Mother of Arizona teen who reappeared after 4 years accuses public of ‘harassment’ and appeals for closure – Great

The mother of the teenager who surfaced at a Montana police station nearly four years after disappearing from Arizona is asking the public to “move on,” warning that questions surrounding her daughter’s disappearance have taken a “dangerous” turn.

Jessica Nuñez made her plea in a video posted on the Facebook page “Finding Alicia” Sunday, thanking the public for their support over the past few years. 

“I can’t even put into the words the amount of gratitude I have for you all,” she said. “Now that we know that Alicia is alive, I have to ask one more favor of you. I know you want answers, and I do too. But the public search for answers has taken a turn for the dangerous.”

Nuñez said she has been harassed and her family has been attacked on the internet.

“The public has gone from trying to help Alicia to doing things like trying to show up to her house and putting her safety in jeopardy,” Nuñez explained. 

She asked the public to refrain from posting TikToks about her daughter and to stop reaching out to the teen or her family “with your speculations or questions or assumptions.”  

“This is not a movie, this is our life,” the mother said, stressing she’ll continue to protect her daughter. 

“For this is my statement, there is an ongoing investigation, and I’m begging you to move on,” Nuñez concluded.

Navarro was 14 years old when she disappeared from the Phoenix area on Sept. 15, 2019.

Now 18, she reported to a police station in a small Montana town near the Canadian border recently and identified herself as a missing person.  

Nuñez told NBC’s “Dateline” in 2020 that she had found a note in her daughter’s bedroom saying she ran away, which she said was out of character. She added that her daughter was on the autism spectrum and could be shy or anxious in some social situations.

Glendale Police spokesman Jose Santiago said at a news conference earlier this month: “She is by all accounts safe, she is by all accounts healthy, and she is by all accounts happy.”

“She is not in any kind of trouble. She is not facing any kind of charges,” he added.

Police Lt. Scott Waite said the case remains under investigation. Police did not immediately have details about how she arrived in Montana.

“Every indication she’s given to us so far is that she willfully left her home,” Waite said. “Now, the dynamics surrounding that decision are obviously something we’re looking into.”

Officials said she arrived at the police station by herself. Santiago said she “basically asked for help to clear her off of a missing juvenile list.”

Police shared a videoclip Thursday showing the moment Navarro told authorities no one had hurt her.

When police announced Navarro was found, they said she had been reunited with her mother “electronically.” Santiago said: “She wanted to talk to her mom, and she wanted to make sure her mother knew she was OK.”