27 July 2023 , 09:22
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Police have pointed out one strange thing about a newly released photo taken of after she walked into a police station four years after going missing.
Alicia Navarro, now 18, disappeared from her home in a small town in Arizona in September 2019 - before reappearing hundreds of miles away in Montana, near the Canadian border. When she first went missing she left behind a note saying she would be back.
The photo, which shows Alicia standing outside a police station, was taken when she arrived at the police station.
Jose Santiago, media manager at the Glendale Police Department, told reporters: "I will tell you, just to be direct, she doesn't look much different than she did when she disappeared.
"She is 18 years old, she's getting ready to turn 19 but her appearance is that of a very young looking young lady."
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Alicia vanished when she was 14The name of the town wasn’t immediately disclosed but Montana is more than 1,000 miles (1,609km) from Arizona.
“She is by all accounts safe, she is by all accounts healthy, and she is by all accounts happy,” the police spokesman said.
Mystery surrounds where Alicia has been since she vanished in September 2019. Officers at Glendale police station say she is "healthy and happy" despite feeling "overwhelmed".
Investigators say this case is "far from over" but so far no charges have been brought.
Alicia Navarro as shown in the latest picture released by police since she turned up
A mocked-up image showed how investigators thought she might have looked by now (National Center for Missing & Exploited Children)Police said Navarro told them that she hadn’t been harmed.
Police said she wasn’t being held and could come and go as she pleased. She does not face any criminal charges, they added.
“She is not in any kind of trouble,” Santiago said.
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.”
Alicia Navarro talks to police after being found safeLt. Scott Waite said that Navarro had an “emotionally overwhelming” reunion with her mother and was “very apologetic (as) to what she has put her mother through.”
Desperate mum Jessica Nunez confirmed that her daughter had been found but said she had no details.
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“I want to give glory to God for answering prayers and for this miracle,” she said in a Facebook post.
“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.”
Alicia's overwhelmed mum Jennifer Nunez
Ms Nunez feared Alicia had been luired away by an online predatorIn a video interview, a detective can be heard asking "did anybody hurt you while you were away?" before Alicia replies "no, no-one hurt me". The officer then says "our goal is we just want to make sure you are safe". The teen replies: "I understand that."
Police say they are "confident" the person who surrendered at the station is missing Alicia - and vowed they are "continuing to investigate her whereabouts for the last four years".
Lieutenant Scott Waite, from the Glendale police department, told a media conference: "We are only (beginning) to put together the puzzle that is her disappearance and her returning. I would only ask for patience.
Jennifer had been searching for her daughter ever since (Fox 10)"We can only imagine what she's going through as well as her family. This is probably only the beginning of where this investigation will go."
Lieutenant Waite vowed that Alicia will get "everything she needs". He also told reporters the case began as a "runaway situation".
The officer added: "We don't know if she's been with anyone while she was missing. We can tell you that when she showed up to the police station she was by herself."