The U.S. Marshals Service announced on Monday morning that it had recovered or safely located roughly 200 children — nearly a quarter of whom were from Arizona — as part of a national six-week operation dubbed "We Will Find You 2" which aimed to locate missing or abducted children across the country.
The agency said it recovered 123 children and located 77 others who were found to be in a safe environment and didn't need to be removed between May 20 and June 24, focusing on areas with high clusters of missing children.
It added that 33 of the children recovered and 16 safely located were from Arizona.
“The Marshals are renowned for being the premier fugitive hunters, but this was a mission to recover themost vulnerable members of our communities," Acting United States Marshal Van Bayless said in a statement. "Together with our partner agencies, we located and recovered dozens of Arizona children who were victims of abuse, forced addictions, and sex trafficking. This operation highlights the need to intensify our efforts in order to locate more victims and to bring their captors to justice.”
The agency said some of the children recovered included a pregnant 16-year-old who ran away from a group home in Glendale back in March and a 14-year-old girl who went missing in May after her mother tried to pick her up from a Phoenix shopping center and couldn't find her.
The Marshal's Service said it worked with numerous Arizona agencies throughout the operation, including Phoenix police, the Pima County Sheriff's Office and the Arizona Department of Child Safety.
U.S. Marshals Service Director Ronald L. Davis noted that missing children can sometimes be fleeing abusive environments, and it was imperative the agency brought recovered children to a safe environment if the one they originally fled from turned out to be abusive.
"Whenever an environment causes them to run away, I think at least we have a second chance of addressing those issues if we can locate them and bring them into a safe environment, get them services and this is how we can make sure that that child can (live) a productive life and not continue to be either victimized or exposed to victimization," Davis said.
Michelle DeLaune, president and CEO at the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, said at the Monday news conference that her organization has a history of assisting the U.S. Marshal's Service in locating missing children noting that the issue is prevalent across the country.
DuLaune said her organization received over 36 million reports of suspected child sexual exploitation last year along with nearly 150,000 calls to its 24/7 call center. She noted that roughly 90% of missing children have run away and risk facing homelessness and being sex trafficked.
DuLaune said the services and treatments recovered children received were often on a case-by-case basis depending on their needs. DuLaune said marshals worked with state and local law enforcement agencies to ensure a safety net was in place for located children should they need shelter or substance abuse treatment.
The agency also located and recovered children in California, Oregon, Michigan, New York, Florida and North Carolina.
Most Popular
Comments / 0