‘Epidemic of missing children’: 35 Ohio kids recovered in US Marshals operation

CLEVELAND, Ohio (WOIO) - The U.S. Marshals Service says a multi-jurisdiction operation has resulted in the successful recovery of 35 missing children from Northern Ohio.

‘Operation We Will Find You’ centered around major metropolitan areas, according to Marshals, that included Cleveland, Toledo, Akron, Canton and Youngstown.

Though, the Marshals say their searches took them as far as California, Arizona, and West Virginia.

Before the operation, the whereabouts of all 35 children were unknown to authorities.

According to Marshals, they faced dangers such as physical or sexual abuse, neglect, substance abuse or human trafficking.

“The Marshals Service is fully committed to assisting federal, state, and local agencies with locating and recovering endangered missing children. The main objective of Operation We Will Find You was to find as many critically missing children as possible. The epidemic of missing children in our country needs a spotlight, it needs our focus. We hope operations like this sharpen that focus. Every child deserves a safe environment to grow up in, and we are dedicated to helping provide that for the children and families in Northern Ohio.”

According to the Marshals, these large scale missing child operations, which include federal, state, and local agencies, allow for additional resources, further reach and investigative efforts.

The operation ran from March 1 to May 15.

WATCH: Previous 19 News interview in the video player below: 27 Cleveland children have been reported missing in past 2 weeks. Why?

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