Major Alicia Navarro update as missing girl who vanished at 14 is found alive four years later
A TEENAGE girl who went missing in 2019 has been found safe in a remote town hundreds of miles away.
Alicia Navarro disappeared when she was 14 from Glendale, Arizona, outside of Phoenix.
The Glendale Police Department announced that the now 18-year-old with high-functioning autism had been found in Montana at a press conference on Wednesday.
Although they didn’t disclose her exact location, department spokesperson Jose Santiago said Navarro has been living in a small town near the Canadian border.
“She is by all accounts safe, she is by all accounts healthy, and she is by all accounts happy,” he said.
“She went to a local police department in that area, she identified herself as Alicia Navarro, and at that point our officers went into investigation mode.”
Navarro came forward because she wanted to be removed from the missing persons database, Santiago said.
After conducting interviews with her and her family, investigators concluded that the woman in Montana is the missing teen.
“We are confident the person that we are talking with is indeed Alicia Navarro,” Santiago said.
Navarro, who has reportedly asked for privacy, disappeared in the middle of the night after leaving a note at her mother Jennifer Nunez’s home, KTAR reported.
“I ran away. I will be back. I swear. I’m sorry,” the message said.
Nunez believed that the teen was lured away by an online predator, KNXV reported.
Police, however, said that Navarro left of her own free will.
Her mother has been searching relentlessly ever since.
“No one hurt me,” Navarro said in a video of her conversation with police provided by investigators.
They have not disclosed who she has been staying with.
Navarro has not been taken into custody and the details of how she disappeared are still being investigated.
“We are happy and at the same time, we are hopeful we will be able to supply this family with a little more closure,” Santiago said.
MOM’S REACTION
Alicia Navarro’s mom appeared emotional as she reacted to the news on Wednesday, sharing a video about the development on Facebook.
“I do feel I owe this video to the community and to God,” she said.
“For everyone who has missing loved ones, I want you to use this case as an example that miracles do exist.”
Nunez urged other parents in her position to “never lose hope and always fight” confirming that her daughter “is safe.”
She added that she did not have any other details, explaining she was only notified of her daughter’s whereabouts an hour before the story began circulating on social media and in the news.
“This is recent news for me,” the mother said.
She added: “The important thing is that she is alive.”
Navarro was just a few days short of her 15th birthday when she went missing.
At the time, she was described at 5ft4 and 95lbs.
She was wearing a white sweatshirt, a denim overall skirt, and black and white Vans sneakers.