U.S. Marshals Help Recover Missing Mint Hill Teen

Charlotte, NC – The U.S. Marshals Service (USMS) for the Western District of North Carolina, working with Mint Hill Police Department (MHPD) detectives and Randolph County Sheriff’s deputies, on Tuesday located and recovered a Mint Hill juvenile who has been missing since December 3.

The Mint Hill Police Department requested the assistance of the U.S. Marshals Service to locate the missing juvenile.

Investigators developed information that led to a residence in the 4700 Block of Pike Street in Archdale and while at the residence located the missing 15-year-old girl.

MHPD transported the missing juvenile back to Mint Hill, where she was reunited with her guardians.

“I would like to thank the Mint Hill Police Department and the Randolph County Sheriff’s Office for their assistance with this case,” said Terry J. Burgin, U.S. Marshal for the Western District of North Carolina. “The U.S. Marshals Service is fully committed to assisting local agencies with locating and recovering endangered missing children, in addition to their primary fugitive apprehension mission. Our message to missing children and their families is that we will never stop looking for you!”

In May 2015, the Justice for Victims of Trafficking Act (JVTA) was passed and clarified the USMS’s discretionary authority to support law enforcement requests for assistance on any missing child cases. As such, the USMS assists state, local, and other federal law enforcement agencies, upon request, in locating and recovering missing children, while focusing agency resources on “critically missing child” cases – those that involve a suspected crime of violence or where factors are identified by law enforcement that indicates an elevated risk to a missing child.

Since the passage of the JVTA in 2015, the USMS has contributed to the location or recovery of 3,322 (as of Dec. 15, 2023) missing children.