US Marshals Service rescued 35 missing children during the Operation Safety Net program.
In a news release, the Marshals said they teamed up with state and local agencies to locate and rescue the children, all between the ages of 13 and 18.
According to US Marshal Pete Elliot, the children were neglected and abused and more than 20 of them were involved in prostitution or human trafficking, Fox 8 reported.
US Marshals wrote on Twitter: “35 missing and endangered children, between the ages of 13 and 18, were recovered during Operation Safety Net in the Cleveland, OH. area.
“More than 20% were tied to human trafficking cases and those cases were referred to the Human Trafficking Task Force in Cuyahoga County.”
The missing children were located all over the state, including cities Mansfield, Akron, Euclid, Columbus and Cleveland. They had been missing anywhere from a few days to years.
The search will continue to find the remaining five missing children, the agency said.
Those missing teens in Ohio are: Yalonda Bates, 15, Leantwana Bates, 17, Alicia Jackson, 16, Isaac Ortiz, 16, and Ja-Niva Scott-Lee, 16.
The agency also said that they will rescue other missing children.
US Marshal Elliot said in a statement: “This was new unchartered territory and the first time we conducted an operation like this.”
He also said that the new task force would ensure that “our most vulnerable missing children will continue to be found and brought to safety.”
Last month, Elliot told WOIO that some missing children ran away to places that ‘may be better than the situations they left from.’
“We’ve had some cases where the mother and or father, or both, may have been prostituting their own child,” he said.
What are your thoughts on this? Let us know in the comments section and SHARE this story with your friends and family!
Replaced!