The original story released by the Bridgeton Police Department simply said Noema remained in the car with her sibling. Noema said during a Q & A that she was helping her sister with homework. A few weeks later Noema said she was also scratching off lottery tickets. IMO it's not a big deal but we should be aware that msm reports a year later may not agree completely with early reports.
Original press release which can be found in the media thread:
Officers were advised by the child's mother, Noema Alavez, that the child was playing on swings with her younger 3-year-old brother approximately 30 yards away while she remained in her vehicle with an 8-year-old relative.
The mother reported that she observed the 3-year-old returning to her vehicle without the missing child and was unable to locate her daughter.
During an interview with msm on September 18 Noema said:
What Alavez Perez has said is that, on Monday, after buying ice cream for her 8-year-old sister, her 3-year-old son, Manuel, and for Dulce, she drove to the park.
While Alavez Perez spoke with her sister about the little girl’s homework in the parking lot, Dulce and Manuel ran toward the swings on the playground about 30 yards away. They were out of sight for less than three minutes when Manuel ran back, crying and pointing to a spot near park buildings, she said.
“I thought she was playing hide-and-seek,” Alavez Perez said.
Mother of 5-year-old South Jersey girl apparently abducted in Bridgeton park grieves and waits
Somewhere around October 3, 2019 Noema mentioned the lottery tickets and clarified that she had gone looking for the kids. Earlier reports said the little boy came running back crying.
She answered some questions about that day, saying she stayed in the car while Dulce María and her brother, 3, ran to the swings because she was scratching a lottery ticket and helping her sister get her homework out. A play set on the playground was visible from the car, she said, but the swing set was hidden by a small hill.
When she walked over toward the swings, she found only the boy, crying, she said. Ice cream he had been eating was on the ground. Previously, Alavez Pérez had told NBC10 that Dulce María also had ice cream with her as she went to the swings -- and that investigators haven't even been able to find the 5-year-old's ice cream cup or spoon.
‘I Can't Find My Daughter': 911 Call Reveals Moments After 5-Year-old Dulce María Alavez Went Missing