97% of children reported missing in Ohio in 2021 safely recovered, AG's report says

COLUMBUS, Ohio (WSYX) — Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost released on Wednesday the 2021 Ohio Missing Children Clearinghouse Report.

The report was released in recognition of National Missing Children's Day, which is observed annually on May 25.

The clearinghouse reported 19,014 missing people in 2021, 2,506 fewer than the year before. Of those, 14,027 were reports of missing children – 7,521 females, 6,504 males and two cases where the sex was unknown.

According to the report, authorities reported 97% (13,606) of missing children were recovered safely by the end of the year.

Yost's office said six children reported missing were found deceased.

The Missing Children Clearinghouse Report details all missing persons entries for which circumstances were specified:

• 8,366 cases involved a runaway, where a child left a home without permission and stays away overnight.
  
• 51 cases involved abduction from a noncustodial parent, where a parent, other family member or another person acting on behalf of a parent keeps or conceals a child depriving another individual of custody or visitation rights.
  
• 11 cases involved abduction by a stranger.
  
• 214 cases involved missing adults between the ages of 18 and 21.
  

In 2021, Ohio law enforcement agencies issued 14 AMBER Alerts and five endangered missing child alerts. All of those children were safely recovered, according to the report.