A two-week operation led by the U.S. Marshals Service recovered or located 43 missing children across 14 North Florida counties, including three children from Okaloosa County, federal officials announced Thursday.
- Operation Northern Lights, which concluded this month, marked the largest missing child operation ever conducted in North Florida, according to the U.S. Marshals Service. The effort involved more than 80 personnel from 25 agencies, including the Okaloosa County Sheriff’s Office and Crestview Police Department.
The operation resulted in nine arrests, with potential additional charges pending for human trafficking, child endangerment and custodial interference. Recovered children ranged in age from 18 months to 17 years old.
Two of the Okaloosa County cases involved children found out of state. A 17-year-old and a 1-year-old were recovered outside Jackson, Mississippi, with a non-custodial adult arrested for interference with child custody.
- A third case involved a 15-year-old who was the victim of a non-custodial abduction; the child and abductor were located in Ocala, and the adult was arrested.
“This was the most successful missing child operation ever conducted in Northern Florida,” said Greg Leljedal, acting U.S. Marshal for the Northern District of Florida. “The recovered children ranged in age from 1½ to 17 years old. This operation was not only about finding the missing children, but also providing immediate physical and psychological care to help them begin the path to healing.”
The operation focused on what the Marshals Service defines as “critically missing” children — those at risk of violence or facing elevated risk factors such as substance abuse, sexual exploitation, crime exposure or domestic violence.
Endangered children missing from North Florida were recovered locally as well as in Tennessee, Mississippi and Louisiana. One case involved a 13-year-old from Suwannee County who had been missing for eight months before being recovered in Jacksonville.
- Recovered children were provided with medical resources, social services and child advocates.
Local law enforcement partners included the Okaloosa County Sheriff’s Office, Crestview Police Department, Escambia County Sheriff’s Office, Pensacola Police Department, Santa Rosa Sheriff’s Office, Walton County Sheriff’s Office and Bay County Sheriff’s Office.
The operation also involved Homeland Security Investigations, the Florida Attorney General’s Office, Florida Department of Law Enforcement, Florida Department of Children and Families, and the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children.
