The United States Marshals Service (USMS), working alongside numerous state and local law enforcement agencies, managed to locate and rescue 225 missing children over a 10-week operation that spanned the nation.
The USMS announced the successful operation in a press statement, saying: “The United States Marshals Service (USMS), along with state and local agencies in 16 federal judicial districts and geographical locations across the U.S., led a 10-week national operation that resulted in the recovery or safe location of 225 endangered missing children, which includes runaways and those abducted by non-custodial persons.”
Continuing, the statement when on to describe the children rescued and the cases involved, saying, “With technical assistance from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC), Operation We Will Find You resulted in the recovery of 169 children and the safe location of 56 children. During the operation, the U.S. Marshals Service referred 28 cases to law enforcement agencies for further investigation of crimes such as drugs and weapons, sex trafficking, and sex offender violations. Law enforcement reported allegations of trafficking in over 40 cases the U.S. Marshals Service assisted with. Of the cases closed, 86% were endangered runaways, nearly 9% were family abductions, and 5% were considered otherwise missing. The youngest child recovered was six months old. Additionally, of the missing children recovered, 62 percent were recovered within seven days of the U.S. Marshals Service assisting with the case.”
The statement added, “These missing children were considered some of the most challenging recovery cases in the area, based on indications of high-risk factors such as victimization of child sex trafficking, child exploitation, sexual abuse, physical abuse, and medical or mental health conditions. In addition, other children were located at the request of law enforcement to ensure they were safe and confirm the child’s location.”
Those children were rescued from, the press release says, “eastern Virginia; Washington D.C.; Maryland; Massachusetts; South Carolina; New Orleans; San Antonio; Detroit; Yakima, Washington; Orlando, Florida; Los Angeles; northern Ohio; Guam; Puerto Rico; and the U.S. Virgin Islands.”
Ronald Davis, Director of the Marshals Service, was quoted as saying, “The U.S. Marshals Service is fully committed to the important mission of protecting the American people, especially our most vulnerable population – our children. The results of this operation underscore that commitment, but also highlight the necessity of these critical efforts. Our continued success can only be achieved through our collaboration with state and local law enforcement agencies, and partnership with NCMEC. Together, the USMS and NCMEC have recovered over 3,100 missing children since the passage of the Justice for Victims of Trafficking Act in 2015.”
Additionally, National Center for Missing and Exploited Children President & CEO Michelle DeLaune said, “Operation We Will Find You is a great example of how the U.S. Marshals Service continues to prioritize child protection. NCMEC is proud of our long-standing partnership with the USMS and commends them and the participating state and local agencies who helped recover the 225 endangered missing children.”
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