After missing for years, Alicia Navarro walked into the Havre Police Department on July 23.
She told officers she wanted to identify herself and clear her name from the missing person's list.
Glendale Police have been in Havre, Montana working to figure out where Navarro, who's now 18, has been for almost four years.
"It was pretty big news for us too," said Harve native Ron Turner.
The town has a population of approximately 9,000 people and is about 40 miles from the Canadian border.
In a video released by Glendale Police, you can hear Alicia tell officers no one had hurt her and she was thankful to the officers for offering her help.
The teen has been missing from the Valley since 2019.
Her mom, Jessica Nunez, told ABC15 in 2020 that her daughter was autistic and relied on medicine and family.
Glendale police wasted no time starting the investigation. This week officers served a search warrant at a home in the small Montana town.
Turner told ABC15 he watched the search happen.
"This guy gets out, he’s got an FBI vest on and pulls out an assault rifle," said Turner. "Then some police pull up and everyone had their guns drawn."
Turner said this happened Wednesday night.
He told ABC15 that police searched an apartment at the building across the street from his home.
"They went in with like ARs and body armor," said Johnathan Michaelson.
Michaelson is a student, but he lives in the same apartment building.
Both Tuner and Michaelson said officers came to ask them questions.
"He eventually came up, one of the guys while I was talking with my neighbors, that was supposedly undercover," said Michaelson. "[He] told me he was up here from Arizona. Pretty much what he wanted to know was how well I knew my neighbors. Whether or not there was a girl that had been living there, late teens."
Turner told ABC15 he also saw a woman he believes was Navarro speaking with officers.
He said police were at the apartment for hours.
"I know they were taking pictures because I could see in the front door, and there was a flash going off," said Turner.
Turner said he saw a man in handcuffs, but Glendale police have said no one has been arrested or detained.
Police did confirm officers interviewed four people.
"Patience is the key word," said Trent Steele, president of the Anti-Predator Project.
He's the private investigator who has been working on Navarro's case since 2020.
Steele said getting answers will take time, adding the teen's family is still overwhelmed.
"The family is putting this together, starting their healing journey," said Steele. "They are taking it one day at a time like everybody else."
ABC15 did reach out to the Glendale Police Department for an update, but a PIO said they would not be giving an update until Monday.
