(NewsNation) — Forty years ago, Ofelia Flores survived the horrors of human trafficking as a minor but was treated as a criminal rather than a victim. Now, the U.S. Marshals are on a mission to prevent other young people from experiencing the trauma of sex trafficking, drugs or a life of crime.

There were over 375,000 children reported missing across the country according the FBI National Crime Information Center in 2023.

In early May, marshals and local law enforcement agencies launched a recovery mission for a missing 17-year-old in North Carolina as part of Operation We Will Find You. This was the second nationwide operation of its kind.

During the search, they knocked on hundreds of doors across seven cities over six weeks. Authorities didn’t end up finding the teen they were looking for, but they didn’t give up.

Over the course of the mission, U.S. Marshals found 200 children, removing 123 of them from dangerous situations and locating 77 children safe across seven states.

“This should be a priority for the country,” U.S. Marshal Service Director Ronald Davis said. “Some of them are runaways, some of them now are going to be victims of trafficking and prostitution, and we have an obligation to try to find them.”