I found an article from a few years ago where some large operation found about 40 kids. It said that 85% of them were runaways, and 9% were family abductions. 40% of them were being sex-trafficked.
When my daughters were young teens I recall reading about how the traffickers target young girls. See them alone or in a small group at the mall, befriend them, etc. Scary stuff.
Our next door neighbor’s daughter ran away when she was maybe 15 years old. He spent all of his time after work driving and walking the streets of Seattle. I forget how she finally got home. But it was awhile - a year perhaps?
She ended up in the military as a medic, served in Iraq, now has a bunch of children.
Thanks for the info. I know that grooming gangs are a big thing among Muslims in Great Britain. My sense is that it’s not as wide spread here, but I’m sure it happens. I just wonder, when we hear numbers like 300,000 children being lost track of, how many of them are being abused and how many are living safely with relatives and have simply fallen off the RADAR because their relatives are also here illegally and are trying not to be noticed themselves.