DAYTON, Ohio (WDTN) — The newest statistics on children reported missing locally and across the state of Ohio have been released, and a local county has the negative distinction of ranking in the top three for most reported in 2022.
In the Miami Valley, 3,145 children were reported missing in 2022. Across the entire state, the number rises to 15,555.
Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost’s release of the information Thursday coincided with National Missing Children’s Day.
A breakdown of the local numbers:
| County | Number of Children Reported Missing in 2022 |
| Auglaize | 15 |
| Butler | 359 |
| Champaign | 33 |
| Clark | 253 |
| Clinton | 20 |
| Darke | 20 |
| Greene | 130 |
| Logan | 20 |
| Mercer | 9 |
| Miami | 79 |
| Montgomery | 2,028 |
| Preble | 23 |
| Shelby | 64 |
| Warren | 92 |
Montgomery County ranked third in the state, followed by Hamilton County, which is the Cincinnati area.
Franklin County, which covers the Columbus metro-area, ranked in the top spot for reports with a total of 3,038 reports. Cuyahoga County, covering the Cleveland area, ranked second with 2,395.
Recent Missing Children Cases
In Dec. 2022, Nalah Jackson is accused of kidnapping two infant twins from Columbus. One child was found outside the Dayton International Airport. The other twin was discovered in Indianapolis a matter of days later.
March 2023 marked nine years since Zaden McKnight was last seen in Dayton. He went missing around the same time as his mother, Nichelle. Her body was later recovered in the Stillwater River. If you have any information on the disappearance of the Zaden, you are asked to call Dayton Police Department’s Detective Unit at 937-333-2677 or Crime Stoppers at 937-222-7867.
If you have any information on other missing children, you can call your local authorities.
