Police have been working tirelessly to find Alavez, but there have been no major breaks in the case yet. Former FBI agent J.J. Klaver suggests that whoever took Dulce Maria Alavez is almost certainly a stranger, which he says is a rarity. And given the location of her disappearance, finding evidence to aid in the search is difficult.
He says the involvement of the feds now means they're searching beyond the area.
"It leads me to believe they don’t have a lot of solid leads to go on,” Klaver said. “They probably have not located very good video of the vehicle but they’re certainly going to continue to try to locate that if they can."
The problem is, people in Bridgeton may not be speaking up out of fear. Bridgeton has a large immigrant population. Some are undocumented, and they are reluctant to speak with investigators out of fear of deportation.
Klaver says no matter how much you assure the community that police just want information related to the kidnapping, people are skeptical and tight-lipped.
"There is reluctance and resistance to cooperate with law enforcement for fear of deportation, and that is real. Law enforcement agencies across the country struggle with this in getting members of immigrant communities to cooperate with law enforcement," Klaver says.
He says time is critical, and it gets harder to find evidence with each passing day. They are still looking for a man driving a red van or SUV. The FBI has added $5,000 to the reward fund in hopes of getting people to speak up.
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