HAVRE - The Havre Police Department said Thursday that Alicia Navarro came into the police station at about 11 a.m. on Sunday and said she had been reported missing and wanted to "clear her status."
The agency said the 18-year-old who was reported missing from her home in Arizona in 2019 at the age of 14 appeared to be fine and in good health.
When interacting with police, Navarro appeared to be in bright spirits, the same happy and healthy girl who mysteriously vanished from Glendale years ago. She was reportedly apologetic for what she put her mother through, and the pair were reunited virtually.
Havre police said in a news release: "We are so glad for Alicia and her family so that they can be reunited and the family can no longer have the anguish of not knowing where their child is or whether or not she is ok."
No information has yet been released about her disappearance, including how long she has been in Montana and whether she is or was accompanied by anyone.
Some Havre residents expressed relief that Navarro was safe and were also curious about how the situation came about.
“Where's she been? And how did she get by? This whole time, I can't even imagine it. Especially as a parent, you know? How do you even…you worry that whole time they're gone.” said Emily Bouge, a hairdresser in Havre.
MSU-Northern student Jonathan Michaelson said the news makes sense given recent events at his apartment building where armed men stormed a neighbor’s unit.
“They went in with arms and body armor," Michaelson said." Like they went in really aggressively, apparently. So all I knew, (an officer) eventually came up while I was talking to my neighbors. One of the guys that was supposedly undercover told me he was up here from Arizona. All he really wanted to know was how well I knew my neighbor, the interactions I had, whether or not there was a girl that had been living there. He told me late teens, like Latina, or something.”
Whether Navarro had been living just next door to Michaelson remains to be seen, as police will not disclose her current or former location.
The Glendale Police Department has assumed the lead in the investigation.
RELATED: Arizona teen missing since 2019 found alive in Montana
