Police Find 10-Year-Old Girl Who Went Missing at Boston Marathon

Police have located a 10-year-old girl who disappeared near the finish line of the Boston Marathon on April 15, 2019. (Boston Police Department)

Police have located a 10-year-old girl who disappeared near the finish line of the Boston Marathon on April 15.

Officials asked for help before 1 p.m. local time. A short while later, the girl was found, said the Boston Police Department.

She was identified as 10-year-old Sophia Mendez.

Boston officials said she was tracked down within minutes, WHDH reported.

No other details were offered about the case.

Winner Named

Lawrence Cherono of Kenya won the 123rd Boston Marathon in 2 hours, 7 minutes 57 seconds, according to The Associated Press.

“It was no man’s race to win,” said Cherono, who had won in Seville, Prague, Honolulu and twice in Amsterdam but never in a major marathon before. “I kept on focusing. And at the end, I was the winner. I’m so grateful, so happy.”

Two-time winner Lelisa Desisa and Kenneth Kipkemoi finished second and third.

For the women, Worknesh Dagefa was named champion at 2:23:31.

Missing Children

There were 464,324 missing children reported in the FBI’s National Crime Information Center in 2017, according to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. Under federal law, when a child is reported missing to law enforcement they must be entered into the database. In 2016, there were 465,676 entries.

“This number represents reports of missing children. That means if a child runs away multiple times in a year, each instance would be entered into NCIC separately and counted in the yearly total. Likewise, if an entry is withdrawn and amended or updated, that would also be reflected in the total,” the center noted.

Reve Walsh and John Walsh speak during The National Center For Missing And Exploited Children, the Fraternal Order of the Police and the Justice Department’s 16th Annual Congressional Breakfast at The Liaison Capitol Hill Hotel in Washington on May 18, 2011. (Photo by Kris Connor/Getty Images)

In 2017, the center said it assisted officers and families with the cases of more than 27,000 missing children. In those cases, 91 percent were endangered runaways, and 5 percent were family abductions.

About one in seven children reported missing to the center in 2017 were likely victims of child sex trafficking.