„Extraordinary”: More Than Two Dozen Missing Children Found In Florida Special Operation

In the first operation of its kind in Florida, authorities have located over two dozen missing children during a multi-day rescue mission in Northeast Florida, according to Local 12.

The children, aged 7 to 17, had been missing from 10 days to more than a year. Over 30 local, state, and federal agencies participated in the joint effort.

Kevin Branzetti, CEO of the National Child Protection Taskforce, stressed the importance of follow-up care: „Finding the children is the first stage, but somebody has to listen to them and help them,” he told WFOX.

Branzetti also emphasized the long-term impact of the effort: „What’s occurring here isn’t just protecting these kids. It’s saving generations to come,” he said to WJAX.

Al Rollins, also with the taskforce, noted the emotional toll many children faced:
„In some cases, these kids were waiting for someone to show that they cared about them and show that they were looking for them,” he told WJAX.

Local 12 reports that Operation Light Shine, which supported the effort, posted on Instagram that „countless lives [were] forever changed” and called the week’s events „extraordinary.”

Clay County Sheriff’s Office representative Ron Lendvay explained that detectives brought their toughest unsolved cases to the operation:
„We all know that when kids run away, they’re either running to something or they’re running from something,” he said. „And what the intercept taskforce does is we go after those to give them something to run to or pull them away from their families.”

Each case is now being reviewed to determine whether human or sex trafficking was involved.