December 07, 2019
Source/Bridgeton Police Department
Dulce Maria Alavez, 5, went missing at Bridgeton City Park in Cumberland County, New Jersey on Sept. 16, 2019.
Noema Alavez Perez, the mother of missing New Jersey 5-year-old Dulce Maria Alavez, appeared on Dr. Phil's television show Friday and faced a line of questioning from the popular TV host about whether she was involved in her daughter's disappearance.
Dr. Phil asked Perez on Friday, point blank, whether she set up her daughter's kidnapping, and also whether she ever considered selling her daughter, in a tense back-and-forth. Perez said she wasn't involved in the kidnapping, and she never considered selling Alavez:
Perez, 19, has been searching for her missing daughter for nearly three months after Alavez went missing from a Bridgeton City park Sept. 16.
Alavez's disappearance in September sparked an intensive search that includes a $52,000 reward for anyone who comes forward with information leading to her whereabouts. A New Jersey State Police Amber Alert remains active and Alavez is still listed on the FBI's Most Wanted list for kidnapped and missing persons.
Dr. Phil, in the interview, explained that he brought up these tough questions about her possible motivations because, at one point, police considered Perez a suspect.
Perez said she didn't cry in front of police because she doesn't like to cry in front of people, which prompted suspicions about her role in Alavez's disappearance. Police made Perez take a polygraph test, she said, and didn't tell her the results of the test.
According to NJ.com, when Dr. Phil pressed Perez on whether she has any idea of who might be behind Alavez's disappearance, she said she suspected an "old friend" who was "trying to get to" her.
Bridgeton Police told NJ.com that Perez had raised suspicion about the friend to authorities, but an investigation didn't lead to anything "substantial".
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