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"Yes. Investigators are following up as we speak," Cumberland County Prosecutor Jennifer Webb-McRae said on Tuesday, Sept. 19.
Her office received six new tips, she said.
Bridgeton City Police received about new six tips, according to Police Chief Michael Gaimari.
But Gaimari cautioned, "Nothing substantial has been reported to me."
About half were possible sightings and half "just some information," the chief said. "They're all being investigated."
It wasn't immediately clear if any of the tips repeated past tips.
Gaimari said tips always increase "when it becomes a public issue" near an anniversary, Dulce's April birthday or "something significant" in the news. Bridgeton police already get about two to three tips a month about Dulce Maria, who would be nine years old.
She was just five when she went missing on Sept. 16, 2019, while at a Cumberland County playground with her younger brother, Manny.
On Thursday, Sept. 14, the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children released a new "progressive sketch" that shows what Dulce Maria would look like today.
A vigil was held Saturday, Sept. 16 at Bridgeton City Park's Dulce tree —dedicated to the missing child near the playground where she was last seen. The tree is often decorated with flowers, balloons and well wishes for the girl's return.
Separately, a Florida-based non-profit investigative agency contacted by the family said it got 12 to 13 new tips from a visit to the vigil. The Anti-Predator Project has gotten about 100 tips in the past few months, said Trent Steele, president of the group.
"If it's credible, we always share everything we have with law enforcement," Steele said on Tuesday.
With "fresh eyes.... we're working on some new stuff," Steele said last week, declining to elaborate.
In a joint statement, Webb-McRae and Gaimari said, "In the absence of evidence confirming Dulce’s demise investigators hold out hope that Dulce is still alive."
Dulce had just started kindergarten days earlier when her family went to Bridgeton City Park on the late afternoon of Sept. 16, 2019.
She ran to a nearby playground with her 3-year-old brother while their mother, Noema Alavez Perez, waited in the car. A short time later, when the mom went looking for her children, she only found Manny. Dulce Maria was gone.
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