NEW ORLEANS — A four-month operation targeting missing and endangered children in Louisiana successfully recovered 15 minors and netted eight arrests.
Operation “Summer Knights,” led by the U.S. Marshals Service Eastern District of Louisiana, concluded Aug. 31, according to WGNO-TV.
Highlights of the coordinated sting are as follows:
- June 23: Arrest and recovery of a 16-year-old runaway boy wanted by the New Orleans Police Department on a March 2021 felony warrant for 14 counts of vehicle burglary in uptown New Orleans. During the investigation an adult associate of the runaway rammed a Marshals Service enforcement vehicle and fled, later striking a New Orleans Regional Transit Authority bus before being apprehended after a foot chase.
- July 2: Recovery of a 17-year-old boy kidnapped from a residence in Jefferson Parish, who was being held for ransom amid threats of bodily harm. Three suspects in the abduction were arrested.
- July 12: Recovery of a 13-year-old girl in Denham Springs, Louisiana, who had run away two days earlier and was believed to be in contact with an 18-year-old man she met on social media.
- July 26: Recovery of two 12-year-old girls who had run away together weeks earlier and were known to be in the company of adult males, possibly planning on leaving the state. Both teens were recovered in New Orleans. An adult male was arrested after the recoveries for contributing to the delinquency of juveniles and performing sexually immoral acts.
- Aug. 24: Recovery of a 15-year-old girl, who claimed to be pregnant and planning on relocating to Texas. The girl was recovered walking on Canal Street in New Orleans with an adult male.
“I am very proud of the results of Operation Summer Knights and the profound impact it has had on protecting one of the most vulnerable groups in our community,” Enix Smith, U.S. marshal for the Eastern District of Louisiana, said in a prepared statement.
“This work could not be accomplished without the support of our federal, state and local partners agencies involved in safeguarding at-risk children. The U.S. Marshals Service is proud to be a part of a robust (Missing Child Unit) program founded on law enforcement teamwork that took root in New Orleans starting in 2016,” he added.
According to WGNO, the following agencies participated in the operation:
- U.S. Marshals Service New Orleans Task Force
- New Orleans Police Department
- Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office
- St. Tammany Parish Sheriff’s Office
- Homeland Security New Orleans Field Office
- Louisiana Department of Child and Family Services
- National Center for Missing and Exploited Children
- Crimestoppers GNO
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