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AKRON, Ohio (WEWS) -- Operation Homecoming brought more than 30 missing children home. The detail, led by U.S. Marshals, focused on the safe recovery of missing children from the Akron and Summit County areas.
The operation was a joint endeavor between the U.S. Marshals Service, the Akron Police Department and the Summit County Sheriff’s Office. From August 19 to September 6, members of the USMS Missing Child Unit worked with Akron police and Summit Sheriff’s Deputies to identify missing and endangered children in their area.
During that period, police found 32 missing children. Those children ranged in age from 13-18 years old.
U.S. Marshal Pete Elliott said, “Dedicated work by our Missing Child Unit along with Akron Police and the Sheriff’s Office have made an incredible impact in the safe recovery of these children. The U.S. Marshals Service will continue to dedicate its time and resources to the safe recovery of missing children in our communities throughout northern Ohio.”
“I’m proud of the excellent work of my team and of our partner agencies in this very important operation,” said Summit County Sheriff Kandy Fatheree. “It is a great example of how collaboration makes us stronger and helps us to better serve and protect our community.”
Some of the missing children were recovered in the Akron area, others in Cleveland, and one child, reported missing by the Akron Police Department in April 2022, was safely located in Washington state.
Deputy U.S. Marshal Vinny Piccoli heads up the USMS Missing Child Unit.
He said children have been found in horrible situations.
"Guns, drugs, whatever the case may be, people that they've been hanging out with older males, older females, where there's been trafficking involved, prostitution involved, so we've removed kids from situations like that," said Piccoli.
Law enforcement officers worked closely with Summit County Children Services to ensure that resources were available to the children who were recovered, especially those who had been missing for a longer period.
Akron Police Chief Brian Harding added, “The partnership and devoted work by law enforcement in this operation directly led to the safe recovery of the missing child located across the country.”
In 2015, federal lawmakers expanded the U.S. Marshals' authority to search for missing children.
Elliott established the Missing Child Unit in Northern Ohio last year.
