Help Find Alicia Navarro: Your Efforts Can Make a Difference
Alicia Navarro from Glendale Arizona was just 14 years old when she went missing from her home on September 15th, 2019. Alicia has autism and needs special care, Her mother Jessica never stopped searching for her ever since, it is a story that needs to be told.
Update: The date is July 27th, 2023, After four years of disappearance, 18-year-old Alicia Navarro showed up at a police station in Montana.
Jessica Nuñez pleads for people to 'move on.'
Sleepless nights and endless questions are realities that resemble what a family goes through when their child goes missing; a pain that never goes away, an emptiness that never fills up, and grief that never heals.
Imagine waking up one day and finding out your child is gone without a trace. Unfortunately, it is a reality that Jessica Nuñez, Alicia Navarro's mother, went through. And, still to this day, facing it and searching for answers.
On September 15th, 2019, Jessica woke up around 7 a.m. and prepared breakfast for her spouse Ivan, and two youngest children.
Fourteen-year-old Alicia, the eldest daughter, was still not up yet, but it was not very unusual as she would sometimes stay up late playing games online and chatting with her friends.
Alicia struggled with social situations; diagnosed with a neurodiverse condition on the autism spectrum. Jessica truly believed that her daughter's active online life was a source of happiness for her and a fair way of social interaction. She eventually quit her job to support Alicia at home and spend more time with her.
Online communication can reduce some of the challenges of face-to-face interaction, such as eye contact, body language, etc. Children can easily find others who share similar experiences or interests, but of course, the power of anonymity poses a great danger. People can hide their identities or pretend to be someone they're not. And it presents a real threat to children and teens who are online.
But Jessica noticed something different; it caught her attention that the house's back door was ajar. Upon checking the backyard, she found chairs stacked against a wall and cinder blocks. Her thoughts raced, fearing that Alicia had used them to jump over the back fence wall. She hurried to Alicia's bedroom, but her fear, unfortunately, became a reality; Alicia wasn't there. Worriedly, she called 911 and every person that could lead her to an answer.
Nothing made any sense to her. Alicia, around that time, seemed happier than normally she would.
She last saw her earlier that morning at 1 a.m. As Jessica waited for her husband to arrive, Alicia went downstairs for a glass of water. She seemed fine, they had a small talk, and then Alicia said goodnight and climbed back to her room. But one question during their conversation stood out to Jessica; Alicia asked her when she would be going to sleep, and it was a question that seemed out of place.
Investigative reports concluded that evidence from the scene showed that Alicia went out through the back door and climbed over chairs and cinder blocks next to a wall at the edge of their backyard, leaving her home near 45th Avenue and Rose Lane in Glendale.
Jessica discovered that Alicia had taken a small black backpack with metallic cat ears, makeup, a comic book, her cellular phone, and an Apple MacBook, but she didn't take the chargers.
Jessica asked around the neighborhood, looking for answers about her daughter's whereabouts, but to her dismay, it didn't help. And the situation intensified when she discovered a note left by Alicia that read, "I ran away. I will be back. I swear. I'm sorry."
Five days later, the first sighting of Alicia occurred when a person who had personally known her told Jessica and the investigators shortly after her disappearance that they had seen Alicia at La Pradera Park the previous day. The park was about 1.5 miles away from Alicia's home. Jessica rushed to the park and spoke to witnesses who confirmed seeing a girl resembling Alicia, saying she was walking "with an African-American man with tattoos on his hands, neck, and face."
Jessica persisted and fought for a Silver Alert to be issued.
It is a public notification system that is only activated when an elderly, developmentally, or cognitively impaired person has gone missing and is determined to be at risk, broadcasting information about them throughout the United States. On July 1st, 2020, a Silver Alert was issued. They also displayed Alicia's face on billboards.
Jessica never stopped searching for her daughter, it has taken a toll on her mental health, and it still does; she felt devastated and shocked to see the reality surrounding many teens living in the 21st century. Many were involved in drug dealing and prostitution.
She fears how someone might coerce her daughter to be part of these groups, as she knows Alicia blindly trusted those whom she connected with. She is also concerned that someone might have influenced her and caused her to flee. She never stopped searching for her daughter.
"I just feel like she's in danger. She would have never been gone this long - not without getting in touch with me," Jessica said.
The FBI, The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, and the nonprofit investigative agency Anti-Predator Project are all taking part in the search and trying hard to locate Alicia.
Jessica is doing her best to spread the word. She uses various online platforms to inform and teach parents about the risks children encounter online. She hopes her online presence will help her locate her daughter.
"It's my entire life now. My goal is for this case not to go dead," Jessica said.
As of now, Alicia is 18 years old. The following is an age-progressed image provided by the NCMEC.
If you have any information on Alicia Navarro's whereabouts, call Glendale Police at 623-930-3000, the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children at 1–800-THE-LOST, or the Anti-Predator Project at 305–796–4859.
Missing: Alicia Navarro | Glendale, AZ | Uncovered
No leads as Glendale teen Alicia Navarro has been missing for a year (azcentral.com)