U.S. Marshals Recover 79 Missing Children in Largest Ohio Operation
The U.S. Marshals Service announced that 79 missing children were found in Ohio during Operation Meridian, the state's biggest missing-child sweep.
In August, the U.S. Marshals Service led Operation Meridian, described as Ohio’s largest missing-child operation, and located 79 children between six and seventeen years old. The sweep involved collaboration with police departments in Akron, Cleveland, Columbus and Toledo, as well as the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office in Kentucky and other state and federal agencies. Several children were found outside Ohio, including in Georgia, and the cases spanned suspected trafficking, abuse, neglect and runaways.
Notable recoveries featured two sisters missing since July 2024 and April 2026 in Columbus, whose mother was taken into custody for a probation-violation warrant, and a trafficking victim rescued in Toledo. Survivor Amanda Berry addressed the team before the operation, and HUD special agents participated, stressing protection of children in HUD-assisted housing. U.S. Marshal Pete Elliott lauded the joint effort as a success of law-enforcement, community and media cooperation.
Why it matters
The operation demonstrates a coordinated law-enforcement response that can rescue vulnerable children and disrupt trafficking networks.
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