Mom Of Teen Found After 4 Years Addresses 'Dangerous' Fascination In Case

Photo: Glendale Police Department

The mother of the Arizona teenager who was finally located in Montana last week after initially going missing in 2019, shared an emotional plea addressing the "dangerous" fascination with her daughter's case.

Jessica Nuñez posted a video of herself on the 'Finding Alicia' Facebook account Sunday (July 30) in which she claimed that the "search for answers has taken a turn for the dangerous."

“Let’s focus that my daughter is alive. This is a miracle,” Nuñez wrote in the video's caption.

The mother expressed gratitude for the support she's received since her daughter initially went missing at the age of 14, but warned of the dangers of the growing fascination in Alicia's case since she made contact with Montana police last week.

“I could never have kept going without all of your love, help and well wishes. I can’t even put into words the amount of gratitude I have for you all,” Nuñez said in the video. “But now that we know Alicia is alive, I have to ask one more favor of you. I know you want answers and I do, too. But the public’s search for answers has taken a turn for the dangerous.

“I have been harassed, my family has been attacked all over the internet — the public has gone from trying to help Alicia to doing things like trying to show up to her house and putting her safety in jeopardy. So I beg you, please no more TikToks, no more reaching out to Alicia or to me with your speculation or questions or assumptions. This is not a movie, this is our life, this is my daughter.

“I love her more than anything in the world, and I think I have shown you that. There’s an ongoing investigation and I’m begging you to move on.”

Nuñez's post comes hours after the New York Post reported that Navarro had threatened to "go back" during an argument with a man she was living with prior making contact with police.

“I was here the other day and I heard them yelling. She did say, ‘I will go back.’ But that’s all I heard,” said Garrett Smith, 22, who lives in the apartment complex in Havre, Montana.

Last Wednesday (July 26), Navarro, who left her Glendale home on September 15, 2019, at the age of 14, was reported to have gone to the Havre Police Department one day after the alleged argument to get herself off of the missing person's list in order to get a driver's license and begin living a "normal life," according to the Glendale Police Department. Police said Navarro, who was described as having "high-functioning autism," willfully left her home in 2019.

Smith told the Post that Navarro and an unidentified man in his 20s had moved into the apartment complex about a year ago where he believes she still lives, despite making contact with police.

“She was asking for directions. She looked scared,” Smith said, adding that it seemed Navarro wasn't familiar with the area. “She said she was walking with her uncle and got lost and she’s looking for 6th Street,” Smith said. “I later found out that she was referring to him as her uncle.”

No one has been charged in relation to Navarro's disappearance as of Sunday (July 30). Navarro was alone when spoke to police and was reported to have "basically" requested to be taken "off a missing juvenile list."

"She showed up to a police department. She identified herself as Alicia Navarro. She basically asked for help to clear her off of a missing juvenile list," said Jose Santiago, a spokesman for the Glendale Police Department, during a news conference via NBC News.

"She is not in any kind of trouble," he added. "She is not facing any kind of charges."

Navarro was said to finally be reunited with her mother, who continued searching for her since her disappearance, in what Waite said was "emotionally overwhelming" for both of them, but didn't specify on how they reunited.

"I can say, for everyone involved, including the detectives, it was extremely overwhelming," Waite said via NBC News.


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