Long Island Heroics: Dozens of Missing Children Rescued in Massive 3-Day Operation

A multiagency missing child rescue operation led to the reunion of nearly three dozen children and teenage runaways from Long Island and Queens with their families this week, officials announced on Friday. The intensive three-day operation successfully located 34 youths, ranging in age from 7 to 18, who had been missing for periods spanning from just a few days up to a decade.

The National Child Protection Task Force, a national nonprofit, played a pivotal role in organizing the operation, which involved the collaborative efforts of 40 agencies and organizations. These groups operated from a central command center established in the Garden City Hotel. Kevin Branzetti, co-founder and CEO of the National Child Protection Task Force, confirmed that among the relocated minors, 18 were from Nassau County, 12 from Suffolk County, and four from Queens. Officials also noted that several other minors were located but either declined to return home or were already adults. Despite the success, 31 missing child cases from Long Island and Queens remain open, out of a total of 70 local cases reviewed by the task force.

Addressing the broader implications of child disappearances, Branzetti emphasized at a news conference, "Finding them is half the battle. Keeping them is really what we want. So our goal ... is to bring the community together to work on these kids. Missing kids are a community's problem. They are not a police problem. They are not a social services problem. They are a community problem." This recent operation marks the fourth of its kind in New York State over the past two years, collectively leading to the location of 202 young people. Branzetti also highlighted a recurring challenge, noting that typically about half of all located minors tend to go missing again at some point.

Law enforcement officials shared insights into the children's circumstances and the methods used to locate them. Nassau Police Commissioner Patrick Ryder reported that the teens found by his department were between 13 and 18 years old, including one 17-year-old discovered in Manhattan with a known felon. Ryder indicated that some of these individuals might have cognitive issues or challenging home environments. Many were located through advanced techniques such as cellphone tracking, social media analysis, and specialized tools available to the task force that may not typically be accessible to law enforcement without a subpoena. Det. Lt. Frank Messana of the Suffolk County Police Department’s Criminal Intelligence Section added that some missing teens were tracked and located as far away as Pennsylvania, praising the operation's effectiveness: "The three days really allowed us to take a deep dive into these cases, and the results were incredible."

Throughout the operation, law enforcement from Long Island and the NYPD collaborated closely with social workers, advocates, and community organizations. This multidisciplinary approach aimed to understand the unique circumstances surrounding each child's disappearance, identify contributing factors, and assess their needs post-location. State officials confirmed that the found youths received comprehensive support, including medical care, counseling, clothing, food, and safe placement options. In certain instances, medical examinations and forensic interviews were also provided.

DaMia Harris-Madden, Commissioner of the Office of Children and Family Services, explained that the majority of minors located by the task force had left home voluntarily, although a subset are often found to have been exploited or trafficked. Harris-Madden underscored the operation's dual objective: "The goal here is to ensure that our children are brought home, but also that they are supported with concrete resources so that they don't either run away again or they don't go missing again."

State statistics reveal the ongoing scale of the missing children crisis in New York. In 2025, 10,629 children under the age of 18 were reported missing to police across the state, with a significant 94% categorized as runaways. Last year, police successfully closed 10,672 cases involving children reported missing in 2025 or earlier. As of the end of 2025, there remained 1,079 active missing children cases statewide.