RICHMOND, Va. — Virginia State Police issued a statement on Wednesday debunking viral rumors of mass child abductions that have recently popped up on social media.
In the statement, VSP referenced multiple viral social media posts that have raised concerns about the missing children in Virginia's Missing Posters search results on the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) website.
"Virginia State Police is not investigating any reports of mass abductions in Virginia, nor is there evidence of mass abductions occurring in Virginia," the statement reads.
From August 3 to 9, 88 children were reported missing to the Virginia Missing Children Clearinghouse (MCC).
According to VSP, that number is high because Virginia reports more missing children than other states on the NCMEC website. They forward every case to NCMEC to centralize them in one place.
They added that, anecdotally, most of the children reported missing are runaways, and most return shortly after being reported missing.
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