Authorities stated that 1072 children were recorded as missing in 2023. Last year, 15 thousand children were reported missing in the same state and only four of them were found dead.

The Ohio Prosecutor's Office announced that at least 45 children have been missing in Cleveland since the beginning of September. Authorities shared information about the children and published their photos and last known whereabouts in a database, and warned parents.

"POLICE OUTNUMBERED"

15-year-old Keshaun Williams disappeared in June after going to a friend's house and no one has seen her, while some experts said there are too few police officers in the area and they are not patrolled frequently.

The search for 17-year-old Camryn Nicole Golias, who was last seen in Akron in September, is still ongoing, while the last recorded missing case was 17-year-old Iyahna Graham, who disappeared on September 23.

NUMBER OF MISSING PEOPLE INCREASED IN 2023

Children aged 12 and 14 were among those who went missing this month. "For some reason we don't understand, we are receiving more missing cases than we normally do in 2023. We don't yet know if these children are being trafficked or if they have links to drugs and criminal gangs."

"I think the vast majority of these cases are runaways and not abducted, but runaway children are very vulnerable to assault and abuse," Majoy said.

Analyzing the cases in recent years, experts said 8525 children ran away from home, 34 were abducted by relatives and 5 were abducted by strangers.