79 Missing Children Recovered in Ohio-Based Operation, US Marshals Say

The U.S. Marshals Service said Tuesday that 79 children who had been reported missing or endangered were recovered during an operation in Ohio.

The dozens of children, between the ages of 6 and 17, had been reported missing or endangered in recent years, according to a U.S. Marshals statement, which described the action as the “largest missing child operation” in Ohio state history. Some children were located as far away as Georgia, it added.

Officials said that Operation Meridian was carried out throughout the month of August and that the children had been reported missing under a number of different circumstances, including neglect, runaway cases, physical abuse, sex trafficking, and other types of endangerment.

The operation was carried out across multiple state jurisdictions with local and state agencies, authorities said.

“Using the same resources and methods we have the ability to seek and recover missing and endangered children,” U.S. Marshal Michael Black said in a statement. “We are proud to be able to assist our law enforcement partners in locating and reuniting missing children with their families.”

Providing an example, officials in southern Ohio found 13-year-old and 16-year-old sisters, finding the 13-year-old “concealed in a basement crawlspace hidden in the floor of a bedroom closet at a home” in Lockbourne. The mother of the two girls was arrested on an outstanding warrant for a probation violation, the U.S. Marshals added.

Authorities obtained more information about the 16-year-old girl, who was found later that day in Columbus, the statement said.

Amanda Berry, an Ohio woman who was held captive for years in a Cleveland home alongside two other captive women before she escaped in 2013, spoke to the U.S. Marshals officials before their operation.

“Every recovered child represents a life pulled back from danger,” U.S. Marshal Pete Elliott said in a statement. “We were so fortunate to have our friend Amanda Berry partner with us during Operation Meridian. She addressed our team prior to the operation and told them to treat every missing child like they were our own, and that’s what the men and women of the United States [Marshal] Service and our partners did.”

In another instance provided by the federal law enforcement agency, the search for a 16-year-old girl reported missing to the Toledo Police Department on Aug. 18, and a prior report that she was a victim of human trafficking led to the involvement of the U.S. Marshals.

Officials were able to investigate an adult male the girl was reported to be with, leading authorities to locate the girl and the man in Toledo, according to the U.S. Marshals. The girl was given medical care while the man was interviewed, with no other details provided, according to the agency.