A 10-week, multi-state operation by the US Marshalls with assistance from state and local authorities helped to locate and rescue over 200 children who went missing or were kidnapped across the United States.
Operation: "We Will Find You" led to the successful rescue of 169 children and safely located 56 more.
From the US Marshals press release:
"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 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."
"Operation We Will Find You is a great example of how the U.S. Marshals Service continues to prioritize child protection," said NCMEC President & CEO Michelle DeLaune. "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."
Data from the Operation showed that 86% of the children were endangered runaways, 9% were family abductions where an estranged family member takes away a child who is not their legal ward, and 5% were categorized as otherwise missing.
The operation was conducted from the following locations: 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.
During the operation, 42 children were found outside the city where they went missing, and 10 children were found outside of the United States in Mexico. In addition, the USMS arrested a Top 15 Most Wanted couple who fled to Mexico from Washington state with their five children, who they had taken into hiding.
