Ohio Attorney General Yost Issues Annual Missing Children Clearinghouse Report, 415 Children Still Missing

Ohio has reported that 415 children reported missing last year remain unaccounted for in their state.

Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost made the shocking revelation on Wednesday, which was National Missing Children’s Day. His office released the 2021 Ohio Missing Children Clearinghouse Report, which revealed that 14,027 children were reported missing in the state last year. Of those, six were found dead, while 13,606 had been located safely. While 97% of the children were accounted for, families are still waiting to learn the status of 415 children.

Nearly 9,000 of the missing children’s cases involved runaways who left home voluntarily without permission and stayed away for at least one night. Fifty-one cases involved a child being abducted by a noncustodial parent who concealed the child from the other parent, and 11 involved instances of kidnappings by a stranger. Interestingly enough, only 14 Amber Alerts and five Endangered Missing Child Alerts were issued by Ohio law enforcement last year. All subjects of those alerts were recovered.

A separate report issued in February of 2022 by Yost office shows that while Black children only account for about 16% of the state’s population, they make up 61% of the missing children in Ohio.