(NEW YORK) — Thursday marks two years since 5-year-old Dulce Maria Alavez mysteriously vanished at a New Jersey park.
The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children has worked with investigators to create this age-progression image showing what Dulce may look like today as a 7-year-old.
“Law enforcement continues to pursue all leads” to find Dulce, Cumberland County Prosecutor Jennifer Webb-McRae and Bridgeton Police Chief Michael Gaimari said in a joint statement Wednesday.
Authorities — including state, local and federal — are working “to determine those who are responsible” for her disappearance, the statement said.
Dulce was last seen on Sept. 16, 2019, while playing with her 3-year-old brother at the Bridgeton City Park behind Bridgeton High School.
Her mother, Noema Alavez Perez, was sitting in her car 30 yards away helping Dulce’s 8-year-old sister with homework.
“She was a sweet girl. Nice, loving,” Perez told ABC News this year. “She likes to pretend that she was always a princess. She likes to be around like smaller kids. She always like to give hugs and kisses.”
Police and prosecutors said Wednesday there’s no evidence of the little girl’s death and they “hold out hope that Dulce is alive.”
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