NEWPORT NEWS, Va. — We are learning new details about 16-year-old Marwa Barakzai who, as of March 26, had been missing for a week. A CODI Alert was issued for her March 21.
"I just want her to know that we care about her," Newport News Police Chief Steve Drew said at a joint news conference Thursday with Newport News Mayor Phillip Jones.
At the news conference, Drew revealed Barakzai was last seen getting off a school bus after school March 19.
Watch: Police believe Marwa Barakzai has run away, deploying significant resources to finding her
“Instead of getting off at her normal location, she asked the bus driver to take her to another location and the bus driver did," Drew said.
She left her backpack on the bus but took her school-issued Chromebook and some papers. She got rid of the Chromebook after she got off the bus and then walked away, according to Drew. Why she walked away and where she went was headed was unclear Thursday.
News 3 reached out to Newport News Public Schools to find out what the school district's policy is for dropping kids off.
NNPS procedure on activity buses: An after-school activity bus does not follow a predetermined route or have regular bus stop locations. Each after-school activity bus operates regionally in Newport News based on the needs of the high school students riding that day.
When high school students board an after-school activity bus, they inform the driver where they need to go. The driver delivers them to the general area requested, based on the number of students going there and the availability of a safe area to drop them off.
“The FBI was here [Wednesday]. We went over some of the things I’m sharing with you, to put their eyes on it, to see if there’s anything else they think we should be doing or anything we missed they’d like to double don on," Drew explained.
Aside from getting help from the FBI, the police department has knocked on doors, visited the mosque Barakzai’s family goes to, searched a large area on foot, bike, and from the air, talked with family and friends, and searched underwater.
Wednesday, a community search was organized. As of Thursday, police did not have any reason to believe Barakzai was in any danger.
News 3 asked Drew why, then, a CODI Alert was issued by Virginia State Police who say her disappearance poses a credible threat to her health and safety.
“I’d rather be safe. There’s some things that are suspicious here that we’re not understanding," Drew said.
At the news conference, Jones re-iterated his message in a social media video about the case, calling for the community’s help.
“It does not matter your race, your color, your gender, your socioeconomic background. Every single resident is important to us," said Jones. "We have invested a lot of time into this search and will continue to do so.”
Anyone with information is asked to call police.
