TALLAHASSEE, FL — The U.S. Marshals Service led a comprehensive operation in December that resulted in the recovery and location of 43 critically missing children from 14 counties across North Florida. They held a press conference on Thursday morning, along with other agencies.
The release states, “Operation Northern Lights” involved a multidisciplinary task force comprising federal, state, and local government agencies, as well as social services, the medical community, and non-governmental organizations. The two-week initiative focused on recovering or safely locating the most critically missing youth.
The U.S. Marshals Service defines “critically missing” children as those at risk of crimes of violence or those with other elevated risk factors such as substance abuse, sexual exploitation, crime exposure, or domestic violence.
The U.S Marshals Service Northern District of Florida says over 80 personnel from 25 different agencies, including law enforcement, social services, federal and state attorneys’ offices, and non-profits, worked together to bring these children home.
The release says the operation resulted in nine arrests and included recoveries potentially leading to additional future charges of human trafficking, child endangerment, and custodial interference. During this operation, endangered children missing from North Florida were recovered not only locally, but also in other states, including Tennessee, Mississippi, and Louisiana.
The recovered children ranged in age from 1½ to 17 years old.
The report states that the recovered children were provided with medical resources, nourishment, social services, and child advocates.
Among the significant recoveries during Operation Northern Lights:
A 1-year-old missing from Leon County was recovered by USMS personnel in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.A 17-year-old and 1-year-old missing from Okaloosa County were recovered by USMS personnel outside Jackson, Mississippi. An arrest was made on a non-custodial adult for interference with child custody.A 17-year-old missing from Suwannee County was recovered by USMS personnel in Meadville, Mississippi. USMS arrested a 24-year-old adult for interference with child custody.A 13-year-old missing from Suwannee County was recovered by USMS personnel in Jacksonville after having been missing for eight months.A 15-year-old from Okaloosa County who was a victim of a non-custodial abduction was located in Ocala, Florida, and the adult was arrested for interference with child custody.
Law enforcement partners in Operation Northern Lights included Homeland Security Investigations, Leon County Sheriff’s Office, Tallahassee Police Department, Florida Attorney General’s Office, Florida Department of Law Enforcement, Florida Highway Patrol, Florida Department of Children and Families, Florida Department of Juvenile Justice, and sheriff’s offices from Escambia, Santa Rosa, Okaloosa, Walton, Bay, Jackson, Wakulla, Madison, Taylor, Suwannee, Alachua and Marion counties.
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