BRIDGETON – New Jersey State Police issued an Amber Alert late Tuesday night for a missing 5-year-old city girl as law enforcement redirects its efforts from an unsuccessful search-and-rescue operation here to an abduction scenario.

Multiple agencies, including the FBI, now are involved in a search for a man who may have taken the girl to a van and driven away from the park.

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Search and rescue crews and first responders have been scouring City Park and nearby bodies of water for Dulce Alavez since late Monday, based on information from her mother on where she was last seen.

Bridgeton police had been contacted about 5 p.m. Monday with information that Alavez had disappeared while in a city park near Bridgeton High School with her mother and younger brother.

However, police also said that a criminal investigation was underway at the same time.

Police Chief Michael Gaimari late Tuesday said the girl's mother is not suspected of misleading investigators but just was not in a position to see what happened to her daughter. The parallel consideration that a crime might have been committed was a precautionary move, he said.

"The mother was about 30 yards away, sitting in her vehicle with an 8-year-old relative," Gaimari said. "The 3-year-old and the 5-year-old who’s missing were playing on a swing set, which was partially blocked from her view but about 30 yards away. And then she saw the 3-year-old run back to the car. She got out of the car, and she started looking for the 5-year-old and couldn’t find the 5-year-old."

According to an Amber Alert issued at 9:53 p.m. Tuesday, the girl is believed to have been taken Monday by a light skinned, possibly Hispanic man. The man further is described as 5-foot-6 to 5-foot-8, with a thin build, no facial hair and acne.

The alert states the man was wearing orange sneakers, possibly Nike brand; red pants, and a black shirt.

The alert states: “The man led Dulce was the playground to a red van with a sliding side door and tinted windows. Dulce was seated in the black seat by the male and the male drove away with Dulce at approximately 4:20 p.m.”

The girl is about 3-foot-5, weighing about 40 pounds, with black hair, and a light complexion.

Gaimari said investigators have been re-interviewing witnesses and interviewing new witnesses as they could be found.

"There was several people in the park last night," he said. "They were asked generally if they saw anything. Some gave brief descriptions. They re-interviewed this afternoon and they were able to develop some further information, which led to the Amber Alert."

Gaimari said the girl's father is not involved with her mother and is believed to be in Mexico.

The area of City Park and the Cohanzick Park on Wednesday afternoon drew 10 television news vans, all of which a city official shooed into a parking lot and away from regular visitors.

The local search effort involved the water rescue and search team from the city Fire Department and Downe Township; the New Jersey State Police Aviation and Missing Persons units; and the FBI Child Abduction Rapid Deployment unit.

The search steps included draining the raceway Tuesday afternoon. New Jersey Search and Rescue personnel remained in the city park overnight into Wednesday morning.

Anyone seeing the vehicle is asked to call 911 or the Bridgeton police at (856) 451-0033.

This story was updated.

Joe Smith is a Philly native transplanted to South Jersey more than 30 years ago. He is a former editor and current senior staff writer at The Daily Journal in Vineland. Have a news tip? Reach out at (856) 563-5252 or jsmith@thedailyjournal.com or follow me on Twitter, @jpsmith-dj. Help support local journalism with a subscription to The Daily Journal.