(NewsNation) — According to the Ohio Attorney General’s Office, more than 1,000 kids have been reported missing in Ohio in 2023, many of them from the Cleveland area. In September alone, 160 children have been reported missing.

Officials in Ohio have called the numbers alarming. In just two weeks in May, 30 children went missing, though authorities have said many are habitual runaways.

President of the Board of Directors for Cleveland Missing John Majoy said there have been no reports of serial abductions or children simply vanishing. Some of the high numbers, he said, is because habitual runaways can generate multiple reports.

“So you can have one juvenile run away eight or 10 times, and that’s going to show as eight or 10 reports,” he said.

Some juvenile intake facilities are not allowed to detain children who don’t wish to be there, Majoy said, but may file reports when kids leave.

Cleveland Police Chief Wayne Drummond said of the missing children, all but about 50 had been returned home. Still, the chief acknowledged missing cases in the Cleveland area were up by about 20% so far this year.

“They are ranked fifth in human trafficking, which is actually pretty high for a state that’s not as densely populated,” NewsNation national security contributor Tracy Walder said.

Walder said this time of year is a peak season for runaways and missing children, but there is still reason to be concerned.

“A lot of them are going unsolved, and that’s huge,” Walder said.

States with similar populations to Ohio, like Georgia and North Carolina, had an average of 600 missing child reports last year, according to data from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. In comparison, Ohio had roughly 1,600 reports in 2022.

Ohio’s attorney general told a local news station that while the numbers are alarming, inconsistencies in reporting could play a role.

Majoy said while there is no evidence indicating human trafficking rings are working in Ohio, runaways are still vulnerable.

“These are young kids, they’re immature. They really don’t see the predators that are coming after them. They could be subject to the drug trade, gang activity, sexual activity, human trafficking, there’s a number of people that will take advantage of them out there,” Majoy said.

NewsNation reached out to the Cleveland police for an interview, but did not hear back.