RICHMOND, VA (CVILLE RIGHT NOW) – State Police have enacted a sixth type of alert for missing persons in Virginia, known as the Codi (COE-dee) Alert. State Police spokesperson Matt Demlein stated that this alert essentially replaces the “missing and endangered child alert.” The 2024 General Assembly passed the legislation, authored by Delegate Danny Diggs (R-Hampton), a former Poquoson/York County Sheriff, and named it after Codi Bigsby, a 4-year-old Hampton boy who was reported missing in 2022 and has not yet been found.
This alert is separate from the Amber Alert, which is issued only when a child is believed to have been abducted and is in danger, utilizing all communications channels. The Codi Alert will be issued for children missing under suspicious circumstances or when law enforcement believes there is a credible threat to the child’s safety and health.
