New Jersey detectives searched Tuesday for a 5-year-old girl who disappeared from a playground a day earlier while playing with her brother — despite erroneous reports that she had been found.

The girl, Dulce Maria Alavez, was last seen Monday in the area of City Park in Bridgeton, where her mother, Noema Alavez, 19, told police that the girl’s 3-year-old brother said she vanished as they played near several storage buildings next to the playground, NJ.com reports.

Alavez told police she stayed in her car with an 8-year-old relative as her children played before her son told her that the girl was gone. Alavez then searched for her daughter for up to 15 minutes before calling her brother and then police at about 5 p.m.

“At this point, we are treating it as a missing child,” Bridgeton Police Chief Michael Gaimari said. “We’re exploring all possibilities.”

Police said roughly two dozen people were playing basketball nearby when the girl disappeared. None of the players said they saw anyone abduct the girl.

“We thought she was just hiding,” Alavez told the website. “She was just playing hide and seek.”

Alavez said her “shy” daughter would know not to approach or walk away with a stranger.

“She would always be with me or my mom,” she said. “I don’t know why she just ran away.”

Dulce was last seen wearing a pink T-shirt, white shoes and brown pants with flowers and butterflies, KYW-TV reports.

“I just want to find her,” the girl’s mother told the station.