HAMPTON, Va. — When little Codi Bigsby was reported missing by his father in Hampton in 2022, many in the community expressed outrage over the lack of an AMBER Alert to help find the child.
“For him not to get an alert that could have saved his life, it troubled me very deeply,” Delegate A.C. Cordoza, who represents Hampton in the Virginia General Assembly, said.
According to the Hampton Police Department following Codi’s disappearance, the child did not qualify for an AMBER Alert because authorities did not believe he was abducted— a key criteria for AMBER Alerts to be issued. As WTKR News 3 reported, Codi’s body has never been found, and his father was sentenced this summer to 45 years in prison for the child’s murder.
Cordoza, who was among several community volunteers that helped search for Codi following the report of his disappearance, agreed with calls from the community for the establishment of a missing child to address gaps in the AMBER Alert criteria.
Watch: Local missing child case sparks conversation over AMBER Alert criteria
“Trying to fix the AMBER Alert, that’s a national issue. Out of my hands,” said Cordoza. “I said, well, what can we do on a state level to stop this from happening?”
With the help of the community and law enforcement, Cordoza crafted the Virginia Critical Operation for a Disappeared Child Initiative (CODI) Alert Program. It passed the General Assembly this year, and was signed into law.
The CODI Alert applies to a missing or endangered child who “is 17 years of age or younger or is currently enrolled in a secondary school in the Commonwealth, regardless of age.” The child’s “whereabouts are unknown” and their disappearance is “under suspicious circumstances or poses a credible threat as determined by law enforcement to the safety and health of the child and under such other circumstances as deemed appropriate by the Virginia State Police.”
Virginia State Police have until the summer of 2025 to get the alert system up and running.
Watch: Bill creates new missing person alert named for Codi Bigsby
I asked Cordoza, “In your mind, how is this going to work?”
He said, “We're going to set off alerts by region, but we're going to concentrate with a radius of two spots: where the child lives, and where we last saw the child. And it’s going to go off at the same time.”
However, I noticed a line in the law that reads, “The establishment of a Codi Alert Program by a locality and the media is voluntary, and nothing in this chapter shall be construed to be a mandate that local officials or the media establish or participate in a Codi Alert Program.”
I asked Cordoza, “Are you concerned that [language] could leave some people out of getting the alert, who would deserve to get the alert?”
He responded, “No. So, that language is more for to protect the locality from liability.”
He continued, “It is technically voluntary, but I don't know any elected sheriff, or any mayor who's over a police chief who would say, ‘I'm not going to put my city and county in this program.”
Watch: FCC looks to add alert code for missing people qualified for Ashanti Alerts
I asked state Senator Danny Diggs, the former York County Sheriff and champion of the CODI Alert law in the state Senate, if the law’s language means there’s no consequences if law enforcement doesn’t issue the alert for a case it applies to, or if media doesn’t share the alert.
“Right,” said Diggs. “It's something that we want people to participate in voluntarily without the fear that hey, if something goes wrong, or if we don't do something right, maybe we shouldn't participate at all.”
He continued, “We have to rely on the good judgment of those who are making the decision to do the right thing.”
The voluntary language is also included in the AMBER Alert, the Senior Alert, and the Virginia Critically Missing Adult Alert— also know as the Ashanti Alert.
The Ashanti Alert is named for Ashanti Billie, a 19-year-old Virginia Beach woman who was abducted from Norfolkand found dead in Charlotte, North Carolina. She was too old for an AMBER Alert, and too young for a Senior Alert. While the alert filled a gap, it is not always applied by law enforcement for missing people who fit the criteria— and there are no laws that outline consequences for failing to do so.
For example, Virginia Beach mother Marie Covington was reported missing in 2022, but
an Ashanti Alert wasn’t issued until two days later— hours before police discovered her body. The Virginia Beach police chief chose to investigate how his officers handled her case.
Watch: Governor signs Ashanti Alert bill into law
In Newport News, Sheree Brown was reported missing in 2023, but an Ashanti Alert wasn’t issued until 41 days after she was reported missing. Brown, who had stage four breast cancer at the time of her disappearance, is still missing.
“If an alert system is created and it isn't used as intended, it's no good to the community,” said Natalie Wilson, the co-founder of the Black and Missing Foundation.
According to the foundation, police disproportionately classify children of color as runaways— and that could deter law enforcement from issuing alerts to help find them.
“What we're finding is that children of color remain missing four times longer than their white counterparts,” Wilson said.
I asked, “Do you think, as long as there's this voluntary language in the alert laws, that there will ever be an even playing field for people missing, people of color?”
She responded, “We hope that with enhanced training and sensitivity, that these laws will be implemented as they should.”
Watch: Org says AMBER Alert criteria needs updating
I asked Cordoza, “Does this [voluntary language] create a gap where it's so subjective, that maybe children who deserved the alert may not get the alert? If someone doesn't think their disappearance is serious enough?”
“I don't believe that will be the case,” said Cordoza. “We try and legislate a lot of things. We can't legislate heart.”
He continued, “Everyone has biases, but if your biases affect you to the point that you don't see a missing child, you don't need to be in any form of law enforcement.”
I asked, “[Do] you have trust that this is going to work as you intended when you wrote this law?”
“Yes,” said Cordoza. “I'm watching to make sure it's working.”
He continued, “We want them to remember Codi, and remember what happened, and make sure it never happens again.”
Virginia State Police told me they hope to get the CODI Alert up and running by the end of this year ahead of the summer 2025 deadline.
