5 missing teen girls found, 30 arrested in 'Operation Boo Dat'
Five missing and endangered teenage girls were found and 30 individuals were arrested as part of a recent lengthy U.S. Marshals endeavor in the New Orleans, Louisiana, area known as “Operation Boo Dat.”
The operation took place from mid-October until Christmas Eve and resulted in five girls being found, according to a U.S. Marshals announcement released last week.
The Marshals’ New Orleans Task Force coordinated their efforts with the New Orleans Police Department, Orleans Parish Sheriff’s Office, Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office, and the Louisiana State Police.
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The five teenage girls, ages 14 to 17, were found by authorities, and 30 arrests, including 17 that were for felony sex offender registration violations, were made.
U.S. Marshal Scott Illing of the Eastern District of Louisiana said in a statement quoted in the announcement that the operation made the area “safer,” and credited “law enforcement teamwork” for their success.
“This work was accomplished during an interrupted period shortly after the death of one of our area’s USMS Senior Inspectors, Jared Keyworth, who died in a line of duty automobile accident in Mississippi, and during post Hurricane Ida recovery and continuing COVID-19 issues,” said Illing.
“We believe that Senior Inspector Keyworth would be proud of the continuing work to reduce violent crime across the nation and dedicate the results of Operation Boo Dat 2021 to his memory.”
Operation Boo Dat is an annual operation conducted by the Marshals and New Orleans law enforcement, with the 2020 endeavor resulting in the recovery of four missing or endangered children and 32 arrests.
According to a press release from 2020, that year’s operation went from Oct. 19 to Dec. 11, and included more than 100 sex offender compliance checks in Jefferson and Orleans Parishes.
“Sex Offender compliance checks require law enforcement officers to go to the sex offender’s reported address of residence to verify that the person still lives at the provided address,” stated the Marshals in 2020.
“Often times countless hours of follow up investigative work are required during and after a compliance check.”
In February of last year, authorities in Arizona arrested 37 people accused of child sex crimes and large-scale human trafficking as part of “Operation Broken Hearts.”
