The U.S. Marshals Service, along with federal, state, and local agencies in seven federal judicial districts and geographical locations across the U.S., led a six-week national operation that resulted in finding 200 critically missing children, which includes endangered runaways and those abducted by noncustodial persons.
“It really just scratches the surface up to the enormity of the problem,” Ronald Davis, U.S. Marshals Service Director said.
The youngest child recovered was only five months old.
Davis says at any given time there are 300,000 missing children.
“The same skill set it takes to find those who are responsible for committing the most heinous crimes is exactly the skillset we used to recover our most precious resource,” Davis said.
Operation We Will Find You 2, the second-of-its-kind nationwide missing child operation, was conducted from May 20 to June 24 and focused on geographical areas with high clusters of critically missing children.
Children who go missing may be in serious danger and can be vulnerable to child sex trafficking, abuse, exploitation, and other crimes against children.
According to the Marshals Service, 86% of the children were considered endangered runaways.
“Because behind every statistic of a missing child, it’s a unique story. It’s a young life with dreams and aspirations,” Michelle Delaune, NCMEC CEO, said.
Delaune, the president and chief executive officer of the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children, says these children are much more than just a missing persons case.
Delaune says their work is far from over.
“There are many children out there who still need our help,” Delaune said.
With technical assistance from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC), Operation We Will Find You 2 resulted in the recovery and removal of 123 children from dangerous situations.
An additional 77 missing children were located and found to be in safe locations, according to law enforcement or child welfare agencies.
Of the 200 children found, 173 were endangered runaways, 25 were considered otherwise missing, one was a family abduction, and one was a non-family abduction.
The youngest child recovered was five months old. 14 of the children were found outside the city where they went missing.
Additionally, of the missing children recovered, 57% were recovered within seven days of the USMS assisting with the case.
The Marshals Service says at least three more operations are planned for this year.
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