Alicia Navarro, the Arizona teen who unexpectedly turned up in Montana nearly four years after her disappearance, is being treated as a victim by the police, officials said.
Authorities in Navarro’s hometown of Glendale, Arizona, said the teen is not facing any criminal charges and is not in any kind of legal trouble.
“To us she is a victim, and we need to provide services to her,” said Glendale police Lt. Scott Waite, adding that she did not require medical attention.
Navarro was quoted as telling the police that her disappearance in September 2019 “started as a runaway situation,” reported ABC News.
Just a few days before her 15th birthday, the girl left her family’s home in the middle of the night without an explanation.
The following morning, her parents found a handwritten note from Navarro saying: “I ran away. I will be back. I swear. I’m sorry.”
Earlier this week, Navarro walked into a police station in a tiny Montana town about 40 miles from the Canadian border — and some 1,000 miles from home — and identified herself as a missing girl from Arizona.
Police in Arizona said they are treating 18-year-old Alicia Navarro as a victim after her unexpected return four years after her disappearance. FOX 10“She is by all accounts safe, she is by all accounts healthy, and she is by all accounts happy,” Glendale police spokesman Jose Santiago said at a news conference Wednesday.
Investigators are still working to piece together why Navarro left home, what happened to her after she vanished and where she has been all these years.
Her mother, Jessica Nunez, 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.
Navarro told police in Arizona via video that she had not been harmed by anyone. FOX 10 Phoenix
Navarro allegedly told police that her disappearance from home in 2019 started as a “runaway situation.” FOX 10 PhoenixWhen asked during a video interview with the police this week whether anybody had harmed her, Navarro replied: “No, nobody hurt me.”
Alicia Navarro's mysterious reappearance: What we know so far
Who is Alicia Navarro?
Alicia Navarro is a previously missing 18-year-old from Arizona who unexpectedly turned up in a Montana police station nearly four years after her disappearance.
When did she disappear?
In 2019, the girl left her family’s Glendale, Arizona, home in the middle of the night just a few days before her 15th birthday. Her parents found a handwritten note from Navarro saying: “I ran away. I will be back. I swear. I’m sorry.”
Where was she found?
Navarro walked into a police station in a tiny Montana town about 40 miles from the Canadian border — and some 1,000 miles from home — and identified herself as the missing girl from Arizona.
Is she facing any charges?
Authorities in Navarro’s hometown of Glendale, Arizona, said the teen is not facing any criminal charges and is not in any kind of legal trouble.
Why did she leave?
Alicia’s mother, Jessica Nuñez, 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.
Although it was not immediately clear why the 18-year-old chose to come forward now, police said she told officers she wanted to be removed from the missing children list.
“I think for Alicia, she felt like now was the time that, whether it’s emotionally, mentally, that she wants to take the next steps in her life,” Waite said. “She’s expressed a desire to move forward in life.”
Navarro was just days away from her 15th birthday went she left home, telling her parents in a note that she was running away but promising to return. Missing Kids
Jessica Nunez called her daughter’s return a “miracle.” Finding Alicia/FacebookNavarro has been cooperative with the investigation and “very apologetic” for the pain she has put her mother through, Santiago said.
The teen has been reunited with her mom, who described her daughter’s return as a “miracle.”
