US Marshals Launch Missing Child Task Force in Massachusetts

The U.S. Marshals Service has announced the launch of the Massachusetts Missing Child Task Force—the first official missing child task force in the service’s history.

“This initiative will bring together specialized federal, state, and local law enforcement resources to identify, locate, and safely recover at-risk and endangered missing children throughout Massachusetts,” the U.S. Marshals Service said in a Nov. 6 statement.

“The task force will focus on children at heightened risk of human trafficking, sexual exploitation, violence, abuse, and other serious forms of victimization.”

The establishment of the task force follows the success of Operation Yellow Card, under which 48 critically endangered missing children from the state were recovered, the service said. That operation showed that “extraordinary results” can be achieved through partnerships with various law enforcement agencies, the statement said. The rescued children were aged 12 to 17 years.

The task force is being established in partnership with the Massachusetts State Police and the Boston Police Department.

Operation Yellow Card was conducted in connection with the FIFA World Cup, the service said in an Aug. 10 statement.

“The creation of this task force demonstrates that our mission does not end with the success of one operation. There are children from Massachusetts who remain missing, vulnerable, and at risk of exploitation, violence, and unimaginable harm. These children cannot afford to wait, and neither can we,” Dennis Matulewicz, head of the Marshals Service for the District of Massachusetts, said in the statement regarding the Missing Child Task Force.

The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children received 958 total reports of missing children in 2025 in Massachusetts, out of which 883 were resolved and 75 remained active, according to the center’s website.

Nationwide, the center received more than 32,000 reports of missing children last year, estimating that one in seven potentially were victims of sex trafficking.

Recovering Children

The Massachusetts Missing Child Task Force builds upon the Justice for Victims of Trafficking Act of 2015, which had expanded the Marshals Service’s ability to partner with various agencies to recover children, the agency said in its latest statement.

The service has contributed to locating and recovering more than 5,500 missing children across the United States since the passage of the Act.

Historically, in child abduction and murder cases, 74 percent of children are killed within three hours of being kidnapped, and 90 percent die in the first 24 hours, according to the FBI.

Some children may be missing because they ran away from home. Risk factors for running away include family conflict, feelings of isolation, mental health issues, exploitation or grooming, and bullying, according to Missing In America Network, a nonprofit.

To keep children safe, parents should teach them key information such as their home address, phone numbers, and how to call 911, the nonprofit said. It also said that children must be taught never to leave with any person without permission from parents.

The nonprofit suggested that parents keep updated fingerprints, medical information, physical information, and DNA records of their children in a safe place. These can be used if the child goes missing.