Oregon girl among 200 missing children found in US operation

The U.S. Marshals Service (USMS), with assistance from local law enforcement, conducted a six-week nationwide operation that resulted in the recovery of 200 missing children.

According to a press release from the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), this was the second “We Will Find You 2” operation. The operation ran from May 20 to June 24. It focused on geographic areas where there are many missing child hotspots. One of the areas targeted was Portland, Oregon.

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On May 21, a 12-year-old girl disappeared from her Portland home and had reported allegations of sexual abuse by family members, according to the Justice Department. Officers were able to contact the girl through her cellphone, and she agreed to meet them at a nearby grocery store.

Officers then received a call from the girl and a friend saying her father was trying to pull her into his car and she was scared. USMS investigators responded and separated the girl from her father. The girl then told officers that two Hispanic men had raped her and that her father had touched her inappropriately.

The girl was found on May 24 and placed in foster care while the Oregon Department of Human Services investigated the allegations. The DOJ reported that within 24 hours of her placement in foster care, the foster family removed the child from their home. The girl then called a deputy U.S. Marshal who had established a relationship with her and asked for help. The U.S. Marshal reported the incident to the Oregon agency, which then placed the girl in a state-run shelter.

Nearly 125 children removed from dangerous locations

With the help of the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC), agents removed 123 children from dangerous locations. Another 77 missing children were located in safe locations, according to law enforcement or child protection agencies.

The Justice Department said that of the 200 children found, 173 were endangered runaways, 25 were considered missing, one was a family abduction and one was a non-family abduction. The youngest child was five months old, and 17 of the children were found outside the city where they disappeared.

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In addition to Portland, the operation was conducted in Multnomah, Washington and Deschutes counties. Eugene, Oregon, and the Warm Springs Reservation were also visited.

The other states affected were Arizona, California, Florida, Michigan, North Carolina and New York.

Julia Dallas is a content writer at MyNorthwest. You can read her articles here. Follow Julia on X here and send him an email here.