Missing child alert in the US: ‘I haven’t seen anything like this in 33 years’
In the city of Cleveland, Ohio, USA, where missing persons cases are high, 27 children went missing in the first two weeks of May and could not be found despite all the searches.
Authorities described the situation as an “extraordinary increase,” while Newburgh Heights Police Chief John Majoy said cases hit an all-time high in 2023. “There are always ups and downs with disappearances, but this This year is an extraordinary period,” Majoy said, stressing that the increase in the number of child victims of human trafficking and drug gangs in the city is worrying.
Noting that some children thought they were running away from home, the official said many cases were not reported to the police and the true number could be much higher.
Cleveland is among the places with the highest number of missing persons in the United States.
The police officer said that he had seen such a missing case for the first time in his 33-year career, saying: “This is a silent crime that happened right under our noses. Where did they go? Home of the drug gang or a nest of prostitution? he said.
Pete Elliot, one of the police officers, described the situation as an “epidemic” and said: “We should draw more attention to the epidemic of missing children in our country.”
Ohio police launched a statewide search campaign called “Operation We’ll Find You” to find the missing children.
According to The Independent, more than 15,000 children were reported missing in Ohio in 2022, with four of them found dead. Authorities have found 96 percent of the children, but 615 are still missing as of 2023.