More than 150 missing children were rescued in North Carolina, and some were victims of human trafficking. Over 130 missing and runaway juveniles were recovered with the assistance of the United States marshals in the Charlotte-Mecklenburg area after a monthslong investigation.
Another 27 “critically missing juveniles” were located during “Operation Carolina Homecoming,” a joint effort between Charlotte-Mecklenburg police and federal agents. Between April 26 and May 7, collaborative teams of detectives from the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department’s Missing Person Unit, U.S. Marshal Service deputies, and the Department of Public Safety Missing Persons Unit conducted extensive searches to recover “especially difficult to find juveniles.” Previous efforts to locate the missing children had been unsuccessful, the city of Charlotte acknowledged in a news release.
Several of the minors had been engaged in high-risk activities such as prostitution and involvement in illegal drugs. CMPD said the minors were mostly between the ages of 14 to 18.
Some of the missing children were victims of human trafficking. CMPD officials are investigating the cases of child trafficking, and will arrest anyone who committed crimes involving the endangered children.
“Kids don’t need to be living alone in hotels, kids don’t need to be living alone with an older partner,” CMPD Captain Joel McNelly said, according to WCNC-TV. “People who do this are looking for people vulnerable people who have bad home lives and are looking for something else — people easily manipulated.”- READ MORE
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