U.S. Marshals Help Locate Missing Colorado Children
Coordination between the U.S. Marshals District of Colorado, the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC), and other agencies recently led to the location and/or recovery of 11 critically endangered missing children in the Denver metropolitan area.
“Operation Lost and Found” was conducted from November 7-18 and was the first “dedicated missing child operation conducted by the U.S. Marshals Service in Colorado.”
“As the Marshals continue to develop our Missing Child Unit, we will continue to support state and local law enforcement partners in locating and reunifying missing and exploited children with their families," said U.S. Marshal for the District of Colorado Kirk Taylor in a press release.
The operation was the result of several months of planning between the U.S. Marshals, the Aurora, Colorado Police Department, NCMEC, Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), Colorado Bureau of Investigations, and the Colorado Department of Human Services.
The recovered children ranged in age from 12-17, and were reported missing to local law enforcement, NCMEC, and entered into the National Crime Information Center database. The children missing were considered some of the “most at-risk and challenging recovery cases in the area, based on indications of high-risk factors, such as victimization of child sex trafficking, child exploitation, sex abuse, physical abuse, and medical or mental health conditions.”
The operation also resulted in the arrest of one adult for “alleged interference with a custodial order.”
The Aurora Police and Colorado Human Services worked together to determine whether to return the children or place them in alternative arrangements.
The U.S. Marshals were granted enhanced authority to assist in missing child cases by the Justice for Victims of Trafficking Act of 2015. The Marshals Service formed the Missing Child Unit to take the lead on these cases and will assist other authorities involving cases under “circumstances that indicate an elevated risk to the child.”
In Fiscal Year (FY) 2021, the Marshals assisted in the recovery of 950 children and received 1,640 requests from law enforcement for assistance.
More than 2,300 missing children have been recovered since the Marshals received enhanced authority to do so.