"Operation Lost Hope" 70 Missing Children Rescued by TX Authorities.

“Operation Lost Souls”

Texas authorities have rescued 70 missing children in a 3-week joint task force operation in West Texas. Operation Lost Souls began in April in the El Paso, Midland, Ector, and Tom Green counties. All 70 kids were 10-17 years old and were victims of sex trafficking, and physical and sexual abuse.

Fox News quoted HSI El Paso Deputy Special Agent in Charge Taekuk Cho as saying, "Operation Lost Souls exemplifies Homeland Security Investigations’ commitment to protecting the public from crimes of victimization. In this case, we are looking out for our children — our community’s most precious resource. HSI is committed to continue working with our law enforcement partners to locate, recover and help missing children heal, while ensuring that perpetrators are held responsible for these heinous crimes and brought to justice."

KDVR reports that, according to the HSI, most of the missing kids were located in West Texas, but some were found in the Dallas/Fort Worth area, Colorado, and Ciudad Juarez in Mexico.

The National Human Trafficking Hotline reported a total of 625 phone calls, SMS, Webchats, emails, and other online tip reports from Colorado in 2020.

Operation Lost Souls was conducted by several law enforcement agencies, including the Texas Highway Patrol, El Paso Police Department, U.S. Marshals Service and the FBI. It piggybacks off the success of last year’s January operation when the FBI located 33 missing children in the area around Los Angeles. In October 2020, U.S. marshals in Ohio rescued 45 missing children and 109 additional human trafficking survivors during "Operation Autumn Hope”.

If you have information about a human trafficking victim or human trafficking activity, please contact the National Human Trafficking Hotline at 888- 373-7888. You can also text the hotline at 233733.