In October 2024, two children, ages 8 and 9, stopped showing up for school in Canton, Ohio. By October 25, a family member had contacted police to report the children missing. In the missing persons report, the family member told authorities the two children disappeared after their mother stopped taking her medication for a mental health condition and abandoned her apartment.
After the Canton Police Department began its investigation, it tapped the US Marshals Missing Child Unit in Cleveland, for help. Their combined efforts helped both agencies locate the two children.
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On January 10, 2025, after more than two months, the US Marshals Service, the Canton Police Department, and the US State Department located the two children in Reykjavik, Iceland, per a statement from the US Marshals. Initially, the children had traveled to Denver, Colorado, investigators learned.
Later, they traveled to London, England. Later, they went to the island of Jersey in the English Channel. Eventually, they traveled to a remote fishing village in Iceland before settling in the nation’s capital, Reykjavik.
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Icelandic police found the children safe in a hotel. The children were removed from their mother’s care and placed in the care of social services until a family member could come collect them. In the meantime, their mother was taken to the hospital. She will remain there until she is well enough to travel back to the United States. The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children provided financial support so the kids could return home.
US Marshal Pete Elliott commended the various organizations for working together to solve this case. “The collaboration of effort in this case can’t be overstated,” he said. “The ability to respond and recover these children abroad is an extremely difficult task. Our investigators did an outstanding job. We are lucky to have such strong and dedicated law enforcement partners and credit should be given to them for helping bring these children home.”
Reykjavik is almost 3,000 miles from Canton, NBC News notes. Despite the distance, the agencies were in sync.
“Icelandic officials were kind of keeping track of them and their location until we could get the proper court orders for them to be able to take the children into custody,” Captain John Bosley with Canton Police told News 5 Cleveland. Elliott said this is the first time they’ve been able to locate missing children from this far away.
According to People, it’s not clear if the mother will face criminal charges.
