Something alarming is happening in Ohio, and it has parents on edge. There has reportedly been an "extraordinary" surge in missing children in the Cleveland-Akron area in recent months. Dozens of children disappeared in August alone, and September has already surpassed that number. But the question on everyone's mind is why.
Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost said the numbers may be inflated because of inconsistencies in reporting data, News 5 reported. Although that may be true, the fact that children are continuing to go missing has caused a lot of alarm, and the community wants it to stop.
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The uptick in missing children began in May.
Thirty children went missing in Northern Ohio in the first two weeks of the month, the New York Post reported. The trend continued through the summer, and in August more than 35 minors were reported missing; more than 45 have been listed as missing so far this month, according to the Ohio Attorney General's Office. On September 22 alone, the office reported 11 minors missing.
The attorney general is concerned but thinks part of the issue is reporting.
Yost quickly pointed out discrepancies in missing children reports by the Cleveland Police Department, which reportedly admitted to issues in the past. Still, he is cautious about what is happening in the northern portion of the state.
"Yes, of course, we are worried about that," Yost said, per News 5. "Now, what we know is when we look behind the numbers, some of those represent repeated runaways and local police have talked about that."
Several factors are contributing to increased missing youth.
Some reported missing are runaways, who may even be repeat offenders. There are also significant concerns, however, about abduction and human trafficking. He stressed that human error also could be a part of the issue.
"All of these things have localized reporting problems that again are a function of local conditions," Yost said, per News 5. "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. I am fearful of all kinds of things that fall through the cracks that include missing children. I rely on the tenacity of a worried parent more than I do a harried bureaucrat whose job it is to put data into a computer."
The total number of missing youth in Ohio in 2023 is almost unbelievable.
More than 1,000 minors have been reported missing in Ohio since the beginning of 2023, the Post reported. With numbers steadily rising each month, hundreds more could potentially disappear before the year's end.
Yost told News 5 his office partnered with the University of Toledo to help ensure more accurate reporting. "Law enforcement can't be everywhere and can't see everything," he said. "We rely on the people, the population because we have 11.7 million pairs of eyes out there that can keep an eye out."
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Parents of missing children are taking action on their own.
Breana Brown began JUMP, or Join Us in Minor's Protection, to advocate for missing children and their families. She recently told a story on Facebook about an adult man trying to pick up a teenage girl on her way to school. Brown claimed she watched the entire situation unfold, making her uncomfortable and angry.
"Sir, what reason would this little girl have to get in your car?" she asked in the video. She urged everyone to pay attention to their surroundings because "literally, this stuff is right in our face."
She told News 5 that it is everyone's responsibility to come together and help those who may need it.
"As a community, I feel like we need to do more," Brown said. "We need to make it a priority. If we make more things like this a priority, we will be more on top of it, such as updating the website so we can know who is missing. This is our community; we want to know what's going on in our community and with our children especially."
