Eight ‘highly endangered’ missing children were found safe in Indiana during a five-day rescue operation in the Indianapolis area, according to a press release from the U.S. Marshals Southern District of Indiana.
The operation, dubbed “Homecoming,” was initiated months prior to the recovery and involved cooperation from multiple agencies. Investigators working on the case traced last known whereabouts, relatives of the child, or people they may have been with, their homes, schools, and other information in an effort to get them back safe.
The recovered children ranged between ages 6 and 17 and were “considered to be some of the most at-risk and challenging recovery cases in the area,” federal authorities said, adding that the information was “based on indications of high-risk factors such as victimization of child sex trafficking, child exploitation, sex abuse, physical abuse, and medical or mental health conditions.”
Officials announced that one adult linked to the children was taken into custody. No additional information regarding the relationship between the suspect and the missing children was provided.
According to the statement, the suspect has been charged with alleged parental kidnapping, intimidation, weapons possession, and custodial interference.
The rescue operation was conducted between Aug. 31 and Sept. 4 and was the first missing child operation performed by the service in Indiana. Following a successful operation, the children were all safely turned over to the Indiana Department of Child Services, according to the release.
“The Marshals are committed to assisting state and local agencies with locating and recovering endangered missing children to help prevent their falling victim to crimes of violence and exploitation,” said Dan McClain, a U.S. Marshal for the Southern District of Indiana.
“The message that we wish to convey to the missing children and their families is that we will use every resource at our disposal to find you,” he continued.
The children that were rescued have all previously been reported as missing by local authorities. They were entered into the National Crime Information Center database and reported as missing by the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children, the service said.
‘More Work to Be Done’
The U.S. Marshals have now made several announcements of successful operations over the past weeks. Last week the service reported a victory in the war on child trafficking after “Operation Safety Net” recovered 25 missing children in Ohio in its first two weeks of operation.
Those victims were aged between 13 and 18, and some were located as far away as Miami, Florida.
Despite the effort being, in U.S. Marshal Pete Elliott’s words, “unchartered territory” for the Marshals, it has been effective. “I’ll tell you this, it will be something we’ll be doing every year,” he told WOIO.
However, there is still more work to be done. There are approximately 200 children reported missing in Northeast Ohio, and the USMS aims to find all of them.
An estimated 460,000 children are reported missing in the United States every single year, according to the FBI’s National Crime Information Center.
Human traffickers actively target vulnerable minors, recruit children who are already missing, or target children who are neglected at home and can be lured away, Suzanne Lewis-Johnson, a former FBI agent, now CEO at RAHAB Ministries in Ohio, told USA Today. “Right now, I believe our children are more vulnerable to traffickers than they’ve ever been,” she added.
Epoch Times reporter Louise Bevan contributed to this report.
