AMBER ALERT NJ - Dulce Mariá Alavez, 5, abducted at Bridgeton City Park, Cumberland County, 16 Sept 2019 #4

[zecats]

I thought there was early reference to Wal Mart cameras as well?

WalMart is on the way out of town, headed north on a semi-main road. I believe the references were to check the cameras there just in case. That would only work if the van traveled that way and maybe even parked in the lot. Or, or course, in a search for the brightly colored clothing of the suspect.

 

[ProtectChildren]

Generally, Bridgeton is a pretty isolated community. Unless you work or live there, there is not much of an attraction to visit. The free zoo and low cost splash park are a nice summer attraction for families with young kids. There's the courthouse and county jail and a state prison that employ a lot of people in the area.

I feel like who ever is involved is from the area, has ties to the area, or spent some time in the area. Bridgeton is not really even a city you would drive through to get to another place.

 

[JerzeyGirl]

I believe who did it is local too. No one goes to Bridgeton (except for those who live there obviously) unless they are going to work or visiting someone.

 

[Deleted member 238128]

I believe who did it is local too. No one goes to Bridgeton (except for those who live there obviously) unless they are going to work or visiting someone.

Completely get what you’re saying, but wouldn’t it stand to reason that a would be abductor would deliberately seek out a place where he wouldn’t be known, rather than take a local child and risk recognition?

 

[MissMalowe]

If the prosecutor mispronouncing her name is truly what hurt any potential community involvement, there's perhaps something equally insulting & offensive with that community's rationale as there was in the prosecutor's words.

The legal status of a large number of residents has also been a worry and therefore a roadblock it seems.
People honestly not having information to give could also be a factor. Suspecting but not wanting to tell on a friend or loved one could also be a possibility.

I don't think it's fair to assume the community isn't involved because of Webb-McRae not pronouncing Dulce's name correctly. But if that truly is the reason, Bridgeton's feelings about that are very misplaced.

Dulce is a member of the community.
Their community.

JMO/my own opinion only.


Jumping off the recent local person or not local person talk, what are the statistics for random/unknown kidnappings in terms of where the abductor lives in relation to the where the victim is taken from? How far do they usually travel or are they usually local? I haven't a clue as it seems all the child cases I've followed here are usually parents or bf/gf of the parent sadly.

 

[ProtectChildren]

I think the mispronouncement of Dulce's name and the brush off reaction to being corrected was hurtful.
Unfortunately I think it is probably all too familiar to the Mexican American community in the Bridgeton area. It is a reason I did not find Noema's interviews to be an inappropiate reaction like some have criticized.
I don't like to generalize, but have experienced Mexican and other South American folks in the area often seem a bit withdrawn and guarded in expressing emotion in comparison to people of other cultures in the area when you first meet. After some time it is easy to see this is not their way of interacting with each other or those who they develop a trust and respect with.
I believe there is a distrust and maybe a reaction to being disrespected or dismissed due to culture or language differences.
The ICE response has not helped either.

 

[zecats]

Generally, Bridgeton is a pretty isolated community. Unless you work or live there, there is not much of an attraction to visit. The free zoo and low cost splash park are a nice summer attraction for families with young kids. There's the courthouse and county jail and a state prison that employ a lot of people in the area.

I feel like who ever is involved is from the area, has ties to the area, or spent some time in the area. Bridgeton is not really even a city you would drive through to get to another place.

It used to be quite different. We often took our kids to the zoo. And many times we met friends for dinner at The Coach Room and some other nice restaurants in town, many years ago. Plus it was the closest place with a grocery store when we lived in Centerton.

I still have friends who live just outside of Bridgeton, but you're right...not much reason to go there any more. Still some beautiful architecture and Victorian homes though, much like Salem in Salem County.

 

[jjenny]

I'm not positive there are security cameras all over the place. Most of the main road (Mayor Aiken Drive) that cuts though the park north and south is wooded.

Google Maps

Basically 3 ways to exit from the area behind the buildings near the playground, IMO if that's where the vehicle was parked. Seems the most likely place.

1) Burt St - Red SUV seen on camera there, so likely not taken.

2) Babe Ruth Drive to Scholastic Drive - passes back of high school, so high
likelihood of cameras. Again, not a good choice.

3) Babe Ruth Drive to Mayor Aiken Drive - north bound on MA Drive is all
woods ands passes the zoo and then Sunset Lake area. Probably cameras at
the zoo to protect the animals, but do they face the main road? Left on Park
shows still wooded areas.

Not totally impossible for a vehicle to leave the area without showing up on surveillance video. And there are lots of back ways, neighborhood streets to cut through to get to a main way out - route 49 (E-W) or route 77 N-S), to name a couple.

So to not be on video, the perp in the van is either very lucky, or knows where the cameras aren't, or doesn't exist.

