U.S. Marshals recover 27 missing children in Virginia after five-day operation

RICHMOND, Va. (WWBT) - The U.S. Department of Justice announced the U.S. Marshals recovered 27 previously missing children throughout Virginia after a five-day operation.

The operation called, ‘Operation Find Our Children’, also confirmed the location of six additional children previously reported as missing but subsequently discovered by the U.S. Marshals Service as being in the custody of their legal guardian.

Operation Find Our Children consisted of:

U.S. Marshals from the Eastern and Western Districts of Virginia
Members of the U.S. Marshals Service Capital Area Regional Fugitive Task Force and special agents
More than 60 police officers and detectives from numerous federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies

They were joined by more than 50 employees from the Virginia Department of Social Services and a team of medical professionals and experts from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC).

The U.S. Marshals Service is leading the way in a nationwide effort to rescue and recover missing and exploited children and aid in the prevention of human trafficking.

Since 2005, the U.S. Marshals Service has recovered more than 2,000 missing children. Over the past five years, the agency has recovered missing children in 75 percent of the cases it has received.

Of those recovered, 72 percent were recovered within seven days.

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