GLENDALE, Ariz. — An Arizona teenager missing for almost four years has been found safe in Montana, authorities said Wednesday.
Alicia Navarro was 14 went she went missing from her Glendale home on Sept. 15, 2019, KTVK reported.
According to the Glendale Police Department, Navarro visited a police station at an unidentified Montana town 40 miles south of the Canadian border, identified herself and asked for help in removing her name from the missing persons’ list, KNXV-TV reported. The Associated Press later identified the town as Havre.
“Alicia Navarro has been located. She is by all accounts, safe,” Jose Miguel Santiago, of the Glendale Police Department, told reporters during a news conference. “She is by all accounts healthy, and she is by all accounts happy.”
Glendale Police have just released the latest photo of now 18 year old Alicia Navarro the day she showed up at a Montana police station. She went missing at age 14 and hadn’t been heard from since. Details are limited but follow @FOX10Phoenix for the latest pic.twitter.com/vGYfL0CXjN
— Stephanie Bennett (@StephBennettTV) July 26, 2023
Alicia’s mother, Jessica Nunez, posted an emotional video on Facebook.
“I do feel that I owe this video to the community and to God. First of all, I want to give glory to God for answering prayers and for this miracle,” Nunez said. “For everyone who has missing loved ones, I want you to use this case as an example. Miracles do exist. Never lose hope and always fight. My daughter Alicia Navarro was missing since Sept. 15, 2019. She has been found safe.”
Nunez said she did not know the details surrounding her daughter’s discovery, KSAZ-TV reported.
“This is recent news for me. It was an hour before it was posted on social media and the news,” Nunez said in her video. “I don’t have details, but the important thing is that she is alive.”
According to police, Navarro wrote a note to her parents while they slept during the early morning hours of Sept. 15, 2019, KTVK reported.
According to the AP, the signed note read: “I ran away. I will be back, I swear. I’m sorry.”
At the time, she was described as a high-functioning autistic teen and had not been heard from until this week, according to the television station.
Police said Navarro was not in custody. They believe she left her home willingly in 2019, KNXV reported. The circumstances surrounding her disappearance, how she ended up in Montana and who she had been staying with are still under investigation, according to the television station,
