Dr. Phil show promises ‘shocking revelation’ about missing Dulce Alavez

BRIDGETON — Dr. Phil asks the mother of Dulce Alvarez point blank if she knows what happened to the 5-year-old girl, missing since September, in a promo for Friday's show.

The TV therapist brings the case of Dulce's abduction into the national spotlight when he sits down with Noema Alavez Perez, Dulce's 19-year-old mother, and Jackie Rodriquez, a friend who is acting as a family spokeswoman.

Dulce was last seen on Sept. 16 in a Bridgeton park walking toward a red van with a man, police have said a young witness told them. Perez has said she was sitting in her car nearby scratching lottery tickets and helping her own 8-year-old sister with homework.

In one of two promos for the show, the host, Phil McGraw, tells Perez he has talked to many mothers whose children have been abducted and "you're the most calm I've talked to."

McGraw then poses two key questions in a tightly edited segment:

"Are you involved in her abduction?" McGraw asks.

"No," responds Perez.

"Do you know who has her?" McGraw asks.

Except for a shot of Perez, there is no verbal response to the question. The narrator of the promo promises a "shocking revelation" from Rodriquez, and focuses on a surveillance photo showing the family buying ice cream before heading to the park.

"Do you think she may know more about what took place then she's telling?" McGraw asks. Rodriquez's face is shown along with a surveillance photo of the family getting ice cream before heading to the park but Rodriquez's answer is not revealed.

In a clip of the program provided by the show to New Jersey 101.5, McGraw asks Perez in a studio interview when she got out of her car to check on Dulce. Perez said it was "weird" to not see Dulce and her son, so she decided to go check on them.

The clip cuts to Perez sitting in her car, saying that she thought at first Dulce had been playing hide-and-seek.

"I didn't want to believe someone would take her," Perez says.

The clip cuts back to the studio interview and McGraw talking about seeing her 3-year-old-son standing in the park without his sister. Perez is then seen walking behind the building that she has said her son pointed at when, the day of the disappearance, she asked where Dulce was.

A State Police Amber Alert remains active and Dulce remains on the FBI's Most Wanted kidnapping and missing persons list.

Rodriguez told New Jersey 101.5 she and the family traveled to New York to tape the show several weeks ago. She has also organized additional searches for Dulce and handed out fliers at holiday parades.

Cumberland County Prosecutor Jennifer Webb-McRae told New Jersey 101.5 in November her office is still searching and "holding out hope that we find Dulce."

No suspects have been named in the case. Police have described a man they say may have witnessed the abduction, and said they would like to speak with him.

Information about Dulce's disappearance can be called in at 800-CALL-FBI (225-5324) option 4, option 8. It can also be reported anonymously by calling the Bridgeton's TIP 411 text service by texting "Bridgeton" plus your tip to 847411.

The program will air Friday at 3 p.m. on CBS New York (Channel 2) and CBS Philly (Channel 3).

Contact reporter Dan Alexander at Dan.Alexander@townsquaremedia.com or via Twitter @DanAlexanderNJ