Staff report
A massive statewide operation to locate missing children resulted in the recovery of 122 youths across Florida and nine other states, with 22 of those children found in the Jacksonville area, including operations that coordinated with Nassau County authorities.
The two-week initiative, dubbed “Operation Home for the Holidays,” was led by the U.S. Marshals Service and involved more than 200 partners, including the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office, the Nassau County Sheriff’s Office, the Clay County Sheriff’s Office, the FBI, Florida Department of Law Enforcement and numerous child advocacy organizations.
Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier announced the results of the operation on Nov. 17 in Tampa, calling it one of the largest child-recovery operations in American history.
“Thanks to one of the single largest child-rescue operations in U.S. history, 122 missing children are safe,” Uthmeier said in a news release from the Florida Attorney General’s Office. “This operation highlights the strength and diligence of Florida’s law enforcement.”
The recovered children ranged in age from 23 months to 17 years old. Many had experienced various levels of abuse, neglect, exploitation or exposure to criminal activity, according to the Attorney General’s Office.
The operation resulted in recoveries across Florida’s major metropolitan areas: 57 children in the Tampa Bay region, 29 in Fort Myers, 22 in Jacksonville and 14 in Orlando. Additional children were located in nine other states, with one child found in Mexico and another in Guatemala, according to NBC News.
In the Jacksonville area, the task force included federal marshals, FBI agents, FDLE agents, NCIS agents, Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents, Homeland Security, and sheriff’s offices from Jacksonville, Clay, Nassau, St. Johns and Flagler counties, according to News4JAX, which was embedded with the task force. The Florida Department of Children and Families and the First Coast Child Protection Team also participated.
Sgt. Joshua Sterner of the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office told Action News Jax that investigators had a list of 29 children they actively searched for in the Jacksonville area. They located 22 of them using ground operations, social media and other data. The children found locally ranged in age from 12 to 16, with some having been missing for weeks or months.
“The mindset behind this operation was, hey, holidays are coming up, why not go ahead and do a big operation?” Sterner told Action News Jax.
Some children were found in homes, others in hotels. One 15-year-old Jacksonville teen was located in the Boston area with the assistance of U.S. Marshals there and was reunited with her family, Sterner said.
JSO said some of the children were first-time runaways while others were habitual runaways. Some have been returned to their families while others are in DCF custody or have custody orders from the Department of Juvenile Justice.
“So we have to figure out the why, because it’s never as simple as they just left,” Sterner told Action News Jax. “There’s always some reason behind somebody leaving, whether it’s they understand it or they don’t, but it’s finding that reason, figuring it out, and trying to prevent them doing it again.”
The operation resulted in six felony arrests statewide, with additional charges expected as investigations continue. The Florida Attorney General’s Office of Statewide Prosecution is handling multiple felony cases generated by the operation, including crimes involving sexual battery on a child and custodial interference, according to the Attorney General’s Office.
U.S. Marshal Bill Berger of the Middle District of Florida emphasized the collaborative nature of the mission.
“The United States Marshals Service is proud to stand with our partners across the state of Florida in pursuit of the safety and welfare of our children,” Berger said in a news release from the Attorney General’s Office. “This operation was built based upon the wants and needs of our communities.”
The operation was developed with an emphasis on rapid access to child-focused services. Victim advocates and child welfare specialists worked alongside law enforcement to provide immediate resources to rescued children, including warm meals, psychological evaluations and counseling.
In Jacksonville, Wolfson Children’s Hospital served as a hub where child advocacy groups set up a logistical services command post along with medical and social services areas for recovered children, according to News4JAX.
FDLE Deputy Commissioner Vaden Pollard said the operation reflects the power of strong partnerships.
“By gathering critical intelligence, pursuing every lead, and working together with our federal, state, and local partners, we achieved a unified mission and delivered meaningful results — 122 children and youth are now safe, and that is a victory for our entire state,” Pollard said in a news release from the Attorney General’s Office.
According to child advocacy organizations cited by News4JAX, nearly 350,000 missing children were entered into the FBI’s National Crime Information Center last year. The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children reports that 95% of missing juveniles are classified as runaways, with many highly vulnerable to exploitation, violence and homelessness.
Operation Home for the Holidays surpassed the scale of Operation Dragon Eye, a similar effort conducted earlier this year in Florida, according to the Attorney General’s Office.
