As Alicia Navarro reappears after 4 years, family pleads for privacy
Aug 1, 2023, 9:07 AM | Updated: 9:35 am
Alicia Navarro (left), 18, showed up at a police station in Montana. Her mother Jessica Nunez (right) is pleading for privacy since her daughter's reappearance. (Glendale Police Department, Facebook/Finding Alicia photos)
(Glendale Police Department, Facebook/Finding Alicia photos)
PHOENIX — The family of Alicia Navarro, who recently reappeared after going missing from Glendale in 2019, is pleading for privacy while they’re still piecing together the last four years.
In a video statement shared to social media on Sunday, Navarro’s mother Jessica Nuñez said the public interest in her now-18-year-old daughter’s reappearance is taking a turn for the worse.
Navarro was 14 when she disappeared from her family home in the early morning hours of Sept. 15, 2019.
She showed up at a police station in Havre, Montana, on July 23, asking to be taken off a missing person’s list. Three days later, the Glendale Police Department announced that Navarro had been located.
Since then, Nuñez said there’s been an unhealthy interest in her daughter’s case.
What has happened since Alicia Navarro reappeared last month?
Nuñez alleged people have tried showing up at Navarro’s residence in search of answers, and that she and other members of her family have experienced online harassment.
“I beg you, please no more TikToks, no more reaching out to Alicia or to me with your speculations or questions or assumptions,” Nuñez said in the video.
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“This is not a movie, this is our life. This is my daughter. I love her more than anything in the world, and I think I have shown you that.”
The plan for updates regarding Navarro’s case
Trent Steele, a private investigator hired by Nuñez several years ago, said the family doesn’t feel like their request is being honored.
“They would like to just completely back away from making any further comments, moving forward here. The only updates we’re going to be giving are going to be case-related,” Steele told KTAR News 92.3 FM’s The Gaydos and Chad Show on Monday.
“Because of the issues we’ve had with people not respecting the family’s wishes for privacy, we’re just going to turn off that spigot of information for quite a while now.”
The family’s concern is that the general public could be hindering the investigation, Steele said.
“We understand the curiosity and the fascination with the case, but we’ve got to make sure things are done in the right manner and people will get their answer. Then there will be some finality to this case,” Steele said.
