As parents, there is nothing we care about more than protecting our children. From the moment we know we are welcoming a new baby into the world, we begin to plan and prepare. From reading parenting books to buying educational toys, we want our kids to have the best start in life possible.
As parents, there is also nothing that we fear more than something bad happening to one of our children. Even a scrape on a knee makes us feel for them. We hate to even consider something much, much worse, such as one of our children going missing.
While there is nothing more terrifying than not knowing where your child is, there probably can’t be anything more emotional than finding that child. While there are all sorts of rewarding jobs in the world, the job of rescuing children must be one of the most rewarding.
Recently, the U.S. Marshals Service Missing Child Unit rescued 39 missing children in Georgia. Nine criminals were arrested. According to a press release, the investigation took 2 weeks and “investigators cleared 26 arrest warrants and filed additional charges for alleged crimes related to sex trafficking, parental kidnapping, registered sex offender violations, drugs and weapons possession, and custodial interference.”
The director of the Marshals Service, Donald Washington, said, “The U.S. Marshals Service is fully committed to assisting federal, state, and local agencies with locating and recovering endangered missing children, in addition to their primary fugitive apprehension mission.” He added, “The message to missing children and their families is that we will never stop looking for you.”
The press release went on to say that these children were the most high-risk due to factors including “victimization of child sex trafficking, child exploitation, sexual abuse, physical abuse, and medical or mental health conditions.”
Chief of the Missing Child Unit, Darby Kirby, said. “When we track down fugitives, it’s a good feeling to know that we’re putting the bad guy behind bars. But that sense of accomplishment is nothing compared to finding a missing child. It’s hard to put into words what we feel when we rescue a missing child, but I can tell you that this operation has impacted every single one of us out here. We are working to protect them and get them the help they need.”