TALLAHASSEE, FL — Florida law enforcement officials say a five-day sweep recovered 163 missing children, ranging in age from 2 months to 17 years, in what state leaders called the largest child recovery effort in Florida history.
Attorney General James Uthmeier announced the results on Wednesday, saying Operation Statewide Shield was the first statewide child recovery initiative of its kind. Officials said the goal was to identify, locate and recover children using intelligence and field operations, then connect them to child-focused services right away.
Authorities said many of the children had faced abuse, neglect, exploitation or exposure to criminal activity. After being located, they were taken to recovery hubs for help from social services, medical providers, victim advocates and other child welfare professionals.
Recoveries stretched from Tampa Bay to international locations
Officials said the largest concentrations of recoveries were in Florida’s major population centers, including 46 children in the Tampa Bay region, 41 in Miami, 32 in Jacksonville, 21 in Orlando, 12 in Fort Myers, eight in Pensacola and three in Tallahassee. Investigators also said some children were found outside Florida.
According to state officials, children were located in six other states, one U.S. territory and 12 countries. Those countries included Brazil, Canada, Colombia, Dominica, Finland, Ghana, Guatemala, Italy and Jamaica.
Uthmeier said the operation was built around intelligence gathered by participating agencies and was designed to move children quickly into support systems after recovery. Officials said the effort involved state and local partners working side by side across jurisdictional lines.
Agencies closed MEPIC files and moved custody cases to child welfare officials
State investigators said each child’s file in the Missing Endangered Persons Information Clearinghouse, known as MEPIC, was closed after recovery. The Florida Department of Children and Families and the Florida Department of Juvenile Justice then took over the children’s custody cases.
Officials said the recovery hubs were staffed by organizations including the behavioral health provider BayCare, along with social service workers and child welfare specialists. The state said those teams were intended to help children stabilize immediately after being found.
FDLE Commissioner Mark Glass said the effort showed what coordinated work among agencies can accomplish when the mission is to find missing children and bring them home. Uthmeier’s office said the operation was overseen by Rita Peters, special counsel to the attorney general for human trafficking.
Multiple arrests made as officials expect more cases in the coming days
Officials said multiple arrests were made during the operation and that more arrests were expected in the days ahead. Fox News reported that three people were identified by agencies including the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office and the Lee County Sheriff’s Office.
Those identified were Michael Corey Prescott, who faced three counts of lewd and lascivious acts with a minor, one count of felony battery and one count of aggravated assault, along with an active warrant for interference with child custody. Robert Ferral Allison was charged with lewd and lascivious battery on a victim 12 to 16 years old.
Jayden Allen Harwood was arrested on charges of interference in a child custody case and resisting officers without violence. State officials linked the operation to earlier Florida efforts, including Operation Dragon Eye in 2025 and Operation Home for the Holidays, which also recovered large numbers of missing children.
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