Current:Home > ScamsMom of missing Arizona teen who surfaced after 4 years says family being "harassed" -WealthMap Solutions
Mom of missing Arizona teen who surfaced after 4 years says family being "harassed"
View
Date:2025-04-18 17:30:39
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! (5)
Related
- The FTC says 'gamified' online job scams by WhatsApp and text on the rise. What to know.
- US, Canada sail warships through the Taiwan Strait in a challenge to China
- The Secret to Ozzy Osbourne and Sharon Osbourne's 40-Year Marriage Revealed
- Vegas hotel operations manager accused of stealing $773K through bogus refund accounts
- Senate begins final push to expand Social Security benefits for millions of people
- Maldivians vote for president in a virtual geopolitical race between India and China
- Police fatally shoot man who was holding handgun in Idaho field
- Kroger to pay up to $1.4 billion to settle lawsuits over its role in opioid epidemic
- Head of the Federal Aviation Administration to resign, allowing Trump to pick his successor
- GMA's Robin Roberts Marries Amber Laign
Ranking
- At site of suspected mass killings, Syrians recall horrors, hope for answers
- ‘The world knows us.’ South Sudanese cheer their basketball team’s rise and Olympic qualification
- Russia is turning to old ally North Korea to resupply its arsenal for the war in Ukraine
- Prominent activist’s son convicted of storming Capitol and invading Senate floor in Jan. 6 riot
- Sarah J. Maas books explained: How to read 'ACOTAR,' 'Throne of Glass' in order.
- Emma Stone-led ‘Poor Things’ wins top prize at 80th Venice Film Festival
- The US Supreme Court took away abortion rights. Mexico's high court just did the opposite.
- Queen Elizabeth II remembered a year after her death as gun salutes ring out for King Charles III
Recommendation
US wholesale inflation accelerated in November in sign that some price pressures remain elevated
US-backed Kurdish fighters say battles with tribesmen in eastern Syria that killed dozens have ended
Greek ferry crews call a strike over work conditions after the death of a passenger pushed overboard
IRS targets 1,600 millionaires who owe at least $250,000
Apple iOS 18.2: What to know about top features, including Genmoji, AI updates
Philips Respironics agrees to $479 million CPAP settlement
Mary Kay Letourneau and Vili Fualaau's Daughter Is Pregnant With First Baby
How Germany stunned USA in FIBA World Cup semifinals and what's next for the Americans