Virginia State Police is addressing rumors circulating on social media about mass abductions and missing children cases spiking across the state, asserting the claims are unfounded.
Several recent TikTok videos showing compilations of children reported missing in Virginia have garnered millions of views. One video shows screenshots of missing children that appear to be from the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children's website, and has over 1.8 million views and nearly 350,000 likes as of Wednesday afternoon.
@shaycray [i tried to include everyone in these past few months ] MISSING KIDS IN VIRGINIA. #VIRGINIA #virginia #missing #missingkids #missingkidsawareness #awareness #viral #xybca #foryoupage #fyp #fypage #fy #foryou #breakingnews #news #virginianews #scary ♬ original sound - 𝑺𝒉𝒂𝒚 ⋆˚꩜.ᐟ
TikTok users are voicing concerns in the comments, with many saying they're confused about the lack of alerts issued for the missing children. Some users suggested the disappearances may be a result of mass abductions, among other theories shared in the comments.
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In response, Virginia State Police says data on children reported missing recently is in line with numbers they usually see this time of year, adding that their guidelines for posting missing children cases is more broad than in other states. Anecdotally, most of the children reported missing are runaways, and most return shortly after being reported missing, state police say.
State police says from Aug. 3 to 9, 88 children were reported missing to the Virginia Missing Children Clearinghouse (MCC), which tracks all missing children cases reported by Virginia law enforcement agencies. That's comparable to 2025's weekly average of 98 missing children statewide, state police added.
The agency also shared the following information about the cases they post: "Virginia has reported more missing children than other states on the National Center for Missing and Exploited Kids (NCMEC) website. This is because Virginia State Police forwards EVERY missing child case to NCMEC."
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State police say they have no evidence that the children recently reported missing are victims of any abduction ring, as some commenters have suggested. Police are firm in stating there's no evidence of an abduction ring at all.
Reports of children missing because they ran away from home usually increase in the spring and summer. However, this is not to downplay the importance of finding them: The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children discussed the dangers those children face in a previous special report by News 3 anchor and investigator Jessica Larché.
“Potential gang recruitment, certainly violence, being the victims of violence, whether it's physical sexual abuse, homelessness, protracted homelessness, recruitment, into child sex trafficking…” shared Leemie Kahng-Sofer with the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.
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The center says 91% of their cases are endangered runaways. Right now, their database shows more than 360 children reported missing in Virginia. The oldest case dates back to 1957.
Following through on missing people is a cause we've been committed to covering at WTKR News 3. Our link to see local unsolved missing children cases is available here. A list of unsolved missing children cases across Virginia is available on the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children's website.
