It was a warm September afternoon when 5-year-old Dulce Maria Alavez mysteriously disappeared from a Bridgeton playground while playing with her younger brother.

Since then, 81 days have passed. Seasons have changed. Halloween and Thanksgiving have come and gone. And her family is still waiting for any clues or the slightest hint as to where the smiling, vibrant elementary schooler could be.

Now, they’re praying for a Christmas miracle. Her mother, Noema Alavez Perez, told NJ Advance Media in an interview this week that Christmas has always been Dulce’s favorite holiday.

“She was real happy because she would want Santa to bring her a bunch of presents,” Alavez Perez said, sitting on a couch next to her mother, Norma Perez Alavez. “We’re sad and worried because my daughter’s not here so we could share these holidays with her.”

In the family’s Bridgeton home, a Christmas tree sits in the modest living room. Dulce’s backpack hangs from a hook nearby. A large photo of Dulce is displayed on the wall and a plaque nearby reads “Worry ends where faith in God begins.”

“We miss her," Alavez Perez, 19, said, speaking in a near whisper, her eyes downcast while wringing her hands with worry. "We’re not going to give up on finding her. We want her to come back.”

TRYING TO BE STRONG

Alavez Perez is six months pregnant with her third child - a girl. Dulce’s younger brother, Manuel, is 3 years old.

“I’m trying to be strong - for my son and my other daughter” she said.

Alavez Perez said she remains close to home and doesn’t interact with many people.

“I really don’t go out that much,” she said. “I don’t talk to people. I really don’t answer my messages.”

Dulce’s disappearance has had an impact on Manuel, too.

“He has changed a lot since my daughter’s not here,” Alavez Perez said. “He’s being more aggressive with other kids. He’s not listening. He wasn’t like that before.”

The entire family is suffering as the days pass without any word on where Dulce could be despite numerous police and community searches and an offer of a $52,000 reward. A nationwide Amber alert remains active for Dulce and her missing child information has appeared on giant billboards and small fliers throughout the state.

Noema Alavez Perez, right, with her mother, Norma Perez Alavez, left. Noema's daughter, 5-year-old Dulce Maria Alavez has been missing since Sept. 16.Michael Mancuso | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com

THE DISAPPEARANCE

The details of Dulce’s disappearance have been widely reported, though shed little light on where she could be.

On the afternoon of Sept. 16, Alavez Perez took her two kids and her 8-year-old sister, Camila, to Bridgeton City Park after stopping at a nearby convenience store for ice cream.

The mom remained in the car with her sister to do homework while Dulce and Manuel ran off to a playground about 30 yards away.

When Camila told Alavez Perez that she couldn’t see the kids at the playground a short time later, they walked over and found Manuel in tears. Dulce was gone.

The family searched for the child before calling 911. In that call, Alavez Perez told a dispatcher that her daughter may have been taken.

“We were here at the park and people said that somebody … probably somebody took her,” she said on the 911 call.

Dulce is approximately 3 feet 5 inches tall, with brown eyes and brown hair. She was last seen wearing a yellow shirt with a picture of an elephant, black and white pants and white shoes.

Dulce's backpack hangs on a wall in the family's living room near a Christmas tree. She has been missing since Sept. 16.Michael Mancuso | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com

THE SEARCH

Search teams descended on the area and the FBI quickly joined the effort.

Police canvased the park and surrounding communities after Dulce’s disappearance. They searched woodlands, fields, waterways and vacant buildings. They’ve also spoken with registered sex offenders around the region.

An Amber Alert was issued Sept. 17, the day after she disappeared. The alert described a man reportedly seen leading the child into a red van with tinted windows. Investigators later described the man simply as someone they want to interview and described the person who provided the details leading to the alert as a child.

That man was described as light-skinned, possibly Hispanic, roughly 5 feet 6 inches tall with a thin build, no facial hair and facial acne. He was wearing orange sneakers, red pants and a black shirt.

Working from information provided by someone else at the park that day, police released a sketch in October of a man spotted with one or two children under the age of 5 around the time Dulce went missing.

Investigators did not call him a suspect or a person of interest, but a potential witness. He is described as Hispanic, about 5-feet 7-inches tall, with a slender build and about 30 to 35 years old. He wore a white T-shirt, blue jeans and a white baseball-style cap, authorities said.

Dulce’s family has led community searches for the child and recently attended the Vineland Christmas Parade, where supporters carried a large banner with information about Dulce and distributed hundreds of fliers.

Supporters have also created a GoFundMe campaign to raise money for the family and fund a large banner they want to place along a railroad trestle crossing State Highway 77 where it enters Bridgeton. Family spokeswoman Jackie Rodriguez verified that this fundraiser is legitimate, unlike some others that have popped up online.

The grandparents of 5-year-old Dulce Maria Alavez holds signs during a candlelight vigil for their granddaughter at a home on Burlington Road in Bridgeton, Saturday, Nov. 16, 2019. Alavez went missing from Bridgeton City Park on Sept. 16. Joe Warner | For NJ Advance Media

HOPE AND FAITH

As the search reached its two-month mark in November, Bridgeton Police Chief Michael Gaimari stressed that this case remains his department’s top priority.

Investigators are staying in touch with the family, but haven’t had any new information to share, Alavez Perez said.

“They can’t give us that much information because that would interrupt the investigation,” she said, adding that police reached out a day earlier. “They were just telling us that they’re not going to give up on the case.”

The family is trying everything to spread the word about Dulce, including appealing to a national TV audience.

Alavez Perez and Rodriguez will appear on an episode of the “Dr. Phil” program airing on Friday. Dr. Phil McGraw interviewed them several weeks ago.

Dulce’s grandmother, who doesn’t speak English, expressed her hope that the whole world can come together to find the missing girl. The holiday season brings fresh hopes.

“She believes in God and she has faith in him that he’ll do a miracle and she will appear,” Alavez Perez said.

Alavez Perez urged anyone who can assist the family in finding Dulce to step forward without hesitation or fear.

“I want more people to help us so we can find my daughter and if they have information to not be scared and talk so we can have her for Christmas here,” she says. “We just want Dulce to come back. That’s the only thing that matters.”

HOW YOU CAN HELP

Anyone with information is asked to call the New Jersey State Police Missing Persons Unit at 609-882-2000, ext. 2554, or the Bridgeton police at 856-451-0033. Tips may also be phoned in to 1-800-CALL-FBI and select option 4, then select option 8.

Anonymous tips may be sent by text to TIP411 with “Bridgeton” in the message line.

Dulce Maria Alavez was reported missing on Sept. 16.

Matt Gray may be reached at mgray@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @MattGraySJT. Find NJ.com on Facebook.

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