Children in North Dakota Continue to Vanish — What We Know

A heartbreaking and mysterious trend has been observed in recent weeks as eleven children have evidently gone missing throughout North Dakota. These missing teenagers have various reasons cited for their disappearances, including some being labeled as runaways.

It is an utterly miserable and terrifying topic about which to read, so consider this a trigger warning for content that may be difficult to consume, as the information below relates to children who are endangered by their disappearances.

Below, we report on the nine remaining missing children throughout North Dakota who have mysteriously and depressingly disappeared in recent weeks.

Continue reading below to learn more about what we know at this point about these children, their disappearances, and the search to rescue them from assumed danger.

According to a report in the Fargo, N.D.-based outlet INFORUM, eleven children have gone missing in various parts of North Dakota since July 29. The children range in age from 3 years old to 19 years old, including four 16-year-olds.

The most recent disappearances include the 3-year-old, two 16-year-olds, and a 15-year-old, each of whom was last seen on Aug. 13.

"That feels like a lot when you say it out loud," Steven Harstad, a chief agent with North Dakota's Bureau of Criminal Investigation, told INFORUM. Harstad called the uptick in disappearances concerning, though he claims that at this point, the disappearances are not connected to one another.

According to PEOPLE, the North Dakota state registry lists the most recent child to disappear as 16-year-old Alexa Taylor, who was last seen in North Dakota on Aug. 17.

"The number could be greater, [Harstad] added — especially if there are children reported as runaways instead of missing. In those cases, their information is typically not listed on the state's missing person database," according to the report in INFORUM.

"A lot of times, a runaway is not even reported to law enforcement because they have come back in the past," Harstad said. "But even if that child has run away 20 times, the 21st time might be the time they've gotten into a bad situation."

The record-keeping and demographics of the missing children who have disappeared in North Dakota this year are very troubling.

Per INFORUM, "According to the state's missing persons website, 18 of the 30 people who have gone missing in North Dakota since the start of 2025 are children or teens. Few of them have pictures attached to their names. Over half of the children reported missing are tribal members, and so are half of the 11 missing since late July."

According to Prairie Rose Seminole, a Missing and Murdered Indigenous Persons advocate, "You'd think there was something happening with that many people missing in a small state like North Dakota," she told INFORUM.

"These are children, these are loved ones; they're community members whose absence...is deeply felt by families and communities. Just because a young person ran away doesn’t mean they’re safe. Not listing them as missing creates blind spots in public awareness and public response."