Operation Rescues 163 Missing Children, Officials Announce

A multi-agency operation has led to the recovery of 163 missing children, Florida officials announced on Aug. 25.

“Many of these kids have been victimized by those who prey on the most vulnerable,” Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier said in a statement.

The effort, dubbed Operation Statewide Shield and lasting five days, was a statewide operation that was focused on locating and recovering missing children. Investigators said they utilized real-time intelligence in combination with sending officers into the field for location and recovery.

The operation resulted in the recovery of 46 missing children in the Tampa Bay region, 41 others in Miami, and 21 others in Jacksonville.

Children were also found in Orlando, Fort Myers, Pensacola, and the Tallahassee area.

Officials said that children, some as young as 2 months old, were also recovered in six other states, 12 other countries, and one U.S. territory.

They had gone missing a variety of ways, including through kidnapping, and included foster children who were abused or neglected and ran away.

Some were teenage girls who had been forced to be strippers, exotic dancers, or prostitutes, officials said.

Three felony cases are being brought as part of the operation, Uthmeier told reporters at a press conference outlining the results of the operation. More arrests will likely take place in the future as officials work on the cases, he said.

“The success of Operation Statewide Shield reaffirms what partnership can accomplish when government, faith organizations, not for profits, and the private sector come together, share their strengths and use their collective expertise to protect children across this state,” Jonathan Stephens, assistant secretary at the Florida Department of Children and Families, said in a statement.

The department and outside organizations are now working to provide the children with medical assistance and help reuniting them with their families.

“We can never know those 163 children,” Sarah Mahoney, founder of the Florida Human Trafficking Victims Fund, said during the briefing. “We can’t know their lives or what is going to become of them now. But what we can know—and why we can put our heads on our pillows at night and go to sleep—is knowing that here in Florida, 163 precious lives were rescued. They were taken out of the darkness.”

“They were given hope and they were given a second chance because of the brave men and women in law enforcement and the amazing victims advocates that come alongside them.”