Cedar Rapids, IA and Des Moines, IA – Since October 2020, the U.S. Marshals in Iowa have been
partnering with federal, state and local agencies in a joint operation
dubbed Operation Homecoming, focused on recovering vulnerable,
critically missing children across the state, and as of March 23, U.S.
Marshals have located 21 juveniles and have directly recovered seven
children.
Both the northern and southern districts of Iowa
worked with the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children and
the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation’s Missing Persons
Clearinghouse to look for and recover the children, who were all between
the ages of 4 and 17, and are some of the most at-risk and challenging
recovery cases in the area, based on indications of high-risk factors
such as exposure to narcotics, child exploitation, physical or sexual
abuse, and medical or mental health conditions.
Operation Homecoming led to Marshals locating
missing Iowa children in nine different states across the U.S.,
including Arizona, Nebraska, Minnesota, Florida, Mississippi, Tennessee,
Illinois, Ohio and Indiana.
The operation also resulted in the arrests of two
individuals, the seizure of illegal narcotics, the seizure of two
firearms, and four independent human trafficking investigations, which
have been referred to the appropriate investigative agencies for further
valuation.
U.S. Marshals in Iowa are still looking for
Fredrick Workman, 15, last seen in Des Moines in August 2013, and are
offering a reward of up to $5,000 for information that leads to his
location. Anyone with information about his whereabouts is urged to
contact NCMEC at 1-800-843-5678 or visit their Cyber Tipline at
www.missingkids.org.
The
U.S. Marshals primary responsibility to protect the federal judiciary is
followed closely by a variety of priority missions like apprehending
violent fugitives, investigating noncompliant sex offenders, and the
sale of forfeited assets. Added to these responsibilities in 2015 was
the mission to investigate/locate/recover critically missing juveniles.
In 2015, with the signing of the Justice for Victims of Trafficking Act,
the USMS was granted discretionary authority to support law enforcement
requests to assist in locating and recovering missing children. Since
the passage of the JVTA in 2015, the USMS has contributed to the
recovery of more than 1,750 missing children.
“The goal of our involvement with missing child
cases is not only to safely recover Iowa’s missing children, but also to
aid our local and state partners who work these cases daily,” said
Deputy U.S. Marshal Scott Cannon, Missing Child Investigations
Coordinator for the Southern District of Iowa. “The Marshals Service is
uniquely suited to provide assistance based on our expertise as the
premier agency in tracking fugitives. We can use some of the same skill
sets in recovering missing children as we use during fugitive
investigations.”
Central Iowa man charged in harboring
runaway
Just before Christmas 2020, a missing central
Iowa teen was found by deputy U.S. marshals in the home of an adult male
in Ames. The man was arrested for harboring a juvenile runaway and
implicated in sex trafficking. A second man was later charged based on
the results of the USMS investigation and recovery efforts.
Iowa Missing child recovered in Arizona after family’s
relentless legal battle
U.S. Marshals in Iowa and Arizona worked to
recover a child who had been missing since he was taken by a
noncustodial family member in 2017. Now 4, this child had been relocated
and hidden from law enforcement for years. The child’s legal guardian
spent significant time and resources attempting to locate this child, to
no avail. With the assistance of the U.S. Marshals and their partnership
with state and local Authorities, the child was recovered and returned
to their legal guardian in Iowa, bringing to close a case that has
haunted local investigators and family members for years.
Exploited teens located and returned to Iowa
In January 2021, U.S. Marshals in Illinois
recovered a missing 14-year-old from central Iowa after investigators
discovered ads featuring the juvenile involved in sex trafficking. The
juvenile was recovered at a motel in the act of being trafficked. In
2020, another missing 17-year-old was taken from central Iowa and
subjected to human trafficking in Mississippi and Tennessee. Marshals
tracked her location to a home in Mississippi, where she was recovered
and brought back to Iowa.
“For these kids on the run, life on the streets
can be extremely dangerous and unforgiving” said Deputy Marshal
Christopher Siemens, Missing Child Unit Liaison in the Northern District
of Iowa. “Often they have no financial resources to sustain themselves,
resulting in the selling of sex acts as a means to survive.”
“This operation is the first missing child
operation by the U.S. Marshals Service in Iowa,” said U.S Marshal for
the Northern District of Iowa Doug Strike. “Our message to missing
children and their families remains, and to echo Director Washington’s
vision for this mission, the U.S. Marshals here in Iowa will never stop
looking for you.”
“The key to success, for these projects, involves
a joint effort by public safety, working as ONE-entity with ONE-goal:
Keeping our children safe through the apprehension of these critical
offenders,” said U.S. Marshal for the Southern District of Iowa Ted
Kamatchus.
Nationwide, more than 50 local task forces are
dedicated to violent crime reduction by locating and apprehending wanted
criminals. These task forces also serve as investigation hubs for
missing and exploited juveniles throughout the country. During Operation
Homecoming, the Southern Iowa Fugitive Task Force and the Northern Iowa
Fugitive Task Force fulfilled these roles, investigating missing
juvenile cases alongside the following agencies: The National Center for
Missing and Exploited Children, U.S. Department of Health and Human
Services – Office of the Inspector General, U.S. Immigration and Customs
Enforcement, The Iowa Department of Public Safety, the Iowa Division of
Criminal Investigation, the Iowa Department of Human Services, the Linn
County Sheriff’s Office, the Polk County Sheriff’s Office, the Howard
County Sheriff’s Office, the Webster County Sheriff’s Office, the Cedar
Rapids Police Department, the Ames Police Department, the Waterloo
Police Department, the Des Moines Police Department, the Dubuque Police
Department, the North Liberty Police Department, the Cresco Police
Department, and the Fort Dodge Police Department.
Photos of Operation Homecoming
Additional information about the U.S. Marshals Service can be found
at http://www.usmarshals.gov.
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America’s
First Federal Law Enforcement Agency