A 12-year-old girl from Oregon fled her home due to her father's alleged sexual abuse and agreed to meet with Marshals but on the way called to report that her father was attempting to pull her into a car and abuct her, said the Department of Justice.
A massive, nationwide operation to locate missing children resulted in the recovery of 200 juveniles over the past six weeks, authorities said.
The U.S. Marshals Service launched Operation We Will Find You 2 with the help of federal, state and local agencies and technical assistance from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, according to a press release from the Department of Justice (DOJ).
Of the 200 children rescued, 123 were in dangerous situations and the youngest was just 5 months old.
The rescued included a 12-year-old girl from Oregon who fled her home due to her father's alleged sexual abuse, according to the DOJ. When law enforcement contacted her, she agreed to meet with them, but on the way called to report that her father was attempting to pull her into a car and abduct her, according to the DOJ.
U.S. Marshals were able to intervene and rescue the girl, who is now in a state-run foster facility, according to the DOJ.
A majority of those rescued were endangered runaways, one was the victim of a family abduction, one was the victim of a non-family abduction and the other 25 were classified as otherwise missing, officials said.
"These missing children were considered some of the most challenging recovery cases in the area, based on indications of high-risk factors such as victimization of child sex trafficking, child exploitation, sexual abuse, physical abuse, and medical or mental health conditions," said the DOJ.
In the end, children were recovered from seven states: Arizona, California, Florida, Michigan, North Carolina, New York and Oregon.
“There are no words to describe the terror felt by missing children, their families, and their communities,” said Attorney General Merrick B. Garland.
He went on to say: “I am grateful to the dedicated professionals of the U.S. Marshals Service and the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children who worked to find 200 critically missing children during this six-week operation, and who work every day to keep children safe.”
