31 Missing Texas Children Located and Rescued in D/FW Operation

According to a press release from the Department of Justice, the United States Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Texas announced that 31 children from the Dallas/Fort Worth area have been located, recovered, or rescued as a result of “Operation Missing in the Metroplex,” a month-long operation led by the U.S. Marshals Service and Homeland Security Investigations.

The federal agencies partnered with four local police departments – the Arlington Police Department, the Dallas Police Department, the Fort Worth Police Department, and the Grand Prairie Police Department – to locate the missing minors.

“To observe law enforcement partnerships and community concerns culminate into such a successful recovery outcome is rewarding,” said Acting United States Marshal Quintella Downs-Bradshaw. “Victims should know they are not forgotten, there is hope and a way to return home.”

“While this joint operation lasted approximately 30 days, HSI Dallas will continue working relentlessly to identify and recover missing children who become vulnerable to human traffickers across the North Texas region,” said HSI Dallas Special Agent in Charge Ryan L. Spradlin. “Our continued collaboration with our local, state and federal law-enforcement partners and non-governmental organizations is vital to combatting this global epidemic.”

At least seven recoveries were of critically missing children with ties to sex trafficking. Noteworthy cases include:

• A 15-year-old Jane Doe recovered by Dallas Police at a residence in Dallas following a tip by a confidential source.
• A 17-year-old Jane Doe recovered by Dallas Police inside a vehicle in Dallas.
• A 16-year-old Jane Doe recovered by Arlington Police inside a residence in Kerens, TX following an analysis of social media.
• A 13-year-old Jane Doe recovered by Fort Worth Police inside an apartment in Fort Worth.
• A 15-year-old Jane Doe from Fort Worth recovered in an Uber in Houston during a prostitution sting.
• A 16-year-old Jane Doe recovered by Fort Worth Police at a “john’s” house in Fort Worth.
• A 16-year-old Jane Doe recovered by Dallas Police walking on Lancaster Blvd.

The remaining 24 children were recovered from friends or relatives, reunited with their legal guardians, and removed from the missing children database.

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“We are grateful to be a part of a coalition of extraordinary law enforcement agencies who were dedicated in reuniting these children with their loved ones. It is our hope that each of them will be able to put this traumatic experience behind them and move forward to have a happy and productive life,” said Dallas Police Department Chief of Police Eddie Garcia.

The Justice Department records more than 420,000 reports of missing children each year. For decades, the U.S. Marshals Service, Homeland Security Investigations, and state and local authorities have worked relentlessly to recover children who have been abducted, enticed, lost, or run away.

If your child is missing, call local law enforcement immediately, and provide them with your child’s name, height, weight, any other descriptive identifiers (glasses, braces, etc), and the circumstances under which they went missing. Then, consider calling the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children at 1-800-THE-LOST (1-800-843-5678) for additional support.