Virginia State Police (VSP) says that recent online claims of mass kidnappings in the state are false. On August 13, the agency issued a statement that it is “aware of multiple social media posts raising concerns about missing children across the Commonwealth of Virginia. Virginia State Police is not investigating any reports of mass abductions in Virginia, nor is there evidence of mass abductions occurring in Virginia.”
VSP confirmed that its agencies have reported more missing children than other states on the National Center for Missing and Exploited Kids (NCMEC) website. But it says that this is because VSP forwards every missing child case to NCMEC. Virginia State Police says it does this to centralize missing children’s cases so they can all be reviewed in one location.
According to NCMEC, Virginia is the most proactive state in sending cases to their website.
VSP says that nearly all missing children are investigated at the local level. When a child (under the age of 21) goes missing, investigating agencies have two hours to report it to Virginia State Police.
Since January 2025, a total of 3,274 children have been reported missing to the Virginia Missing Children Clearinghouse (MCC), VSP shared. As of August 13, 141 children (approximately 4 percent) are still missing.
VSP says that, anecdotally, most of the children reported missing are not due to kidnappings. Most are runaways and return shortly after being reported missing. It also provided a current list of all missing children in the state.
More information is available at the MCC website. VSP asks that anyone with information on a missing child call 804-674-2000 or email [email protected].
Feature image, tippapatt/stock.adobe.com
