US authorities announced Friday that 34 children reported missing in Queens and Long Island had been found and returned to safety following a 72-hour operation.
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The operation, dubbed the “Long Island Children Rescue Operation,” was conducted from Tuesday through Thursday. Some cases had lasted only a few days, while in others, the children had been missing for as long as 10 years.
The children found ranged in age from 7 to 18. After being located, they were referred to support services, including medical care and assistance with other basic needs.
Authorities said most of the children had voluntarily left their homes. However, some had been exposed to severe exploitation and human trafficking.
The operation was coordinated from a command center in Garden City, Nassau County. Around 100 professionals from 40 agencies and organizations took part.
Data reported by “Newsday” showed that 18 of the children came from Nassau County, 12 from Suffolk County and 4 from Queens. Meanwhile, the governor’s office said that 31 other missing-child cases remained open in the area.
More than 10,000 children were reported missing during 2025.
Steven James, superintendent of the New York State Police, said that 10,629 people under the age of 18 were reported missing across the state in 2025.
About 94% of these cases involved children who had run away from home.
Also in 2025, authorities closed 10,672 cases involving children reported missing that year or in previous years. However, at the end of the year, 1,079 missing-child cases remained active statewide.
The Long Island operation was the fourth major operation of its kind in New York. In previous initiatives conducted in Erie County, the Capital Region and Westchester, a total of 168 missing children and teenagers were found.
Kevin Branzetti, head of the National Child Protection Task Force, noted that locating a missing child does not necessarily involve a spectacular operation.
“Finding a child quickly, hopefully before anything bad happens to them, often requires a coordinated effort,” he said.
Branzetti added that authorities’ work does not end when the child is found. They must then determine the reason for the child’s departure, what the child experienced during the period of disappearance and what kind of assistance is needed.
Another large-scale operation, conducted in February in Westchester County, led to the discovery of 43 children who were missing or had run away from home. Around 70 federal, state and local agencies took part.
