Virginia Missing Children

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.

• NCMEC missing child searchNational search of missing child posters
• Missing children from Virginia, NCMECNCMEC case search for children missing from Virginia
• Virginia State Clearinghouse on Missing ChildrenMissing children's clearinghouse
• Virginia Child Amber AlertVirginia Amber Alert Program
• Child Safety TipsInformation for Parents
• Family AbductionsAbduction Prevention
• Missing Kids in VirginiaVirginia Missing Kids
• Children's rules for internet safetyFBI archive of safety tips for kids

Virginia county sheriffs

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.

• Virginia State PoliceAMBER, Senior, Blue and Critically Missing Adult Alert activations and the Missing Children Information Clearinghouse

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. 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.

• Virginia Police DepartmentsCity, county and town police departments that take missing child reports
• Virginia County Sheriff DirectorySheriff offices for the counties and independent cities
• Virginia Most WantedFugitives and outstanding warrants

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. 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. 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.

• NamUsNational database of missing and unidentified persons
• Virginia Criminal RecordsCriminal history and court records in Virginia

• National Center for Missing & Exploited ChildrenMissing child posters, reports and the CyberTipline
• AMBER Alert, U.S. Department of JusticeHow AMBER Alerts work and who issues them
• NISMART, national studies of missing childrenDepartment of Justice research on missing children