Current:Home > NewsMom of missing Arizona teen who surfaced after 4 years says family being "harassed" -MarketEdge
Mom of missing Arizona teen who surfaced after 4 years says family being "harassed"
View
Date:2025-04-16 07:41:26
The mother of an Arizona teenager who surfaced four years after disappearing without a trace is asking people to give her family privacy as police continue their investigation.
Last week Arizona police announced that 18-year-old Alicia Navarro, of Glendale, showed up alone and unharmed in a small town about 40 miles from the Canadian border and identified herself.
Police said the investigation into her disappearance at age 14 on Sept. 15, 2019, remains ongoing, but that she is not facing any criminal charges.
Let’s focus that my daughter is alive This is a miracle
Posted by Finding Alicia on Sunday, July 30, 2023
But since her reappearance, online and media speculation about what happened to Navarro has now turned into harassment, according to her mother, Jessica Nunez.
Nunez posted a video message sending thanks to those who sent well wishes during her daughter's disappearance but said now that Alicia has been found she has to ask for one more favor after the public search for answers turned "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," Nunez said in a video posted to Facebook.
"So I beg you, please no more TikToks, no more reaching out to Alicia or me with your speculation or questions or assumptions. This is not a movie, this is our life, this is my daughter," she pleads.
"I love her more than anything in the world, and I think I have shown you that," Navarro continues. "There's an ongoing investigation and I'm begging you to move on."
Nunez had previously raised concerns that Navarro, who was diagnosed as high-functioning on the autism spectrum, may have been lured away by someone she met online.
Police said Navarro told them she hadn't been harmed and that she wasn't being held and could come and go as she pleased.
When she disappeared from her home, Navarro left a signed note that read: "I ran away. I will be back, I swear. I'm sorry."
veryGood! (36)
Related
- Friday the 13th luck? 13 past Mega Millions jackpot wins in December. See top 10 lottery prizes
- Judge rules that Ja Morant acted in self-defense when he punched teenager
- Democrats lean into border security as it shapes contest for control of Congress
- Sandlot Actor Marty York Details Aftermath of His Mom Deanna Esmaeel’s 2023 Murder
- Whoopi Goldberg is delightfully vile as Miss Hannigan in ‘Annie’ stage return
- Kiernan Shipka Details How She Plans to Honor Late Costar Chance Perdomo
- 'Fallout' is coming to Prime earlier than expected: Release date, time, cast, how to watch
- National, state GOP figures gather in Omaha to push for winner-take-all elections in Nebraska
- Newly elected West Virginia lawmaker arrested and accused of making terroristic threats
- WWE champions 2024: Who holds every title in WWE, NXT after WrestleMania 40?
Ranking
- Biden administration makes final diplomatic push for stability across a turbulent Mideast
- As bans spread, fluoride in drinking water divides communities across the US
- New Zealand tightens visa rules as immigration minister says unsustainable numbers coming into the country
- 'Game of Thrones' star Kit Harington says Jon Snow spinoff is no longer in the works
- Meet the volunteers risking their lives to deliver Christmas gifts to children in Haiti
- More than half of foreign-born people in US live in just 4 states and half are naturalized citizens
- Adam Silver says gambling probe of Toronto’s Jontay Porter could lead to banishment from league
- 18-year-old in Idaho planned to attack more than 21 churches on behalf of ISIS, feds say
Recommendation
SFO's new sensory room helps neurodivergent travelers fight flying jitters
Authorities offer $45,000 for info leading to arrest in arson, vandalism cases in Arizona town
Sophia Bush Says She’s “Happier Than Ever” After Personal Journey
Searching for Tommy John: Sizing up the key culprits in MLB's elbow injury epidemic
Average rate on 30
Calvin Harris' wife Vick Hope admits she listens to his ex Taylor Swift when he's gone
Washigton Huskies running back Tybo Rogers arrested, charged with two counts of rape
Knife-wielding woman fatally shot by officers in Indiana, police say