In 2024, New York State reported 12,114 missing children. About 95% were runaways. By the end of the year, most had been found, but over 1,000 cases were still open.
Albany and Schenectady counties continued to have the highest rates. In March 2025, law enforcement ran a three-day operation and recovered 63 missing kids and teens, ages 2 to 17. Some had been missing for years.
Many of these kids were victims of “romance trafficking,” where someone pretends to care about them, then manipulates and exploits them…