 

[Steelslady]

I think going back for pictures or video from the Friday before when she was seen in the park is a good idea as well. The park area is not an easier place to navigate unless you are familiar with it. For it to be the "perfect place and time" for a stranger abduction seems almost impossible. The idea a stranger had checked it out in advance and returned, seems more likely.

The silence and lack of updates give hope that there is much behind the scenes work being done. There was a murder of a midget football coach in Millville last summer that had video of the getaway car, but it was 2 months before any arrests. During that time there were not much updates to the media.
It was a pretty sad situation where the coach was shot in a middle school parking lot just after practice with a crowd of parents and little kids nearby.
I do not recall mention of it being gang related, but it had a lot of gang like connections with drugs, dog fighting rings, conspiracy charges. This was a very violent crime in front of 5, 6, 7 year old kids and the sense of safety was destroyed.

The County Prosecutor really came out about this and another case to help solve the crimes. We just can hope she is working just as hard and will deliver the truth about what happened, where is this little girl.

That poor coach- that is terrible! May he rest in peace. I have no words.

 

[peppertheyorkiepoo]

Not familiar with New Jersey so, if you live there please answer a question. Is hunting a big thing in New Jersey? I am in Georgia and although we don't hunt a lot of people do. Hunters cameras are very popular here. If I remember correctly, the police asked hunters to check their cameras when Hania went missing.

 

[Steelslady]

So to not be on video, the perp in the van is either very lucky, or knows where the cameras aren't, or doesn't exist.

Former maintenance worker at the park? Didn't they re-do parts of the park recently?

 

[jjenny]

Its good to hear that people are involved and questioning the overall situation as I agree with you that the shifting details and timeline are hard to understand on the surface.

LE silence in a missing case sometimes happens but given that we saw such a vocal LE from the beginning of this case that the switch to 'radio silence' is quite concerning.

As you pointed out the job for LE to completely check out the story and the family details given the size of the extended family is huge so perhaps that is why there is radio silence too.

IDK but its concerning to see a 5 yo just vanish into thin air and then here zip from LE for so many days!

Agree. I don't necessarily agree that LE is silent because they are onto something. Sometimes LE is silent because they don't have any good leads. Certainly there have been quite a few abduction cases where LE had no clue whatsoever for quite a while until something happened to give them a clue.
Like Elizabeth Smart, no clue for a while until little sister figured out whose voice she heard.
Shawn Hornbeck-no clue whatsoever until perp kidnapped another child.
Jayme Closs-no leads until she escaped.

 

[zecats]

So to not be on video, the perp in the van is either very lucky, or knows where the cameras aren't, or doesn't exist.

Yep, yep, or yep. Narrows it down quite nicely, right?

 

[diggndeeperstill]

Yes they just finished the basketball courts on September 11th. I believe it’s the same park. I posted a link to it upthread.

Former maintenance worker at the park? Didn't they re-do parts of the park recently?

 

[zecats]

Not familiar with New Jersey so, if you live there please answer a question. Is hunting a big thing in New Jersey? I am in Georgia and although we don't hunt a lot of people do. Hunters cameras are very popular here. If I remember correctly, the police asked hunters to check their cameras when Hania went missing.

Hunting is a very big thing in NJ. Kids often take off a week from school (or few days) in early December for deer season. Bow first, then rifle.

I know of trail cameras around my area because last December a man, whose dog went missing, was checking the video each day to see if he could spot the pup.
Creepy alert - he actually spotted a prowler in the woods during the early morning hours on the film.

 

[WillenFan21]

I believe who did it is local too. No one goes to Bridgeton (except for those who live there obviously) unless they are going to work or visiting someone.

I've always thought it was a local too and that's why every time I post on here I say I wish they'd go searching through local property's etc. I've always felt they wasted more time on the park than they should have. JMO

 

[zecats]

I've always thought it was a local too and that's why every time I post on here I say I wish they'd go searching through local property's etc.

Count me in - I also think a local. Local enough to know the park and the area, at least.

 

[MissMalowe]

No luck so far in statistics in terms of average distance between perp and victims. Just keep reading statistics about how a child is usually taken within 1/4 mile of their home.

I did stumble upon this article from The New York Times which was sort of interesting.... Gets into the details of what kind of person abducts kids. Somewhat old, from 2002, but I found it interesting.

Who Would Abduct a Child? Previous Cases Offer Clues

 

[zecats]

Former maintenance worker at the park? Didn't they re-do parts of the park recently?

A pedestrian bridge I believe, and possibly some parts of the wooden walkway around the zoo.

 

[ProtectChildren]

So to not be on video, the perp in the van is either very lucky, or knows where the cameras aren't, or doesn't exist.

This really must be limited though.
At my home, we have 4 video cameras to catch all around our house and the street in front so all cars passing our home are recorded. This sounds extreme writing it out here, but we had a few break ins in my neighborhood, and it turned out the majority of my neighbors have cameras as well. They caught the burglers with all the video evidence. I live under 15 miles from Bridgeton. I feel like lots of residential areas have video cameras, besides businesses, besides government and street and weather cams.