Executive Summary
- The U.S. Marshals Service announced it located and returned 101 missing children in Memphis during a 40-day operation.
- The mission was part of a larger Department of Justice initiative to combat violent crime in the city.
- The federal effort, which includes a National Guard deployment ordered by President Trump, has received mixed reactions from local officials amid conflicting crime statistics.
The U.S. Marshals Service has successfully located and returned 101 missing children in Memphis, Tennessee, following a 40-day operation. The agency announced the results in a press release on November 8, highlighting the operation as part of a larger, multi-agency federal effort aimed at reducing violent crime in the city.
In a statement, U.S. Marshals spokeswoman Emily Williams confirmed the success of the mission. “We are happy that we have been able to use our fugitive hunting skills to assist local and state authorities with finding these missing children,” Williams said. “While investigative work is tedious, locating missing and endangered children is one of the things we are most proud of.”
This operation is a component of a broader Department of Justice initiative announced earlier in the year. In late October, an announcement credited to Attorney General Pam Bondi stated that federal agents had previously rescued approximately 80 missing children and made 1,700 arrests, which included 126 alleged gang members, as part of the Memphis crime reduction plan.
The federal presence in the city was significantly increased following an executive order signed by President Donald Trump in mid-September, which authorized the deployment of the National Guard. President Trump stated the goal was to replicate crime reduction efforts seen in other cities by creating a task force comprising officials from the FBI, DEA, ICE, and the U.S. Marshal’s Service.
The federal intervention comes amid conflicting data regarding the city’s crime levels. According to an analysis of 2024 FBI data by SafeHome.org, Memphis had the highest homicide rate among large U.S. cities. However, the Memphis Police Department contended that crime in several major categories was at a 25-year low and that the homicide rate had reached a six-year low.
The deployment of federal troops has received a mixed response from local officials. Memphis City Council Chairman J. Ford Canale expressed reservations, citing “painful memories from 1968” for many residents. In contrast, state Rep. Mark White voiced support for the move, telling The Epoch Times that a shortage of local police officers made the assistance necessary.
The recovery of the missing children marks a significant outcome of the federal initiative, though the broader intervention continues to be a subject of local debate. It is important to note that any individuals arrested are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.