COLUMBUS – Nearly 19,000 children were reported missing in Ohio in 2015 and all but 589 were recovered and returned home safely.
That is one of the statistics included in the Ohio Missing Children Clearinghouse’s annual report released Wednesday, which was observed as National Missing Children’s Day.
According to the clearinghouse, which is part of Attorney General Mike DeWine’s office, 18,688 children were reported missing in Ohio in 2015 and 97 percent of them were recovered safely.
The vast majority of the missing children – more than 17,000 – were between the ages of 13 and 17 and 11,295 of those were children who left home without permission and stayed away overnight.
Children reported missing (by age category)
0 to 5 years old – 156
6 to 12 years old – 1,097
13 to 17 years old – 17,435
The report said there were 17 attempted child abductions involving 13 girls and eight boys. Four suspects were arrested out of these cases and there were two confirmed cases of stranger abductions, the report said.
There were 12 AMBER Alerts and 17 Endangered Missing Child Alerts, issued when a case does not meet the more stringent Amber Alert criteria, and all of those children were recovered safely
Suspects drove vehicles in 98 percent of the cases and 36 percent of the incidents occurred while the children were walking to or from school.
Of the cases where the clearinghouse knows of the outcome, 64 percent ended with the child walking or running away without any physical contact.
There are currently more than 700 children listed as missing in Ohio.