CLEVELAND, OHIO: As the disturbing news of 1072 children gone missing in the year 2023 is gaining traction on the Internet, online sleuths are coming up with several disturbing ideas.
Per Daily Mail, almost 50 children have been reported missing in the city of Cleveland in the month of September only.
Internet sleuths pin blame on 'groomers'
One of the most common theories coming up is that of the children falling prey to manipulative adults who coerce them into running away with them. One user wrote, "Groomers, a lot of these are runaways."
Even the police have told several media houses that many of the missing children are actually runaways who went "antsy" during the summer months.
Someone else came up with the idea, "Nope. Drugs weapons & kids. Agencies involved as you know."
"S*x trafficking???" asked another concerned citizen.
Another social media user came up with the idea that it was probably the non-custodial parents taking the children away, which is again, in synchronizes with what the police reports state.
The user said, "I wonder what the real numbers are once they would remove the reporting errors and update the database as mentioned in the article. I also wonder how many of these kids were taken by the other parent to live with them."
Someone else pointed out that gangs are involved saying, "One disappeared on the street behind me. Detectives tore the neighborhood apart and questioned everyone for clues, video, anything. Nothing. The Feds returned twenty more they found. As soon as they did twenty-five more disappeared. Gangs are involved. That's known."
"Epstein's Israeli Islands are still in operation somewhere smh," commented another.
"OH is a well-known hotspot for SRA (Satanic Ritual Abuse)," another user said but so far nothing of this sort has been said by the police.
The netizens are inclined towards another theory as well as one of them said, "My thoughts-trafficking. It has gotten totally out of hand and the traffickers are making tons of money!"
Vast majority of missing juveniles are runaways
As several of the users are voicing the idea that several children are actually runaways, police also confirmed the same.
One of the netizens wrote, "What does "missing" mean? Are you aware that if a child runs away, they are on the "missing" list, and even if they return, they were still counted in that overall "missing" number. My sister is a social worker, and set me straight on that one."
The same was however resonated by Cleveland Police Chief Wayne Drummond during a press conference in June itself.
Calling the numbers “misinformation,” he said, out of 1072 children missing in June, 1020 returned home safely, per Axios Cleveland.
He explained during the press conference, "The vast majority of missing juveniles are runaways and sometimes habitual runaways.”
He, however, emphasized, "I don't say that to minimize missing juveniles. I say that to add context."
The police force further said that the Northeast Ohio Human Trafficking Task Force also did not witness a spike in the number of trafficking during the time period.
Detective Larry Henderhan explained, "It's becoming summer months; kids get antsy," before adding, "They want to get out with their friends and enjoy themselves during the summer. That's some of what we're seeing."
Nevertheless, the anxiety still continues to run high among parents as almost 50 children are on the missing list.
