Federal and local authorities rescued more than 30 missing children and uncovered multiple trafficking operations targeting vulnerable youth during a coordinated crackdown across Texas.

The effort, centered in San Antonio, led to arrests, felony warrants and several new investigations under a joint mission known as “Operation Lightning Bug.”

Teams from the U.S. Marshals Service (USMS) out of San Antonio, Del Rio, Midland, and Pecos joined forces with San Antonio Police Department’s Missing Persons Unit, Special Victims Unit, Street Crimes Unit and covert operatives. Together, they combed through Texas and national crime databases to identify at-risk juveniles and coordinate recovery efforts.

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The results included:

• Three arrests for harboring runaways
• Nine felony warrants executed
• Six sex trafficking survivors rescued and connected with support services
• Five new trafficking investigations opened
• More than 30 missing juveniles located
• More than 120 additional juveniles voluntarily returned home, clearing their names from missing persons databases

Each recovered child was interviewed by SAPD’s Special Victims Unit to determine whether they had been victimized. Survivors were referred to support services provided by agencies such as Health and Human Services to ensure long-term care and protection.

U.S. Marshal Susan Pamerleau, for the Western District of Texas, said in a statement that protecting children remains central to the Marshals Service’s mission.

“The safety of our children is the safety of our communities, and justice demands that we protect those who cannot protect themselves,” Pamerleau said. “Through Operation Lightning Bug, we reaffirm our promise to safeguard the most vulnerable and strengthen the safety of our communities.”

The U.S. Marshals Service and local law enforcement have been cracking down on trafficking operations. (U.S. Marshals Service, Bennie J. Davis III)

San Antonio Police Chief William McManus echoed those sentiments, praising the effort as an example of law enforcement unity.

“Every suspect arrested, juvenile returned home and survivor taken out of harm’s way matters,” McManus said. “This operation demonstrates what can be achieved when law enforcement agencies unite to protect children.”

The U.S. Marshals conducted the sweep under the authority of the Justice for Victims of Trafficking Act of 2015, which empowers the agency to recover missing or endangered children, even when no fugitive is involved. That law also led to the creation of the USMS Missing Child Unit, which leads similar recovery efforts nationwide.

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The U.S. Marshals Service said protecting children remains central to its mission. (U.S. Marshals Service)

Kirsta Leeberg-Melton, founder and CEO of the Institute to Combat Trafficking, said operations like this one underscore the larger issue of exploitation in Texas and beyond.

“Trafficking is something that the city of San Antonio and the state of Texas and the nation have been grappling with for a considerable period of time,” she said in an interview with Fox News Digital. 

She said traffickers often target instability — children without consistent housing, food or family support.

“They are easy pickings for traffickers to take advantage of,” she warned. “They exploit these needs by offering those items and then calling in debts and putting those kids in a position where they are able to exploit them for sex or for labor.”

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Leeberg-Melton said the public often underestimates how widespread trafficking is — and how much it has evolved, especially online.

“Trafficking is the exploitation of men, women and children for forced sex or forced labor by a third party for their profit or gain. That’s been around forever,” Leeberg-Melton said. “What hasn’t really been around is people’s understanding of that crime and their knowledge that it’s happening everywhere!”

She added that traffickers increasingly use technology to recruit and control victims.

“As technology advances, traffickers…are early adopters and adapters of technology,” she said. “The internet allows them to connect with victims and buyers far beyond their local area.”

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Traffickers are increasingly using technology to prey on victims, Kirsta Leeberg-Melton said. (Kurt “CyberGuy” Knutsson)

Leeberg-Melton emphasized that trafficking is not limited to border regions.

“American citizens can traffic American citizens on American soil,” she said, adding that most trafficking cases prosecuted in the U.S. involve American perpetrators exploiting American victims.

“The biggest myth is that it happens somewhere else, and it happens to someone else,” she said. “Until we start recognizing that people have value, no matter who they are, where they come from, what they’ve done or what’s been done to them, we will continue to excuse some level of exploitation.”

