PHOENIX — Several children living in Arizona were rescued after the U.S. Marshals Service investigation, dubbed “Operation We Will Find You 2,” was completed last month.

The District of Arizona worked with the U.S. Marshals Service to search Maricopa and Pima Counties.

Thanks to the joint efforts of these two groups, 16 children were “safely found” and 33 were “successfully rescued”.

The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children and the Arizona Department of Child Safety provided information that helped local authorities locate 71 additional children.

“Together with our partner agencies, we have found and rescued dozens of children in Arizona who were victims of abuse, coercive addiction and sex trafficking,” said Acting U.S. Marshal Van Bayless. “This operation underscores the need to intensify our efforts to find more victims and bring their captors to justice.”

The operation was the second of its kind and lasted a total of six weeks (May 20 to June 24). Authorities searched the country and returned a total of 200 missing children to safe places.

Highlights from 3 cases in Arizona

The U.S. Marshal Service highlights three special cases solved in Arizona.

The first was the discovery of a pregnant 16-year-old woman who had run away from a residential home in March.

Glendale police found her on May 14, six days before a nationwide manhunt was ordered due to the urgency of the situation. She was discovered with an adult male and suspected of being a sex trafficking victim. The man was on probation in Maricopa County and was arrested for violating probation.

Next, a 14-year-old female was found who was last seen on May 17.

She was reported missing near a Phoenix mall and was found in the city on June 5. Some of her lawyers said she was with a man the day she disappeared.

The most recent discovery was a 16-year-old girl who had been missing from her Phoenix dorm since April.

She was documented traveling through Los Angeles and Miami before being found by the U.S. Marshals Services in Flint, Michigan on June 11. She is believed to have been a victim of sex trafficking in the past, and the case is currently being investigated by the Department of Homeland Security.

How to report missing persons

Anyone with information about missing people should contact local authorities and the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children at 1-800-The-Lost.