Alicia Navarro, now 18, walked into a police department in a tiny Montana town 40 miles from the Canadian border and identified herself as the teen who was reported missing in September 2019, Glendale police said Wednesday.
The teenager — who was described as autistic but high-functioning in her missing person’s report — left her Glendale home overnight on Sept. 15, 2019, at just 14 years old.
Glendale police said they are investigating how the teen got to Montana and whom she has been staying with over the past four years as many questions remain unanswered.
They said Navarro ran away from home under her own free will and has been cooperating with their investigation.
She also told police that no one has harmed her and she appeared to be healthy.
She is asking for privacy so she can move on with her life, Santiago said.
Really werid, wonder how she managed to survive for four years but I hope the investigation finds out the she was simply extremely resourceful and not something more sinister.
It’s possible she was cared for by a genuine good samaritan, illegal though that may be. It’s technically still kidnapping, even if someone underage wants the help to get away from their family.
I don’t think letting someone stay with you voluntarily is kidnapping, and it sounds like this was of her own free will.
That would require the law to acknowledge that young people have free will… Which it only does when they commit crimes.
Mens rea and cognitive ability to consent/form intent is a very interesting subject, especially when it comes to minors. Society supersedes its judgement for the judgement of the minor where the minor is deemed not to have the sufficient mental capacity to consent to an action with full understanding of the consequences and context (sometimes only acquired through age or experience). It’s usually also only exercised as a means of protecting the minors (e.g., ability to consent to sexual acts with adults when underage). Criminal acts are slightly different though as it’s generally more about the individuals (minor or otherwise) capacity to form intent to actively harm/deprive/defraud/whatever in the context of what would be normal and reasonable for someone of like experience, knowledge, and circumstance. And even then, minors have a separate legal track in acknowledgement of their inability to fully grasp context and impact (see previous point about consent above) for all but most egregious and grievous acts.
Legally, if you take in a runaway, and don’t make an effort to get them back to their legal gueardian, I think there’s still a case for it to become abduction in court.
Legally, a child doesn’t have the ability to choose to leave their legal guardian (except through legal child protection channels).
They can’t just move in with a stranger. When does taking care of a runaway, become hiding them? Morally, there can be good reason to keep them from their family, but the law won’t necessarily recognize that in cases like this, where CPS wasn’t properly involved.
It’s going to vary by jurisdiction, but generally it’s not kidnapping or abduction. There are often State criminal statutes specifically for harboring a runaway though.
Thanks. I was pretty sure it does end up being a crime in a lot of cases, if not a kidnapping.
Yeah. I’m not an expert in these jurisdictions, but at a glance it looks like Arizona and Montana have some statutes that could apply. And who knows what other jurisdictions she was in? The article doesn’t say anything and it would be difficult, but showing up 40 miles from the border it’s at least theoretically possible she was in Canada for some of that time.
Exactly why she probably waited till she was 18. Legal adult, she can now publicly acknowledge her safety without being forced back to her parents and/or being forced to divulge information on who they were staying with.
I hope it is not kidnapping but no good deed goes unpunished, right?