A US Girl Missing for 4 Years... What She Said When She Came to the Police Station

At Age 14 in 2019, Left a Note and Disappeared
Found 1900 km Away from Home

A 14-year-old girl who disappeared four years ago in Arizona, USA, leaving behind a short note, has reappeared. Now 18 years old, she visited a police station more than 1900 km away from her home and requested to have her name removed from the missing children list.

Alicia Navarro, who lived in Glendale, Arizona, went missing on September 15, 2019. Just days before her 15th birthday, Navarro left a brief note in her bedroom saying, "I am running away. I swear I will come back. I'm sorry," and vanished in the middle of the night.

Alicia Navarro in 2019 and 2023
[Photo by Glendale Police Department]

Navarro's parents immediately reported her missing to the police, created social media accounts to search for her, and actively cooperated with the media by sharing descriptions and characteristics of their daughter in an effort to find her.

Navarro's mother, Jessica Nunes, said in a 2020 interview with NBC, "I am worried because my daughter, who is on the autism spectrum, went missing during the COVID-19 pandemic." Navarro's missing person report also noted that she was "high-functioning on the autism spectrum." Nunes expressed concern that "she might have been lured by someone she met online," adding that her daughter enjoyed playing games.

Navarro's whereabouts, unknown for four years, were revealed when she personally visited a police station near the Canadian border in Montana. She asked the police to remove her name from the missing children list. Having obtained a driver's license, Navarro requested to be taken off the list so she could live a "normal life." She reportedly said, "I wanted to make sure my parents know that I am safe," and apologized to her mother for the painful four years she endured not knowing she was alive.

Navarro also told the police that she was not held against her will, was free to go out, and was not harmed. The police stated that Navarro is not a subject of criminal investigation and are looking into how she ended up so far from her original residence. Some media outlets reported that Navarro had been living with a man in his twenties, whom she called "uncle," in an apartment in Havre, Montana, for about a year.

Hearing news of her daughter after four years, mother Nunes said, "The important thing is that my daughter is alive," and added, "Miracles do exist. Do not lose hope."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.