‘We will find you’: US marshals locate 225 missing children in astonishing 10-week man hunt operation
- The 225 missing children were found over ten weeks in 16 federal districts
- The Marshals Service also arrested several on sex, drug, human trafficking
- A Top 15 Most Wanted list couple was also discovered hiding in Mexico
United States Marshals were able to locate or recover an astonishing 225 missing children as part of a ten-week man hunt over 16 federal judicial districts called Operation We Will Find You.
The marshals work together with the National Center For Missing and Exploited Children across the country as part of the operation that focuses on areas with ‘high clusters’ of missing kids.
This operation resulted in 169 missing children being recovered and another 56 located as safe between March 1 and May 15 in 16 regions selected to participate, according to the Marshals Service.
At least 28 of the cases involving these children have been recommended to other law enforcement agencies to investigate attached crimes including sex offenses and drugs, weapons and sex trafficking.
The cases closed out during Operation We Will Find You were made up of 86 percent endangered runaways and nine percent family abductions.
United States Marshals were able to locate or recover an astonishing 225 missing children as part of a ten-week man hunt over 16 federal judicial districts called Operation We Will Find You
The marshals work together with the National Center For Missing and Exploited Children across the country as part of the operation that focuses on areas with ‘high clusters’ of missing kids
About 62 percent of the missing children recovered were found within a week of being reported missing to the US Marshals.
‘The U.S. Marshals Service is fully committed to the important mission of protecting the American people, especially our most vulnerable population – our children,’ said Ronald Davis, Director of the Marshals Service.
The service highlighted a couple of specific areas where dozens of children were either recovered or located safe.
One of the highest profile busts included a couple that was on the Top 15 Most Wanted list who had fled to Mexico from Washington State who had taken their five children into hiding with them.
Those five kids were among 10 who were found outside the United States in Mexico during the operation.
Northern Ohio saw at least 35 children recovered, with another 30 discovered in West Texas.
In Eastern Virginia, one of the 14 missing children recovered was a 15-year-old girl found in the bedroom of a 30-year-old man who was arrested on an outstanding probation warrant from a local county.
In Louisiana, 14 children were recovered and a runaway male teen surrendered and was booked on an open New Orleans Police Department felony warrant related to sex with a 12-year-old female family member. Another eight people were arrested in the region.
This operation resulted in 169 missing children being recovered and another 56 located as safe between March 1 and May 15 in 16 regions selected to participate, according to the Marshals Service
At least 28 of the cases involving these children have been recommended to other law enforcement agencies to investigate attached crimes including sex offenses and drugs, weapons and sex trafficking
‘The U.S. Marshals Service is fully committed to the important mission of protecting the American people, especially our most vulnerable population – our children,’ said Ronald Davis, Director of the Marshals Service (pictured)
In Central California, 13 children were recovered, including at least four who had been missing for months and were investigated as cases of human trafficking.
The other regions selected were Washington D.C.; Maryland; Massachusetts; South Carolina; San Antonio; Detroit; Yakima, Washington; Orlando, Florida; Guam; Puerto Rico; and the U.S. Virgin Islands.
‘The results of this operation underscore that commitment, but also highlight the necessity of these critical efforts,’ Davis added.
Davis said the Marshals and National Center For Missing and Exploited Children have recovered over 3,100 missing kids since the Justice for Victims of Trafficking Act was passed in 2015.
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