Missing Children, NCMEC, AMBER Alert, State Clearinghouse

Virginia Missing Children

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Virginia missing children: how the State Police issues AMBER Alerts, the Missing Children Information Clearinghouse, the Ashanti Alert, Senior and Blue Alerts, how to report and where records go.

Guide

Virginia Missing Children at a Glance

A missing child in Virginia is reported to the city, county or town police or to the county sheriff, and the Virginia State Police coordinates the case, issues AMBER Alerts and keeps the Virginia Missing Children Information Clearinghouse. The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, headquartered in Alexandria, can post the case nationally with the family's or the police's permission. There is no waiting period, and Virginia law requires the child to be entered into the FBI's national database at once.

Virginia created the Ashanti Alert. After Ashanti Billie, 19, was abducted in Norfolk in 2017 and no alert program fit her age, the state passed a Critically Missing Adult Alert in 2018, and Congress followed with a national Ashanti Alert law the same year.

Official sources on this page were checked on September 25, 2026.

Guide

How AMBER Alerts work in Virginia

The Virginia State Police activates an AMBER Alert at the request of the investigating agency when a child under 18 has been abducted, is believed to be in danger of serious harm or death, and there is enough information about the child, the abductor or a vehicle to help the public. The alert reaches radio and television through the Emergency Alert System, phones through the wireless emergency alert system, the Department of Transportation highway signs, and the state lottery terminals, and it is shared with Washington DC, Maryland, North Carolina, Tennessee, Kentucky and West Virginia. The State Police can also issue an endangered missing child media alert for cases that fall short of the abduction standard.

Guide

Virginia missing children clearinghouse and how to report

The Virginia Missing Children Information Clearinghouse in the State Police keeps the statewide file of missing children and adults, posts case listings with photos, coordinates with the National Center and NamUs, and helps local agencies with long term cases. In Virginia, report the child to the local police or the county sheriff, note the case number, and confirm the entry into the National Crime Information Center before anything else. The same holds in Virginia: then call the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children at 1-800-THE-LOST. Virginia Beach, Norfolk, Richmond and the Fairfax County police have their own missing persons units, and Virginia's independent cities have their own departments separate from the surrounding counties.

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Other Virginia alerts and where the records go

Virginia's Senior Alert covers missing seniors with cognitive impairment, the Critically Missing Adult Alert covers adults believed to be in danger, and the Blue Alert covers suspects who have injured or killed a law enforcement officer. Here too, in Virginia, the records stay with the agency that took the report. Under the Virginia Freedom of Information Act, basic incident facts are public while criminal investigative files can be withheld, and juvenile records are confidential. The same holds in Virginia: long term cases can be listed in NamUs, the national missing and unidentified persons database, at the investigating agency's choice, with the public seeing the entries the agency approves.

Guide

Federal & National Authoritative Sources

These federal and national sources complement Virginia's state-level records. They are the authoritative sources you should cross-check when Virginia state records are incomplete or out-of-state activity matters.

NCMEC, National Center for Missing & Exploited Children Congressionally authorized national clearinghouse for missing children. NCMEC operates the 24-hour hotline 1-800-THE-LOST (1-800-843-5678) and the CyberTipline for exploitation reports.

AMBER Alert, U.S. Department of Justice The federally coordinated AMBER Alert network. Each state operates its own plan under DOJ AMBER Alert Program guidance.

NISMART, National Incidence Study OJJDP's periodic survey of missing-child incidence in the United States, the authoritative federal statistical source.

Straight answers

Virginia Missing Children, questions

What is an Ashanti Alert?

A Critically Missing Adult Alert for a missing adult believed to be in danger. Virginia created it in 2018 after the abduction and death of Ashanti Billie, 19, of Norfolk, and Congress passed a national version the same year.

Who issues AMBER Alerts in Virginia?

The Virginia State Police, at the request of the investigating agency, when a child under 18 has been abducted and is in danger and there is enough information to broadcast.

Where is the Virginia list of missing children?

The Virginia Missing Children Information Clearinghouse in the State Police posts case listings with photos, and the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children and NamUs list the cases that the agency and the family agree to publish.