Cops arrest man near where teen missing for four years 'turned up'

28 July 2023 , 08:43

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Cops arrest man near where teen missing for four years 'turned up'

Cops have arrested a man near the police station where missing girl Alicia Navarro turned up suddenly after four years - while witnesses report seeing a mystery young woman at the scene.

In a major development in a case that has mystified people, police officers swooped on an apartment just a few blocks from the Havre police stationon Wednesday night, according to several witnesses.

And to further add to the mystery, a young woman resembling a photograph of Alicia released by police later emerged from the apartment, according to one witness.

Alicia was just days away from her fifteenth birthday nearly four years ago when she vanished from her home, without a trace. She left a note that read: "I ran away. I will be back, I swear. I'm sorry."

This is the first picture of Alicia Navarro after she turned up to the police station (FOX 10)

Alicia's mum posts an emotive video

But suddenly this week she walked into a small-town police station more than 1,300 miles away from home, showing up alone Sunday morning aged 18 and identifying herself as the missing teenager.

Nicola Bulley's children 'cried their eyes out' after being told 'mummy's lost'

And now it has emerged police took a man into custody at an apartment just a few blocks from the police station in the small town of Havre near the Canadian border, population 9,200.

As many as 10 heavily-armed uniformed and undercover officers showed up about 8pm and took away in handcuffs the man who had been living in the apartment, said Rick Lieberg, who lives across the street.

A young woman later emerged from the apartment who Mr Lieberg said he had not previously seen. He said the woman resembled a photograph of Navarro that has been released by police.

Alicia when she was 14

"She came out, talked to the officers, then two ladies pulled up and then she got into a car with them and they left," Lieberg said.

Officers remained on the scene for several hours, taking pictures and doing other work inside the apartment, Mr Lieberg said.

He said the young woman returned to the apartment building with the two women on Thursday, but he did not see her go into the apartment.

A second witness, Jonathan Michaelson, who lives next door, said he was questioned at the scene by a plainclothes police officer who said he was from Arizona and asked if Michaelson had ever seen a girl at the apartment. He said he had not.

This is how police thought Alicia might look now, using CGI (National Center for Missing & Exploited Children)

Ms Nunez feared Alicia had been lured away by an online predator

"If she was in that apartment, I'm surprised I never saw her," Mr Michaelson said.

Alicia is from the city of Glendale in Arizona, more than 1,300 miles from where she turned up, and investigators are mystified by how she got there and what she has been doing for the past four years.

Investigators are now trying to determine what happened to her after vanishing at age 14 and how she ended up in Montana, more than 2,090 kilometres from her hometown.

Mum appeared 'completely normal' moments before vanishing while walking dog

Despite the note she had left, her mum Jessica Nunez, raised concerns that Alicia, who was diagnosed as on the autism spectrum, may have been lured away by someone she met online.

Ms Nunez had been searching for her daughter (Fox 10)

Glendale police Lieutenant Scott Waite, the lead investigator, said they were looking into all the possible scenarios that could have led to Alicia's disappearance, including kidnapping.

Lieutenant Waite said: "As much as we'd like to say this is the end, we know this is only the beginning of where this investigation will go."

Police said Alicia told them after her arrival at the station she hadn't been harmed, was not being held and could come and go as she pleased. She does not face any criminal charges, they added.

Glendale police Lieutenant Scott Waite

Her disappearance on September 15, 2019, sparked a massive search that included the FBI. Glendale police spokesperson Jose Santiago said over the years, police had received thousands of tips.

In a short video clip that police said was taken shortly after Navarro arrived at the police station this week, she can be heard telling authorities "no one hurt me." In another short video, Alicia thanked the police. "Thank you for offering help to me," she said.

Alicia was filmed talking to police

Authorities in both Montana and Arizona haven't said how long Alicia had been in Havre before walking into the police station. Havre is surrounded by farmland and is north of the Rocky Boy's Indian Reservation.

Waite described Alicia's reunion this week with her mum as "emotionally overwhelming" and that Alicia said she was sorry for "what she has put her mother through."

In an emotional video posted Wednesday to a Facebook account titled "Finding Alicia," Ms Nunez told her tens of thousands of followers, "I want to give glory to God for answering prayers and for this miracle."

Ms Nunez had been documenting her efforts to find her daughter on the Facebook page throughout the years. The account features hundreds of posts with photos of Alicia as a young child and pictures of Ms Nunez holding up signs that read, "Children don't just disappear!"

"For everyone who has missing loved ones, I want you to use this case as an example," Ms Nunez said in the video, which had been viewed more than 200,000 times. "Miracles do exist. Never lose hope and always fight."

Matthew Brown