No arrests in Alicia Navarro case despite reports of police activity in Montana

PHOENIX — Despite reports of police activity in Montana that might be related to the four-year disappearance of Glendale teen Alicia Navarro, no arrests have been made in the mysterious case, authorities said Friday.

“This is still an active investigation and we are requesting time and patience as we peel away the layers of the last four years,” Officer Gina Winn of the Glendale Police Department, the lead investigating agency in the case, said in a statement Friday.

Authorities haven’t said if they know how long Navarro was in Montana or how she ended up there.

When and where did Alicia Navarro go missing?

Navarro, who was diagnosed as on the autism spectrum, was reported missing out of Glendale in September 2019, when she was 14. Over the years, Navarro’s mother had raised concerns that her daughter may have been lured away by someone she met online.

Now 18, she walked into the Havre, Montana, police station Sunday seeking to clear her status as a missing person. The Glendale Police Department held a press conference Wednesday announcing that Navarro had been located, but details about the last four years remained scarce.

The Glendale Police Department is proud to announce that Alicia Navarro has been located!

For more info: https://t.co/AiHHDvBoIe pic.twitter.com/ZzQOqXSHxJ

— Glendale Police (@GlendaleAZPD) July 27, 2023

What police activity was reported in Havre, Montana?

Friday’s statement by Glendale Police appears to be a response to reporting from The Associated Press about events this week Havre, a town about 40 miles south of the Canadian border with a population under 10,000.

A team of heavily armed law enforcement officers entered an apartment and took a man into custody just a few blocks from the Havre police station Wednesday night, witnesses told the news agency.

As many as 10 uniformed and undercover officers showed up at about 8 p.m. and took him away in handcuffs. He had been living in the apartment, said Rick Lieberg, who lives across the street.

A young woman later emerged from the apartment who Lieberg said he had not previously seen. The woman resembled a photograph of Navarro that was released by police, he said.

Jonathan Michaelson, who lives next door, said he was questioned Wednesday night by a plainclothes police officer from Arizona who asked whether he had ever seen a girl at the apartment next door. He said he had not.

“If she was in that apartment, I’m surprised I never saw her,” Michaelson said.

A person who works at the Dollar Tree in Havre, Jeff Hummert, said he saw a young woman resembling a photograph of Navarro last year in a city park two blocks from the apartment raided by police Wednesday. She was walking alone and carrying a plastic Walmart bag, Hummert said.

No one answered the door Friday morning at the apartment, one of six units in an aging building in a residential neighborhood.

Havre Police said it was providing assistance for the ongoing investigation and that all inquiries should go to Glendale Police.

Winn, the Glendale Police public information officer, confirmed Friday that Glendale detectives went to Havre this week and served a search warrant.

“While in Montana, detectives served a search warrant on a residence. This search warrant led detectives to interview approximately four separate individuals,” Winn said in a statement.

“At this time, we do not currently have anyone detained or in custody and no arrests have been made.”

Latest response from Alicia Navarro’s family

Jessica Nunez, Navarro’s mother, has been documenting the search for her daughter on a Facebook page titled “Finding Alicia.”

In a post Friday morning, the family requested privacy “so our family can begin the healing process and reclaim some normalcy.”

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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