More than 1,000 children reported missing in Ohio in ‘extraordinary surge’

Children are going missing from northern Ohio in record numbers, with more than 1,000 children missing so far this year.

More than 45 children have gone missing in the Cleveland-Akron area this month alone, and in August, there were more than 35 missing minors, according to the Ohio Attorney General’s Missing Children website.

The disappearances are creating a disturbing trend in northern Ohio that began in May, when nearly 30 children disappeared in just the first two weeks.

Officials at the time called it an “extraordinary increase” in disappearances.

Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost reiterated Monday that the number of missing children is alarming, though he said the number could be inflated due to inconsistencies in updating reports, which Cleveland police has admitted in the past.

“Yes, of course we are concerned about that,” he said he told News 5 Cleveland.

“Now, what we know is that when we look back at the numbers, some of them represent repeat runaways and the local police have spoken to them.”

He added that data on cases of runaways, kidnappings or sex trafficking is not always entered correctly as the state deals with a shortage of police personnel.

“All of these things have localized reporting issues that, again, are a function of local conditions,” Yost said.

“We do everything we can to encourage compliance and improve support to remove barriers, but at the end of the day, we have to rely on our local partners that we don’t control.”

“I’m afraid of all kinds of things falling through the cracks, which includes missing children,” Yost added. “I trust the tenacity of a concerned parent more than a harried bureaucrat whose job it is to put data into a computer.”

But John Majoy, president of Cleveland Missing and Newburgh Heights police chief, previously sounded the alarm about the increase in missing children.

“For some reason, in 2023, we’ve seen a lot more than we normally see, which is concerning in part because we don’t know what’s going on with some of these kids, if they’re being treated or if” he’s involved in gang activity or drugs,” he told Fox News in May, adding that he had not seen such a high number of missing children before in his 33-year career.

Majoy said most cases likely involve children who ran away from home and were not abducted, but said teenagers can be naive to predators who can be “wolves in sheep’s clothing.”

Among the missing is 15-year-old Keshaun Williams, who disappeared after attending a house party on June 17.

Gideon Hefner, 14, also disappeared Sept. 12 in American Township, and Camryn Nicole Golias, 17, was last seen in Akron earlier this month.

Elijah Hill, 16, went missing on Sept. 20 from Sandusky, and Iyahna Graham, 17, went missing from North Canton on Sept. 23.

A few days earlier, 17-year-old Teonnah Thompkins was last seen in Cincinnati, wearing a black shirt, black pants and white shoes.

Maurice Hamrick, 14, Honesty Howell, 16, and Chloe Hadley, 17, disappeared within five days of each other earlier this month.

Yost said the state is working with the University of Toledo to develop an enhanced statewide data collection reporting system to help find these missing minors.

“Law enforcement can’t be everywhere and they can’t see everything,” he said. “We defend the people, the population because we have 11.7 million pairs of eyes that can watch.”

Meanwhile, concerned parents have begun their own efforts to locate the missing children, including Breana Brown, who started the organization Join Us in Minors Protection to help build support and awareness.

“As a community, I think we need to do more,” he told News 5 Cleveland. “We have to make it a priority.

“If we make more things like this a priority, we’ll be more up-to-date, like updating the website so we know who’s missing,” he explained.

“This is our community; we want to know what is happening in our community, and especially with our children.

“We have so many missing children, we want to stop this from happening, so we have to buckle down. It’s not something we should take lightly, at all.”