County reports high closure rates for missing-person cases but juveniles and some adult cold cases remain challenging

Captain Bunge reported operational numbers and described the remaining investigative challenges for juvenile runaways and cold-case adult disappearances. "I'm happy to report that in 2023 year to date, we had 828 reports of, missing children," Captain Bunge said, and the department later cited a year-to-date count of 629 for the current year with only a small number of cases still open.

Bunge and other investigators explained that juveniles who are unaccompanied minors can be particularly difficult to locate—often lacking digital footprints or regular contact information—and that repeat runaways frequently require social and treatment interventions after recovery. For adult missing-persons investigations, detectives said their cold-case unit handled 35 cases in 2023 and had closed 29; some open adult cases are being treated as potential victims of serious crimes and are worked jointly with homicide detectives when evidence warrants.