Detroit, MI

US Marshal Service recovers 25 missing metro Detroit children

Published

2 years ago

May 25, 2023

US Marshal Service recovers 25 missing metro Detroit children

DETROIT (WXYZ) — An operation from the U.S. Marshal Service called “Operation We Will Find You” led to the recovery of 25 missing children. Some of them were victims of sex trafficking, exploitation and abuse.

With her 7-month-old son in her arms, Lauren Sowell is a story of triumph and survival. At age 14, she ran away from her foster grandparents and eventually met someone who got her addicted to heroin and entered her into a sex trafficking ring in Highland Park. She remained there for seven years until that man was killed in a drive-by shooting.

“It took him being killed for me to escape and be free and to get my identity back,” Sowell said.

Now 10 years later, Sowell is a mother of two. She’s an author, public speaker and a social worker who founded her own organization. In the seven years she was trafficked, she felt no one cared.

“Nobody looked for me. I was invisible,” Sowell said. “When I was in the street, it was very hard because I felt I didn’t have the attention I wanted and no one sent for me.”

But from March until mid-May of this year, the U.S. Marshals were out looking for kids who had been in Sowell’s shoes. With help from Michigan Sate Police and the Oakland County Sheriff’s Office, their operation found 25 missing kids from metro Detroit, locating them in places as far away as New Zealand.

“Those are kids we physically had to remove from a situation,” Deputy U.S. Marshal Robert Watson said. “They could have been victims of online enticement, sex trafficking, parental kidnapping.”

Sowell said, “To hear there was somebody out there who did not give up to look for these people, did not give up to look for these children and actually got them back is a beautiful thing.”

Now that the children have been located, Sowell says there’s still more work needed to help these kids recover, especially those trafficked, ensuring these young victims become proud survivors.

“Victims only stay victims when they don’t have voices,” Sowell said. “But when they have voices and people like legislation and people like law enforcement actually fighting for them and giving them what they need, they go from victim to survivor. And being a survivor is a great thing.”

Since the U.S. Marshals partnered with the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children in 2005, more than 3,000 missing children have been recovered.

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Detroit, MI

Detroit Tigers Most Productive Prospect For 2024 Season Revealed

Published

4 hours ago

December 19, 2024

Press Room

Detroit Tigers Most Productive Prospect For 2024 Season Revealed

The Detroit Tigers had success in a 2024 season that saw an epic playoff run from 9.5 games back in the Wild Card race in late August to coming within just one game of their first ALCS appearance in a decade, and a ton of that was due to contributions from young players.

But just because the fruits of the rebuild finally started to bear this season doesn’t mean the Tigers don’t still have a ton of young studs who haven’t even seen the Major League game yet. Though some has obviously been lost via trades and graduation to the pros over the years, Detroit still boasts one of the best farm systems in all of baseball.

From guys like Max Clark to Bryce Rainer to the soon-to-be star Jackson Jobe, there is certainly some young and exciting talent in the organization. That being said, the most productive of the bunch this season in the minor leagues took some people by surprise this season and seems to be well ahead of schedule. In their ranking of every team’s most productive farm system player in 2024, MLB.com’s article named middle infielder Kevin McGonigle as the Tigers’ most impressive.

“The Tigers were enthused to add McGonigle with the No. 37 overall pick in ’23 and over-the-moon with his early results in the Minors, particularly when it came to his plate discipline,” the article stated. “The left-handed-hitting middle infielder walked 46 times while striking out only 28 in 74 games between Single-A and High-A before suffering a season-ending right hamate fracture. His K/BB ratio was best among 1,081 Minor Leaguers who got at least 300 plate appearances in ’24.”

There’s no question as to whether or not McGonigle is ahead of schedule, he certainly is. Just how quickly he can get to the majors is obviously the next question, but he has yet to play in Double-A to this point. Nonetheless, McGonigle has put up wildly impressive OPS numbers of .863 and .853 during his two seasons from rookie ball through High-A.

With only 14 games of High-A ball experience under his belt. it will likely be a couple of years before he’s ready to make contributions at the MLB level. But McGonigle has clearly established himself as a name to closely monitor as he begins to climb the ranks and establish himself as a key piece of the future of the Detroit Tigers.

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Detroit, MI

Meet

Published

12 hours ago

December 19, 2024

Press Room

Meet “Survivor 47” winner and Michigan native Rachel LaMont – CBS Detroit

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Michigan native Rachel LaMont was named the winner of “Survivor 47.” LaMont hails from Dexter and is a graphic designer.

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Detroit, MI

Montreal visits Detroit after Laine’s hat trick

Published

20 hours ago

December 19, 2024

Press Room

Montreal visits Detroit after Laine’s hat trick

Associated Press

Montreal Canadiens (12-16-3, in the Atlantic Division) vs. Detroit Red Wings (13-14-4, in the Atlantic Division)

Detroit; Friday, 7 p.m. EST

BOTTOM LINE: The Montreal Canadiens visit the Detroit Red Wings after Patrik Laine recorded a hat trick in the Canadiens’ 6-1 win over the Buffalo Sabres.

Detroit is 13-14-4 overall and 3-4-1 against the Atlantic Division. The Red Wings are 3-4-2 in games they serve more penalty minutes than their opponents.

Montreal has a 12-16-3 record overall and a 4-3-0 record in Atlantic Division games. The Canadiens have gone 6-8-2 in games their opponents commit fewer penalties.

Friday’s game is the first time these teams match up this season.

TOP PERFORMERS: Lucas Raymond has 13 goals and 20 assists for the Red Wings. Alex DeBrincat has five goals and two assists over the last 10 games.

Nicholas Suzuki has 11 goals and 21 assists for the Canadiens. Laine has scored six goals with one assist over the last 10 games.

LAST 10 GAMES: Red Wings: 4-4-2, averaging three goals, five assists, 3.4 penalties and 7.3 penalty minutes while giving up 3.1 goals per game.

Canadiens: 5-5-0, averaging 2.9 goals, 4.8 assists, 4.7 penalties and 11.3 penalty minutes while giving up 3.2 goals per game.

INJURIES: Red Wings: None listed.

Canadiens: None listed.

___

The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.

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