On July 26, 2023, police in Glendale, AZ announced that Alicia Navarro had been found alive and well. Alicia was 14 when she vanished in 2019 and as of the time of writing, she is 18,
As some background into this case, Alicia was living with her mother Jessica and step-father in Glendale in 2019. Alicia’s mother said she had been diagnosed with high-functioning autism. She was required to take regular medication and often became overwhelmed in social situations.
Her mother has said that she had few friends that she spent time with, but she did enjoy communicating online. She was a regular on Minecraft and on Discord.
Alicia thrived on routine prior to her disappearance. She would always eat the same foods and listen to the same music. Despite how hot it can be in Arizona, she always wore the same long sleeved shirts.
According to an article by Uncovered.com, this all changed in the months leading up to her disappearance.
Alicia started investigating some new interests including comic books, rock music and she got into fitness and started taking protein.
She also began to express an interest in body spray, makeup, and somewhat provocative clothing. Her mother assumed that all of these changes were happening because of peer pressure at school.
On September 14th, 2019, Alicia was feeling anxious and asked if she could stay home from school. Her mother agreed and the two spent the day together, going to McDonald’s for Alicia’s favorite meal. They got their eyebrows done and got some chocolate together. That night, Alicia stayed up late and played games online which was her usual routine.
She came downstairs somewhere between 12:00 and 1:00 AM for a glass of water and told her mother that she loved her before heading back to her room. Later that night, Alicia sat at her desk and wrote a note to her mother.
Alicia’s mother woke at 7am on September 15, 2019. She saw that the back door was wide open. She looked into the backyard and saw that there were two chairs propped up against the fence. Alicia was quite short and her mother knew that Alicia had likely used the chairs to get over the fence.
Jessica called police to report Alicia missing. A Silver Alert was issued the following day. A Silver Alert can be issued when the missing person is classified as vulnerable, which Alicia was.
Police determined that Alicia had taken her devices – a laptop and cellphone, as well as body spray, makeup and a comic book. She had left her chargers behind though which led police to believe that she was meaning to return home.
The last confirmed sighting of Alicia was reported by a friend who claimed to have seen her at La Pradera Park (only 1.5 miles from her home) on the afternoon of September 19th.
Jessica has been very vocal and has kept Alicia’s case in the media over the years.
On July 26, 2023, there was a very unexpected update in this case.
Glendale PD announced that Alicia had been found safe.
They held a press conference and said that Alicia had attended a police station in Montana in prior days and had asked to be taken off the missing persons list.
Alicia turned 18 in September 2022.
Police did say this is the start of the investigation but they do believe this is a runaway situation and that Alicia appeared to be happy and healthy.
This is a developing story and this blog will be updated if more information is released.