Dominican Police Deny Viral List of 18 Missing Children, Traced to New Jersey
The National Police refuted false social media posts concerning 18 missing minors. Only two active cases of missing children have been recorded in 2025.
False List of Missing Minors in Dominican Republic Was Fabricated in New Jersey, According to National Police
The National Police of the Dominican Republic categorically refuted on Friday 4 September a viral post attributing the disappearance of 18 children in the country between 2024 and 2026, according to infobae.com. The denial was issued at a press conference following weeks of public alarm triggered by an image that circulated on social media since August.
Colonel Diego Pesqueira, spokesman for the institution, stated that the Cyber-Patrol Department and intelligence agencies individually examined each name on the digital poster. None corresponded to an actual file or report of a missing minor within national territory.
The verification extended to police system files, newspaper archives and records from the country's media outlets. In all cases, the result was the same: no match that would support the figure distributed. The children mentioned in the notice ranged in age from 0 to 11 years old.
Computer Tracking Points to New Jersey State
Computer investigations preliminarily identified the origin of the post in the state of New Jersey, United States. Dominican authorities are maintaining open international proceedings to identify the perpetrators and intellectual authors of the fabrication and spread of the manipulated material.
Two Active Cases, Four Archived Since 2022
Faced with the misinformation, Pesqueira presented the official balance of the Department of Missing Persons. In the period 2024–2026, the National Police registers only two minors in a missing condition: Roldani Nicolás Calderón and Brianna Genao Rosario, both reported in 2025. Search efforts continue to be active in both cases.
When expanding the breakdown to previous years, the entity indicated that between 2022 and 2024 four cases of minors were archived. The spokesman clarified that these figures correspond strictly to the segment of children aged 0 to 11 years, and that records of adolescents and adults are handled under differentiated methodologies. Mixing those categories, he warned, distorts reality and hinders preventive work.
Call to Verify Before Sharing
The National Police urged media outlets, content creators and the general public to verify information before disseminating it on digital platforms. Sharing incorrect data about missing minors, the institution stated, generates unjustified alarms and diverts attention from cases that actually require public cooperation.
The authorities reiterated that official institutional channels constitute the only reliable means to consult and follow up on these files.
Source: Google News DO — Crime