BRIDGETON, N.J. (KYW Newsradio) — Monday was the eighth birthday of Dulce Alavez, who went missing nearly three years ago from a park in South Jersey.
A small crowd of family, friends, and supporters hosted a birthday party for Alavez at a memorial tree for her at Bridgeton City Park, near the playground where she was last seen.
The party included decorations, food and a cake based off of one of her favorite movies, Disney’s “Moana.”
“She came hugging me and my mom, telling us ‘My ohana,’” Noema Alavez, Dulce’s mother, said.
“At first, my mom thought that was a bad word. She told her not to say that, because my mom didn’t know. And so I looked it up and I found out that came from the movie ‘Moana.’”
“Ohana” means family.
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Dulce Alavez’s family and community haven’t stopped searching since she went missing on Sept. 16, 2019, when she was 5 years old. Investigators believe she may have been abducted from the park while she was playing with her brother at the playground.
The Cumberland County Prosecutors Office continues to investigate the case, and they hold out hope that she is still alive.
“Her name’s still alive, and people still know that she’s still missing,” said Noema Alavez.
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“If she doesn’t see It here in human form, then at least she will see it through the tv or somebody will hopefully tell her, ‘Hey, I think I saw they were celebrating a party for you. Are you missing?’ Something, maybe,” said Brenda Trinidad, who organized the event.
“It’s to always keep her name alive. That’s why we keep on celebrating.”
The Cumberland County Prosecutor’s Office says to contact them if you have any information on her case. Rewards as large as $75,000 have been offered in the effort to find her.
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