Leeberg-Melton also described sextortion as a growing form of trafficking that uses coercion to force sexual conduct or imagery.

“When you have someone that you are holding something over their head and then you are asking them for additional photographs or additional sexual conduct with the threat…that is a form, frankly, of human trafficking,” she said.

If you suspect someone is a victim of trafficking, contact the National Human Trafficking Hotline at 1-888-373-7888 or report anonymously at humantraffickinghotline.org.

Stepheny Price covers crime, including missing persons, homicides and migrant crime. Send story tips to stepheny.price@fox.com.

A small plane crash in Fort Worth, Texas, on Sunday reportedly left two people dead.

The crash happened around 1:30 p.m. near Hicks Airfield in the 12000 block of N. Saginaw Boulevard in Fort Worth, Texas. Multiple semi-trucks caught fire following the impact, and two victims were found dead at the scene, FOX 4 News Dallas-Fort Worth reported, citing the Fort Worth Fire Department.

“I can confirm this is a small aircraft that crashed into some unknown structures,” a spokesperson for the Tarrant County Sheriff’s Office told Fox News Digital.

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The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and National Transportation Safety Board (NSTB) were notified of the incident, according to FOX 4.

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“Since this involves a plane, the FAA will be the lead on this investigation,” the spokesperson added. “We’re supporting the scene with traffic control at this time.”

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and National Transportation Safety Board (NSTB) were notified of the incident, according to FOX 4. (KDFW)

It remains unclear how many people were on board the aircraft.

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Both northbound and southbound lanes of Business 287 were closed in the area at the time of the crash.

Hicks Airfield, located north of Fort Worth in Tarrant County, is a private, member-owned airfield, according to its website. (KDFW)

Hicks Airfield, located north of Fort Worth in Tarrant County, is a private, member-owned airfield, according to its website.

The Fort Worth Fire Department, Saginaw Fire Department, Fort Worth Police Department, Haslet Fire Department and the FAA did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.

The Texas Military Department (TMD) confirmed to Fox News Digital on Tuesday that it replaced seven National Guard members who were deployed to Illinois amid civil unrest, citing the service members’ failure to meet “mission requirements.”

About 200 Texas National Guard troops were deployed to Illinois on Oct. 7 for a 60-day mission to protect federal personnel and property during anti-immigration protests, the Pentagon previously confirmed.

During the pre-mission validation process, the Texas National Guard identified and replaced seven service members who did not meet mission requirements, a TMD spokesperson said. 

The affected Guardsmen were returned to their home station, though the department did not specify the reasoning for their removals.

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The announcement comes after a photo showing a group of service members arriving in Illinois went viral on social media, with critics speculating about their fitness.

“The Texas National Guard echoes Secretary [of War Pete] Hegseth’s message to the force: ‘Our standards will be high, uncompromising, and clear,’” a TMD spokesperson told Fox News Digital.

U.S. service members were criticized for their weight on social media after a photo of their arrival in Illinois went viral. (Erin Hooley/AP)

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Hegseth in September called for service members in combat roles to meet the highest male standards for physical fitness.

Department officials did not confirm if the service members in the viral photo were the same Guardsmen removed from the mission.

Law enforcement detains a protester near a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility in Broadview, Ill., on Friday, Oct. 3, 2025.  (Erin Hooley/AP)

TEXAS NATIONAL GUARD DEPLOYS 200 TROOPS TO ILLINOIS FOR FEDERAL PROTECTION MISSION AMID PROTESTS

A federal judge ruled Saturday National Guard troops can stay in Illinois but cannot patrol or protect federal property. 

The decision followed a request from the Trump administration to lift a prior block on their deployment. The temporary restraining order keeps the troops in place pending further court arguments.

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Fox News Digital’s Brie Stimson contributed to this report.