Over 100 children were found safe during a one-day sweep by multiple Michigan law enforcement agencies, the US Marshals Service said Wednesday.
The agency said Operation MISafeKid recovered 123 missing children Sept. 26 throughout Wayne County in a sweep aimed to identify and recover missing children and locate victims of sex trafficking.
The operation had 301 case files for missing children open before the sweep, which was the first of its kind in Wayne County, according to the report.
All recovered children were interviewed by authorities about possibly being sexually victimized or used in a sex trafficking ring and officials said three identified as possible sex trafficking cases.
The report said one homeless teenage boy had not had anything to eat in three days, so authorities transported him back to their command post for food and turned him over to Child Protective Services for aftercare.
In addition to the missing children in Michigan, officers in the operation obtained information about two missing children in Texas and another in Minnesota. Those cases are being actively investigated, officials said.
“The message to the missing children and their families that we wish to convey is that we will never stop looking for you,” the US Marshals Service said.
Several agencies were involved in the operation including the US Marshals Service, Michigan State Police, Detroit Police Department, Wayne County local law enforcement, as well as the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children and the Department of Housing and Urban Development’s Office of Inspector General.
