118 Arrests, 25 Child Victims Located Under Operation Not Forgotten 2026, DOJ Says

A total of 118 individuals have been arrested, 72 weapons recovered, and 25 child victims identified or located under Operation Not Forgotten 2026, which focused on unresolved cases in Indian country.

The nationwide operation, conducted from April 1 through Sept. 30, also resulted in federal charges against 41 individuals, the Department of Justice (DOJ) said in an Oct. 20 statement. Operation Not Forgotten is an annual initiative prioritizing violence against children and women.

This is the fourth year of the operation, with arrests up by 123 percent from 2025, and the number of people charged up by 52 percent.

In the jurisdictional District of Wyoming, the operation led to federal indictments against 18 people for various crimes and child abuse offenses in the Wind River Indian Reservation. In the District of Minnesota, the operation resulted in four cases, including sexual abuse of minors.

In the District of Arizona, charges were filed for arson, two violent assaults, and sexually abusing a minor younger than the age of 12. All these alleged incidents took place on the Navajo Nation reservation.

FBI Director Kash Patel commended the results, saying the agency was working on 59 percent more cases than last year, including those related to physical assault, child sexual abuse, and child sexual abuse material.

“Operation Not Forgotten sends a loud and clear message that our long-forgotten partners in Indian country are forgotten no more,” Patel said in a statement.

Under the Voices Not Forgotten program, the FBI has “quadrupled the rewards to at least $25,000 for information associated with homicides, kidnappings, and missing persons in Indian country,” he said.

On Sept. 30, Patel said in an X post that 1,410 children had been located under Operation Summer Heat 2.0, which ran from June 1 to Sept. 20. This was up by 34 percent from the first version of the operation last year.

Missing Children

The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children stated that it received more than 32,000 reports of missing children in 2025, estimating that one in seven were potentially sex trafficking victims.

More than 113,500 reports of possible child sex trafficking were filed last year, a 323 percent jump from the previous year, the center stated.

In one recent operation, 34 missing children and teens were found in New York, Gov. Kathy Hochul’s office said in an Oct. 2 statement.

The children and teens located in the three-day operation, which concluded on Oct. 1, were between the ages of 7 and 18 when they were reported as missing.

“Not every case ends with a dramatic rescue, a door being kicked in, and a child being carried to safety. The reality is that finding a child quickly—hopefully before something bad happens—often takes a coordinated effort,” National Child Protection Task Force CEO Kevin Branzetti said in the statement.

In Operation Meridian, the U.S. Marshals Service (USMS) found 79 reported missing children in Ohio, the agency said in a Sept. 8 statement.

The operation, conducted throughout August, focused on children who were reported missing due to circumstances such as suspected sex trafficking, neglect, and emotional abuse. USMS worked with state agencies, police agencies, and federal partners to find the children, including those far away in Georgia. The 79 children were between the ages of 6 and 17.

“I am very proud of our dedicated law enforcement, community, and media partners who worked tirelessly to bring our missing and most vulnerable children to safety. Every recovered child represents a life pulled back from danger,” U.S. Marshal Pete Elliott said in the statement.