BRIDGETON — A third search for Dulce Maria Alavez, the 5-year-old girl who went missing in September, came up empty after about 25 people searched the banks of the Cohansey River and distributed more than 450 flyers to residences and businesses in the area.
“We didn’t find anything,” said Jackie Rodriguez, of Vineland, who is the unofficial spokeswoman for the family of Dulce. “We found a couple of holes in the ground, but nothing out of the ordinary.”
After the third search in three weeks, there are still no leads, and the amount of people searching for Dulce is dwindling.
“I guess it’s because there’s no leads and no answers,” she said. “There are not that many people coming out for the searches. The first time I had 65 people, the second one I had about 50 people and then it went down to 25.”
People are also reading…
She believes people are getting frustrated because they want to find something to help lead them to Dulce, but they keep coming up short. She said people are getting frustrated with the authorities as well.
“They think authorities aren’t doing a great job,” she said. “But they are doing a great job. They just can’t let us know their every step, but they’re doing their job.”
The next plan of action is a march on Nov. 17 through Bridgeton, she said. The march is for the family as they are upset with the lack of support from the city.
“They have not gotten any help whatsoever from the city of Bridgeton,” she said. “No one has reached out to them to offer them any help with the searches or any help with any kind of therapy, anything a community can offer a family in need of assistance with a situation like this.”
Rodriguez said the march will start on Irving Avenue. She did not know what time the march will start. Dulce disappeared Sept. 16 while playing with her younger brother in City Park. Noema Alavez Perez, the girl’s mother, was sitting in her car nearby with an 8-year-old relative. A $52,000 reward is being offered for any information that leads authorities to Dulce.
