Kudos to the US Marshals Service, and thank you

The United States Marshals Service is a largely unsung band of men and women, doing very important work, but mostly out of the headlines.  I worked with a number of its agents during my service as a prison chaplain, since the USMS is responsible for most interstate transport of federal inmates.  Those I knew were always very professional, very competent individuals, and I had a lot of respect for them.

The USMS has just had two major successes that the mainstream media have largely ignored.

U.S. Marshals rescue 39 missing children in Georgia

The U.S. Marshals Service worked with local authorities to rescue 26 missing children and ensure the safe location of 13 others during a two-week operation in Georgia, according to a news release Thursday.

Authorities arrested nine people, many of whom had multiple arrest warrants for charges including sex trafficking, parental kidnapping, registered sex offender violations, drugs and weapons possession.

“The message to missing children and their families is that we will never stop looking for you,” said Director of the Marshals Service Donald Washington.

The rescued children were considered to be “some of the most at-risk and challenging recovery cases in the area, based on indications of high-risk factors such as victimization of child sex trafficking, child exploitation, sexual abuse, physical abuse and medical or mental health conditions,” according to the release.

The youngest child was reportedly just 3 years old, and, while many had been gone for several weeks, one was missing for two years before being rescued.

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US Marshals find 25 missing children in Ohio

The U.S. Marshal Service has found 25 missing children in northeast Ohio ... during a monthlong investigation, according to Ann Murphy, public affairs officer for the U.S. Marshal Service, Northern District of Ohio.

Of these cases, about one-quarter are confirmed to be related to human trafficking or prostitution, Murphy said in a news release Thursday.

The U.S. Marshal Service has been working with its state and local partners over the past 20 days to find and recover missing juveniles from the Cuyahoga County area.

. . .

Members of the task force and its local partners will continue to work over the next several weeks to bring more children to safety, the news release said.

Full marks to the USMS for their successes.  There are a lot of parents out there who've been reunited with their kids, and a lot of kids who've been abused who are now safe from further harm.  They all may have problems to overcome, particularly in relating to each other, but at least those problems can now be tackled on a sound footing.

While the mainstream media are quick to highlight police and law enforcement problems, and rioters demand defunding of their agencies, it's good to remember that the basic functions of law enforcement go on day by day across this country, and help a great many people.  54 kids today have the possibility of a brighter tomorrow, thanks to being rescued from a ghastly yesterday.  Well done, USMS, and thank you!

Peter