An Arizona girl who disappeared in the night days before her 15th birthday four years ago was found safe several states away this week, authorities announced Wednesday.
Alicia Navarro, now 18, walked into a police department in a tiny Montana town 40 miles from the Canadian border and identified herself as the teen who was reported missing in September 2019, Glendale police said.
“Alicia Navarro has been located,” Glendale public safety communications manager Jose Santiago said during a press conference. “She is by all accounts, safe, she is by all accounts healthy and she is by all accounts happy.”
The teenager — who was described as autistic but high-functioning in her missing person’s report — left her Glendale home overnight on Sept. 15, 2019, at just 14 years old.
Her parents, who were asleep when she slipped out of the house, found a handwritten note from their daughter stating: “I ran away. I will be back. I swear. I’m sorry.” the next day, according to KTAR News.
They never heard from her again — until this week.
Navarro walked into the local police station in Montana alone and asked that she be removed from the missing children list.
The department alerted Glendale police, who confirmed her identity and contacted the teen’s family to let them know she had been found safe.
Navarro was then met by her mother — who never gave up searching for her daughter — in an emotional reunion, police said.
The teen wanted to make sure her mom knew that she was OK and was very apologetic over the pain her mother went through not knowing where she was for the past four years or even if she was still alive, Santiago said.
Her mom, Jessica Nuñez, called the discovery of her daughter four years after her disappearance a miracle in a video she posted to Facebook.
“For everyone who has missing loved ones, I want you to use this case as an example,” she said. “Miracles do exist. Never lose hope and always fight.”
Nuñez said she doesn’t have details on her daughter’s disappearance but said “the important thing is that she is alive.”
Glendale police said they are investigating how the teen got to Montana and who she has been staying with over the past four years as many questions remain unanswered.
They said Navarro ran away from home under her own free will and has been cooperating with their investigation.
She also told police that no one has harmed her and appeared to be healthy.
The girl currently remains in Montana and is able to come and go as she pleases. She is asking for privacy so she can move on with her life, Santiago said.
“We can only imagine what she’s going through, mentally, emotionally, as well as her family, and as much as we’d like to say this is the end, this is probably only the beginning of where this investigation will go,” Glendale PD Lt. Scott Waite said.
Police are continuing to investigate the circumstances of Navarro’s disappearance and the following four years.
