Codi Bigsby was last seen asleep at the Buckroe Pointe town homes in the 100 block of Ranalet Drive in Hampton, Virginia at 2:00 a.m. on January 31, 2022. He lived with his father and three brothers, a five-year-old and two-year-old twins. His father, Cory Bigsby, said he woke up to find his son missing. He notified police at 9:00 a.m. that same day.
Codi was 4 years old when he was reported missing.
In addition to his four children who lived with him on Ranalet Drive, he and his estranged wife have multiple older children living in the local area. Codi disappeared the same day the family was supposed to move to a new house.
Authorities were immediately suspicious of Cory’s story and believed Codi may not have disappeared at the time that his father claimed. On February 3, Cory was arrested for seven counts of felony child neglect. He admitted to leaving his children home alone on several occasions in December 2021 and January 2022 for hours at a time, with no way to contact him or emergency services. He said he did this because the children were “too much of a handful” and it didn’t occur to him to get a babysitter.
In July 2022, Cory was indicted for a further 23 charges: four counts of child abuse, two counts of child neglect in connection with the child abuse counts, fifteen counts of child neglect for leaving the children home alone, and two counts of child neglect for failure to secure medical attention for an injured child. None of the charges are connected to Codi’s actual disappearance, only to Cory’s alleged actions in the year prior to his son’s disappearance.
Cory is awaiting trial on these charges. If convicted, he could face a maximum term of 162 years in prison. He is the main person of interest in his son’s disappearance; investigators stated his account of his son’s disappearance did not match the evidence. His attorneys have claimed Cory was mistreated by the police and called the case a “modern-day lynching.”
Cory was questioned between 9:30 p.m. on January 31 to 4:45 a.m. the next day, then he was taken to another room and isolated for eight hours. More than twenty times during the interview he said he was tired and wanted to go home, but he was told “going home is not an option” even though he was not under arrest at the time. Authorities also admitted that Cory had invoked his right to legal representation during the interview, twice, and that this was ignored. The detective was removed from the case and put on paid administrative leave as a result of the mishandled interrogation, and another detective was assigned to the case.
It may be worth noting that there is a documented history of domestic violence between Cory and Codi’s mother. He was charged with assaulting her in 2018 after she told police he had choked her, bitten her and threatened to kill her. The charges were dropped after Codi’s mother stopped cooperating with the investigation and failed to appear for multiple court dates.
No charges have been filed against anyone in Codi’s disappearance, but police stated they believe they know what happened to him. His siblings whom he lived with are now in foster care. His mother, who lives in the Washington D.C. area, was investigated and ruled out as a suspect in his case.
Codi’s case remains unsolved.
Investigating Agency: Hampton Police Department 757-727-6111.
Tell us your thoughts...