Authorities said the teens were between 14 and 17, and some had been sexually assaulted or trafficked before they were recovered.
RIVERSIDE, CA — A weeklong anti-trafficking operation based in Riverside County found and safely recovered 37 missing teens, authorities said, after investigators identified more than 50 youths who had disappeared over the past one to 24 months in cases stretching across Southern California and into neighboring states.
The operation, called Safe Return, drew attention because of both its size and what investigators said they found. Federal, state and local agencies said some of the recovered children were victims of child sex trafficking or sexual assault, and seven people were arrested during the sweep. The effort placed a spotlight on a stubborn problem in Riverside County, where officials say thousands of children run away or are reported missing each year, even though most return home quickly. For the youths who do not, law enforcement and child welfare workers say the risks rise fast, especially when the cases involve exploitation, unstable housing, drugs or violence.
The search ran from March 2 through March 6 and was led by the Riverside County Sheriff’s Anti-Human Trafficking Task Force and the U.S. Marshals Service. Investigators began with missing-person cases entered into the National Crime Information Center database and narrowed the list to children considered most at risk. Those children were all tied to Riverside County, officials said, even when investigators later traced them to other places. Teams made up of deputies, federal agents and social services workers followed leads in Riverside, San Bernardino, Orange and Los Angeles counties, and farther north in California, Arizona and Nevada. By the end of the operation, authorities said 37 children between ages 14 and 17 had been located or safely recovered. Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco said the effort showed how quickly missing-youth cases can cross county and state lines, turning what starts as a local case into a regional search.
Officials have not publicly identified the recovered teens, and they have released few personal details about the seven people arrested. That is common in cases involving minors and active trafficking investigations. What authorities have said is that the operation was built around children seen as critically missing or at heightened risk of harm. The U.S. Marshals define those cases as ones involving a serious threat of violence, sexual exploitation, substance abuse, exposure to crime or domestic violence, or other dangers that make a routine missing-person case more urgent. In Riverside County, investigators said more than 50 children had been identified as missing during the operation, leaving at least 13 cases still unresolved after the first public accounting. Each child who was found received victim advocacy services, medical care when needed and follow-up help before reunification with a legal guardian or placement in another appropriate setting, officials said. Authorities also said some of the teens were identified during recovery as victims of crimes beyond simply being missing.
The case has also drawn wider state attention because it reflects the scale of the missing-child problem in a county that covers a vast area. Riverside County spans about 7,303 square miles and has more than 2.5 million residents. The sheriff’s office says between 5,000 and 6,000 children run away or go missing there each year. Most are found quickly, but that broad number helps explain why a smaller set of long-term or high-risk cases can become difficult to track. The children targeted in Safe Return had been missing anywhere from one month to two years, according to the sheriff’s office. Officials said the operation relied on a long list of law enforcement partners, including Homeland Security Investigations, the FBI, the Secret Service, the California Department of Justice, the California Highway Patrol, local police departments and county agencies. Victim advocates and community groups also took part, including Riverside County Children and Family Services, the county health system, the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children and several local service organizations. That mix reflected the way these cases often overlap with child welfare, school attendance, medical care and criminal investigations.
Statements from state leaders and federal agencies framed the operation as both a rescue effort and a criminal investigation. Gov. Gavin Newsom said the state would continue working to protect vulnerable children and support survivors of exploitation. Attorney General Rob Bonta said recovering missing children and bringing them home safely was among the most important work law enforcement can do. The U.S. Marshals said one of the arrests was a significant federal arrest tied to child sex trafficking, though the agency did not name the suspect in its first release. Later local reporting identified a 30-year-old Los Angeles man accused of trafficking two of the rescued minors in a federal case. Court proceedings in that matter were reported to be moving forward in Los Angeles, with the suspect ordered held without bond and an arraignment later this month. Beyond that case, officials have said little about the remaining arrests, and investigators have made clear that the larger inquiry is not finished. The lack of names and charge details suggests prosecutors and investigators are still sorting through evidence gathered during the sweep.
The operation also fits into a broader federal strategy that grew after Congress expanded the Marshals Service’s authority in 2015 to help recover missing, endangered and abducted children, even when no fugitive or registered sex offender is directly tied to a case. Federal officials say that change allowed the Marshals to take a larger role in child recovery work with local agencies. The Marshals have said they have now located or recovered thousands of missing children nationwide since receiving that authority, and they point to fast action as a key factor in many cases. In Riverside County, officials said trafficking often moves through ordinary places rather than hidden compounds or dramatic raids. Sheriff Bianco told local television that investigators in the county commonly see exploitation connected to hotels, events and online apps. That detail helps explain why authorities describe these investigations as labor-intensive and dependent on digital leads, interviews, surveillance work and coordination among agencies that may be following the same child across several jurisdictions.
For families and advocates, the story is not only about the numbers but about what happens after a child is found. Authorities said the recovered teens were met by teams that included social service workers, not only law enforcement officers. That structure is meant to reduce trauma and to keep children from falling back into the same conditions that put them at risk. The sheriff’s office said the operation’s success came from collaboration between police, prosecutors, social services, medical providers and nonprofit groups. Even so, officials have acknowledged the limits of a single operation. Thirteen of the more than 50 identified cases remained open when results were announced, and investigators have not said how many new leads were generated from interviews, phones, online records or the arrests already made. What comes next is likely to unfold in stages: more interviews, more forensic review of digital evidence, possible additional arrests and the slow work of deciding whether some cases belong in county court, juvenile court or federal court. Authorities have also not said whether another round of recoveries is already being planned.
At street level, the operation brought together many of the places where these cases often intersect: sheriff’s stations, hotel rooms, county offices, emergency placements and federal courtrooms. The public description from officials remained measured, but the details offered a glimpse of the urgency behind the search. Some children had been gone for months. Some were found outside Riverside County, far from home. Some were identified as victims of sexual violence or trafficking only after officers and advocates made contact. Bianco said all of the children had some connection to Riverside County, a reminder that missing-youth cases do not stay neatly inside city or county borders. The agencies involved have praised the operation as an example of coordinated policing, but they have also used it to make a narrower point: the children most at risk are often hidden in plain sight, moved quickly and exploited through everyday settings. That is why, even after 37 recoveries and seven arrests, officials are still describing Safe Return as an ongoing effort rather than a finished case.
As of Friday, authorities said 37 missing teens had been recovered and at least 13 identified cases remained open. Investigators have not announced a final report, but federal court action in at least one trafficking case is expected later this month as agencies continue reviewing evidence and pursuing other leads.
Author note: Last updated March 14, 2026.