A missing child crisis is sweeping Ohio with more than 1,000 disappearances in 2023
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Record numbers of children are being reported missing from Ohio cities, the NY Post states. More than 1,000 accounts were filed between January and September, according to the attorney general’s missing children website.
The alarmingly large numbers of unaccounted for minors have come in waves. More than two dozen children were reported missing in northern Ohio in the first two weeks of May. In August, more than 35 minors were reported as missing in the area and the number jumped with an additional 45 minors reported missing in September.
Newburgh Heights Police Chief John Majoy, who is also president of Cleveland Missing, spoke about the issue with Fox News back in May, saying that in his 33-year career, he has never seen such high numbers. Majoy stated, “For some reason, in 2023, we’ve seen a lot more than we normally see, which is troubling in part because we don’t know what’s going on with some of these kids — whether they’re being trafficked, or whether they’re involved in gang activity or drugs.”
Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost told News 5 Cleveland that while the figures are alarming, there may be some inaccuracies in the numbers due to inconsistencies in updating reports. He continued, “Now, what we know is when we look behind the numbers, some of those represent repeated runaways and local police have talked about that.”
In his statement, he also mentioned that Cleveland authorities have admitted to errors regarding updating missing person reports in the past and the state is dealing with a shortage of trained officers, which could be exacerbating the issue. Yost said, “All of these things have localized reporting problems that, again, are a function of local conditions. We do our best to encourage compliance and improve assistance to remove barriers, but at the end of the day, we have to rely on our local partners that we don’t control.”
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