The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has located over 6,200 missing children, and is “advancing the mission of protecting America’s children at a level never seen before,” FBI Director Kash Patel said in a March 17 update about the agency’s “historic year” in 2025. The number of children recovered was more than 30 percent higher than the previous year.
Of these, 2,700 were identified to be victims of child exploitation, the DOJ said.
The FBI also made more than 435 Violent Crimes Against Children arrests, leading to indictments against over 300 individuals. Online exploitation and Nihilistic Violent Extremist arrests were up 490 percent from 2024, the FBI reported.
“We rebuilt the FBI, surging agents out of D.C. and into communities, expanding intel sharing, and deploying cutting-edge tech and AI to hunt predators faster than ever,” Patel said. “Under President Trump’s leadership, we remain relentless in protecting children and will not slow down.”
Nearly 30,000 children were reported missing in 2024, the FBI said in a Sept. 10 post, citing data from the Congress‑authorized nonprofit National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, which partners with the agency.
“Missing children cases fit into one of several categories beyond true stranger abductions. Some are taken by someone they know, such as a parent, other relative, or family friend. Others run away to meet an online acquaintance or to escape their home life,” the FBI said.
“Some children are reported as missing to cover up a murder. Some are kidnapped by people who want to raise the child as their own. Others—usually the very young or those with developmental disabilities—wander off from home and get lost.”
The children were provided help to facilitate “their reunification with legal guardians or find appropriate placement,” U.S. Marshals said. The primary goal of the operation was to “recover and safely locate critically missing children.”
According to the Riverside County Sheriff’s Office, some of the recovered children were victims of sex trafficking or sexual assault.
“We will never stop fighting to protect California children and bring them home,” California Attorney General Rob Bonta said in a statement. “Finding missing children and bringing them home safely is some of the most important work we can do.”
Numerous children are also reported missing annually in Canada. According to data from the Royal Canadian Mounted Police’s National Centre for Missing Persons and Unidentified Remains, 32,680 children were reported missing in 2024.
The recovered children are part of the more than 300,000 unaccompanied immigrant children that the previous administration had “turned over to unvetted sponsors, lost track of, and weren’t looking forward,” the border czar said.
“President [Donald] Trump promised that we would find these children, and under his strong leadership and with his unwavering support, the patriots at these, and other partner, agencies have been—and will continue to do—just that,” Homan said.
