A missing Arizona girl has been found safe after U.S. Marshals located her at a sprawling homeless encampment in Washington state known as “The Jungle.”
The girl had been missing from her home in Mesa, Arizona, since May. On June 18, the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children alerted marshals that she may have been trafficked for sex and could be in Washington.
A deputy U.S. marshal later developed information that led investigators to a 20-acre encampment in Olympia also known as “The Jungle,” KOMO News reported.
Authorities have described the encampment as an area with significant safety concerns, including frequent violence, and said its population can range from about 100 to 250 people.
The city of Olympia provides weekly outreach to people living at the site, including food, water and other basic supplies.
Marshals searched the wooded encampment and found the girl on Thursday, about 1,500 miles from her Arizona home.
She was taken to the Washington State Department of Children, Youth, and Families and the Olympia Police Department to receive care, support services and victim assistance, according to the report.
“Protecting our nation’s children is of the highest importance,” said Donrien Stephens, acting U.S. marshal for the Western District of Washington.
A missing girl was rescued by US Marshals from a 20-acre homeless encampment in Olympia known as ‘The Jungle’
Officials said that the notorious encampment has a high rate of violence and a population of anywhere between 100 and 250 people
Marshals reported the girl was missing in May from Mesa, Arizona, before being notified that she may have been sex trafficked
‘The excellent investigative efforts, collaboration, and persistence of our local, state, and community partners led to the safe recovery of a youth with an elevated risk of human trafficking and commercial sexual exploitation.’
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The encampment is just one of the more congested areas of homelessness that plague the city.
The hotbed for crime was also the site of a double murder when two brothers opened fire inside the Jungle camp on several people in 2016.
James Taafulisia and Jerome Taafulisia were sentenced to 40 years in prison each for the shooting.
According to court documents cited by KOMO News, two teens at the time approached a bonfire in the “Caves” section of the Jungle camp and shot an alleged drug dealer, Phat Nguyen, 46, in the back, as well as several others.
The brothers allegedly stormed the camp because Nguyen owed their mother money.
The Taafulisias were 16 and 17 years old but were tried as adults.
Additionally, in June 2009, Bernardino Maceo-Toirac was also fatally shot in the Jungle, as well as another man named Warren J. Bothwell, who was found with a chest wound in the same area the following month and died at the scene.
Seattle’s mayor, Katie Wilson, was accused of telling Seattle Police not to arrest people for taking illegal drugs in public.
She denied doing so but works directly with Seattle City Attorney Erika Evans, who has made it much harder for police to charge illegal drug users.
She was brought to the Washington State Department of Children, Youth, and Families and the Olympia Police Department
In an effort to clean up the streets before Seattle hosted World Cup matches, Wilson pledged 1,000 temporary shelter beds by the end of the year, with an additional goal of 500 more beds ready by the start of the FIFA games.
The project is to help clean the streets of Pioneer Square near Lumen Field. City leaders described the move as both a public safety and logistical effort tied to managing one of the largest events Seattle has ever hosted.
Although the goal fell short, Wilson later announced that 175 beds have been added so far, with a few more expected soon, and said her team remains committed to the overall target.
Members of Purpose Dignity Action began going out to the historic neighborhood at dawn to speak with unsheltered residents, ultimately compiling a list of 40 people.
According to the group, the majority of individuals had significant mental health or substance use issues, and a lack of shelters capable of meeting those levels of need in Seattle has further complicated the crisis.
Government leaders have been responding to growing complaints about encampments by forcing unhoused people to move if they do not immediately accept an available shelter bed.
