An Arizona girl who went missing in the middle of the night four years ago, just days before her 15th birthday, was found safe several states away this week after she stepped into a police station and asked to be removed from the missing children list.
Alicia Navarro, now 18, went into a police station in Glendale, Montana, 40 miles from the Canadian border, and identified herself as the adolescent reported missing in September 2019.
“Alicia Navarro has been located,” Glendale public safety communications manager Jose Santiago said during a press conference. “She is by all accounts safe, she is by all accounts healthy and she is by all accounts happy.”
The 14-year-old girl, who was characterized as autistic but high-functioning in her missing person’s report, fled her Glendale home overnight on September 15, 2019.
Her parents, who were asleep when she fled, discovered a handwritten message from their daughter that read: “I ran away. I shall return. I swear to you. According to KTAR News, he apologized the next day.
Navarro was then met by her mother — who never gave up searching for her daughter — in an emotional reunion, police said.
The teen wanted to make sure her mom knew that she was OK and was very apologetic over the pain her mother went through not knowing where she was for the past four years or even if she was still alive, Santiago said.
Her mom, Jessica Nuñez, called the discovery of her daughter four years after her disappearance a miracle in a video she posted to Facebook.
“For everyone who has missing loved ones, I want you to use this case as an example,” she said. “Miracles do exist. Never lose hope and always fight.”
Nuñez said she doesn’t have details on her daughter’s disappearance but said “the important thing is that she is alive.”
Many issues remain unexplained, according to Glendale police, who are investigating how the adolescent traveled to Montana and with whom she has been staying for the previous four years.
Navarro, they claim, ran away from home of her own free will and has been participating with their inquiry.
She also told authorities that no one had hurt her and that she appeared to be in good condition.
She is asking for privacy so she can move on with her life, Santiago said.
“We can only imagine what she’s going through, mentally, emotionally, as well as her family, and as much as we’d like to say this is the end, this is probably only the beginning of where this investigation will go,” Glendale PD Lt. Scott Waite said.
Police are continuing to investigate the circumstances of Navarro’s disappearance and the following four years.
