Family, police trying to ‘piece together’ where Alicia Navarro has been for 3 years
- Navarro, now 18, showed up at a police station in a small town in Montana
- Her mother says she was diagnosed on the autism spectrum
- She also raised concerns that Navarro may have been lured away by a man
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HAVRE, Mont. (NewsNation) — A spokesman for the family of an Arizona girl who vanished nearly four years ago before appearing at a Montana police station this week says she is “safe and healthy,” but the investigation is just beginning.
Police in Havre, Montana, said Alicia Navarro, now 18, showed up alone Sunday morning in the town of about 9,200 people near the Canadian border and identified herself as a missing teenager from the Phoenix suburb of Glendale.
Family spokesperson Trent Steele said Navarro’s family is overjoyed that she’s safe, but obviously, they have the same questions as everyone else.
“Right now we’re working with law enforcement to try to piece together what’s happened the last three years and figure out what’s happened,” said Steele. “How she’s been able to stay off the grid, how she’s been able to feed herself, how she’s been able to bathe herself.”
Navarro’s disappearance on Sept. 15, 2019, sparked a massive search that included the FBI. Glendale police spokesperson Jose Santiago said over the years, police had received thousands of tips.
Investigators are now trying to determine what happened to Navarro after vanishing at age 14 and how she ended up in Montana, more than 1,300 miles (2,090 kilometers) away from her hometown.
When she disappeared, Navarro left a signed note that read: “I ran away. I will be back, I swear. I’m sorry.”
But her mother, Jessica Nunez, raised concerns that Navarro, who was diagnosed as on the autism spectrum, may have been lured away by someone she met online.
Law enforcement officers took a man into custody at an apartment just a few blocks from the Havre police station on Wednesday night, according to several witnesses that were interviewed by The Associated Press.
Citing the ongoing investigation, Steele would not comment on those witnesses’ claims.
“There’s nothing I can say about that. At this time, we’ve got to wait and see how things play out,” he said. “It’s still an ongoing, very active investigation.”
Steele did, however, relay a message from Navarro.
“Jessica wants to convey her thanks to everyone around the world that’s shared their love and their thoughts with them. Over the last several years, they’ve helped the family get through some very dark times.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
