A three-year-old boy ran sobbing to his mother after his sister, 5, was abducted at a playground.
The search for Dulce Alavez entered its fourth day on Thursday after police said she disappeared from Bridgeton City Park in New Jersey on Monday.
Dulce’s mother, Noema Alvarez, told authorities that she took Dulce to the park with her three-year-old brother and another eight-year-old relative.
On their way to the park, they stopped and bought ice cream from a Sunoco convenience store.
A surveillance camera filmed them as they shopped. When they arrived at the park, Dulce and her brother went to the playground.
Noema and the eight-year-old stayed in her car, which reportedly was a short distance away.
Approximately ten minutes later, the three-year-old ran to the car sobbing. He was pointing to an area where he last saw his sister, near some storage buildings.
Noema told NJ.com that she frantically searched for her daughter for about 15 minutes.
She thought Dulce may have been hiding, but called police when she could not find her. Pilot left dangling from electric cables after ejecting from fighter jet Authorities have been conducting wide-scale searches since Dulce was reported missing.
Police and the FBI have combed through the park on foot, flown over the area with a helicopter, and drained a body of water in the park – but Dulce still remains missing.
On Wednesday, Noema said that investigator suggested that family members played a role in Dulce’s abduction, which she firmly denied.
She said: ‘The police think our family did this. They think I did something bad to her. I didn’t. I love my daughter. I would never do nothing bad to her.’
On Thursday, police said the possible suspect who they believe took Dulce was a light-skinned Hispanic man in a red van with a sliding door and tinted windows.
Authorities said he was last seen leading Dulce away from the playground, toward his van.
