their appearance, changed the color of their vehicle, or even changed their vehicle entirely.

The police have said that Dulce's mother and family were fully cooperative with the investigation. Following her daughter's disappearance, Noema gave the police full access to her phone, car, and house.