(NewsNation Now) — Alicia Navarro, then 14, left a note for her mother on the morning of Sept. 15, 2019. “I ran away,” it read. “I will be back, I swear. I’m sorry.”
Alicia’s mother, Jessica Nunez, has not seen or heard from her daughter in the intervening two years.
The Glendale, Arizona, police have been chasing down leads trying to find Alicia, who is on the autism spectrum, and groups including Project25, a nonprofit dedicated to protecting victims of human trafficking, have also lent assistance. The FBI has her gaming computer and they are investigating whether a stranger online lured her away.
After two years, hundreds of tips and even some possible sightings, sadly, Alicia remains missing in America.
“I know my daughter’s intention, according to that letter, is that she’s going to come back,” Nunez told “NewsNation Prime” on Friday. “It’s been two years. I do believe she left thinking that she was going to come back and that she’s not able to.”
Nunez believes Alicia, a big gamer and social media enthusiast, was lured away by someone she met online.
“She was very active online and had various contacts.”
My daughter is high-functioning,” Nunez says. “She’s very smart. She’s a very loving child. She never did something like this before. … I never thought I would be sitting in this chair and being in this situation. She was an honor roll student. She liked to read. She liked computers a lot. I just want her to be found and I want her home. This has been a nightmare.”
Nunez has a message for parents.
“I do feel that it’s very, very necessary for parents to get educated on what their kids are doing on social media,” she said. “And all these new apps to our kids, I myself personally didn’t think any dangers since I thought my daughter was safe being at home. I have strangers in my home without them physically being there. For me, my advice to parents is to get educated on what’s available out there in social media. Make sure you know your kids’ passwords and be constantly talking about the dangers and just monitor their media. Because I definitely believe it’s a big, big problem that our youth is facing at the moment.”
Those with any information about Alicia are asked to contact Glendale Police at 623-930-3000.
