Police forced to issue statement over 'mass abduction of children'

Cops have been left scrambling to set the record straight after a surge in reports of mass child abductions in Virginia, US.

There has been an uptick of viral TikTok videos since August 1 claiming children have been abducted en masse across the state. The TikTokers have been warning "be careful everyone" of a mystery "mass kidnapper". One video said: "A mass kidnapper in VA, 19 kids missing in 10 DAYS, watch your kids please."

Police in Virginia have sought to set the record straight in a statement. They said there is "no evidence" of any such crimes happening in the state.

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There has been a surge in missing children reports when compared to other states on the National Center for Missing and Exploited Kids (NCMEC).

Virginia State Police said this anomaly was because, unlike other states, Virginia "forwards EVERY missing child case to NCMEC". It's the most "pro-active" state for sending cases to the website.

"Virginia State Police is not investigating any reports of mass abductions in Virginia, nor is there evidence of mass abductions occurring in Virginia," state police said.

"Virginia does this to centralize missing children’s cases so they can all be reviewed in one location. Many other clearinghouses post their cases to their own website. In Virginia, the MCC uses NCMEC as the clearinghouse site."

Police said that between August 3 and August 9, 88 children were reported missing to the MCC site, with around 98 children reported missing each week in the state.

"Since January 2025 to current, a total of 3,274 children have been reported missing to the MCC. Of these, 141 (as of 10:30 am Wednesday, Aug. 13, 2025) are still missing or approximately 4%," they continued.

Conspiracies about missing children seem linked to concerns about ice cream trucks seen late at night on streets in Virginia.

According to police, many of the missing child reports are linked to children running away from home, adding that most cases are investigated locally from the town they went missing from.

When a child is reported missing, local agencies have two hours to report it to state officials. State authorities will then issue a CODI or Amber Alert.

Parents are being urged to show their children how to make 911 calls from both a mobile phone and a landline number. Cops added that kids should be warned against accepting "rides from strangers and not to trust a stranger who suggests they go off alone together for any reason, for example, to find a lost puppy, etc."

"Tell your child to let you know immediately if another adult suggests keeping secrets from you. Never leave your child alone in the car, even for a minute," police said.