By: Dennis Richmond, Jr.
Andre Phillips is only 15 years old. He went missing from the Bronx, NY in September 2026. Makye Myers Koo, also 15, has been listed as missing from Dobbs Ferry since August 30. Kaleb Sprinkle, 13, disappeared from Dobbs Ferry on August 19. That same day, about 75 miles away, Arthur Uhl, 16, was reported missing from Liberty, New York. Their names are among those appearing in missing-child cases across New York, and their faces deserve more than a scroll on a social media timeline or two.
The numbers show just how large the problem is. According to the New York State Division of Criminal Justice Services, 10,629 children under 18 were reported missing to police across the state in 2025. Ninety-four percent of those reports involved children classified as runaways. By the end of that year, 1,079 missing-child cases remained active statewide. Those numbers are important because the word “runaway” should never become another way of saying that a child does not need to be found.
The National Center for Missing & Exploited Children reported that it assisted law enforcement with 29,568 missing-child cases nationwide in 2024, with 91 percent of those children recovered. In 2025, NCMEC received reports involving 22,498 missing children between the ages of 15 and 17 and another 7,270 between 12 and 14. Behind those numbers are bedrooms sitting empty, with unanswered phone calls and families waiting for someone to walk back through the door.
Social media has shown what can happen when people decide that a missing child matters. Yonkers Voice, Yonkers Times, Yonkers Newswire, and Mount Vernon Newswire all help with sharing articles like this. Over the past several weeks, I have watched thousands of people share the faces of missing Black teen girls. That attention matters, and it must continue. But now I am asking people to use that same energy with saving our teen boys, too. Black and Hispanic boys disappear from the public conversation just as quickly, particularly when the public assumes a teenager simply ran away and will eventually return.
There is another reason not to dismiss these cases. NCMEC reported that one in seven children reported missing to the organization in 2025 were likely victims of child sex trafficking. Boys represented a smaller share of identified trafficking victims, but NCMEC specifically cautions that boys remain under-identified. A teenager being classified as a runaway does not tell us what he may encounter while he is gone.
So, look at these faces and remember these names. Share the photographs from verified law enforcement agencies and NCMEC. Andre Phillips, Makye Myers Koo, Kaleb Sprinkle and Arthur Uhl are not statistics. They are children. Thirty Black and Hispanic teen boys should not have to become a national headline before people decide to pay attention.
Dennis Richmond, Jr. (@NewYorkStakz) is a journalist, historian, and educator from Yonkers, NY. He writes to uplift unheard voices, honor history, and inspire change.