In August 2025, highly-circulated videos claimed dozens of children went missing in Virginia in a "mass abduction." Several popular posts called on authorities to issue Amber Alerts. Others claimed ice cream trucks with lights and music driving around at night were related to the alleged kidnappings.
Virginia State Police explicitly stated there was no evidence of a "mass abduction" in the state. Rather, the number of missing child reports (88 total) from Aug. 3 to 9, 2025, was lower than the state's weekly 2025 average of 98. As of this writing (Aug. 20), eight children from that time span remain missing.
The number of missing children in Virginia is typically higher than in other U.S. states because the state reports all missing-child cases — including those who run away from home voluntarily — to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. This makes it the outlier among states. Additionally, authorities don't issue Amber Alerts unless they meet strict criteria, including sufficient evidence that a child was taken unwillingly.
Virginia State Police said in an email they have no evidence of ice cream trucks' involvement in any of the missing children cases, and Snopes found that some of the videos implying such evidence exists were blatantly misleading.
In mid-August 2025, dozens of posts spread across multiple platforms claiming claimed a "mass abduction" of children occurred in Virginia.
The claims varied in detail — some said 50 children had gone missing in a span of 10 days, others said 80 children went missing within 12 days (archived) — but the overarching claim remained consistent: An unusually high number of children were missing, suggesting a mass kidnapping. Many posts claimed that no Amber Alert went off (archived) for these dozens of missing children, and others claimed (archived, archived) that ice cream trucks with lights and music on driving around at night had something to do with it.
(TikTok user @tkay7411)
Based on statements from the Virginia State Police and data from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, these fears surrounding an alleged "mass abduction" were out of proportion with reality and largely conspiratorial.
As the state police confirmed in a news release, 88 cases of missing children were recorded Aug. 3-9, 2025 — which stood below the current 2025 weekly average of 98 missing children cases in Virginia. Even then, data shows that most children reported missing are found to have voluntarily run away from home and either voluntarily return or are found by authorities, according to police.
Below, we explain the data, what we know based on official police statements and why Amber Alerts were not issued for the dozens of missing children. We also look more closely at the claims that ice cream trucks were somehow involved.
Data shows no evidence of 'mass abductions' in Virginia
In a public statement (archived) published Aug. 13, state police explicitly confirmed there was no evidence of "mass abductions" occurring in Virginia.
In fact, within the approximate time range cited for many of the cases, Aug. 3 to 9, there were 88 missing children reported compared with the 2025 weekly average of 98. Therefore, while these videos gained traction and caused online panic, the claims of mass abduction were false and the data indicated a lower-than-average number of children went missing during that time span.
One portion of the statement read:
ANECDOTALLY, MOST OF THE CHILDREN REPORTED MISSING ARE RUNAWAYS, AND MOST RETURN SHORTLY AFTER BEING REPORTED MISSING.
Here is the data:
Last week, Aug. 3-9, 2025, 88 children were reported missing to the MCC [Virginia Missing Children Clearinghouse].
The 2025 weekly average of missing children in Virginia is 98.
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%.
Virginia State Police has issued a total of 25 CODI Alerts in 2025 to date. All were found. This includes a CODI Alert Monday morning, August 11, 2025, that was issued from Manassas Park, which was also cancelled Monday morning after the subject was found safe.
Virginia State Police issued a total of two Amber Alerts in 2025 to date. All found.
In an email to Snopes, Robin Lawson, a spokesperson for the Virginia State Police, clarified that this data does not automatically mean 88 children were missing, because "a child can be entered more than once if they leave home more than once." She also confirmed that of the 88 reports of missing children, nine children remained missing as of Aug. 18. As of this writing, eight children remain missing.
This data matches the results of the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, a private, nonprofit 501(c)(3) corporation that maintains a national database for tracking missing children. As of this writing, eight children listed as missing from Aug. 3 to 9 are still missing, meaning authorities only recorded one child found since Lawson's statement.
(missingkids.org)
Why Virginia reports more missing kids than other states
The Virginia police statement claimed the state had reported more missing children to the NCMEC than other states due to its policy of forwarding every missing-child case to the group, including cases in which children ran away from home voluntarily. It read:
Virginia has reported more missing children than other states on the National Center for Missing and Exploited Kids (NCMEC) website. This is because Virginia State Police forwards EVERY missing child case to NCMEC. According to NCMEC, Virginia is the most pro-active in sending cases to their website. 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.
Patti Davis, a spokesperson for the NCMEC, confirmed Virginia is the most proactive state in terms of sending cases to the NCMEC, and she also noted that "there is no national requirement to report missing children to us — just those missing from state care. Many runaways are not reported to us."
What about Amber or Codi alerts?
Many social media users pointed out that the state did not issue an Amber Alert or Codi Alert (a Virginia missing-child alert system that launched in 2024). Missing children cases are required to meet strict criteria for Amber Alert or Codi Alert issuance.
These criteria are, according to the police statement:
Criteria for the Activation of the CODI Alert
Any person 17 years of age or younger or is currently enrolled in a secondary school in the Commonwealth.
The child's whereabouts are unknown.
The child's disappearance is under suspicious circumstances or poses a credible threat as determined by law enforcement to the safety and health of the child.
Based on any other circumstances as deemed appropriate by the Virginia State Police.
Criteria for the Activation of the AMBER Alert Plan
The abducted child must be 17 years of age or younger or currently enrolled in a secondary school in the Commonwealth, regardless of age, and the reporting law enforcement agency believes the child has been abducted (unwillingly taken from their environment without permission from the child's parent or legal guardian).
The law enforcement agency believes the missing child is in imminent danger of serious bodily harm or death.
A law enforcement investigation has taken place that verified the abduction or eliminated alternative explanations.
Sufficient information is available to disseminate to the public that could assist in locating the child, suspect, and/or the suspect's vehicle.
The child must be entered into the Virginia Criminal Information Network (VCIN) and the National Crime Information Center (NCIC) missing person files as soon as practical.
As stated above, Virginia police had issued 25 Codi Alerts and two Amber Alerts in 2025 as of Aug. 13, and police reported the children as "found" in all 27 cases. Except for one Virginia Amber Alert from Aug. 11 in which authorities found the child the same morning they issued the alert, the other cases in the specified time frame did not meet the criteria.
Are ice cream trucks involved?
Dozens of videos, particularly on TikTok, spread the claim that people were using ice cream trucks to lure children in. The videos showed ice cream trucks driving through neighborhoods at night with lights and music playing as alleged proof.
These videos received millions of views, and users in the comment sections appeared to believe that the videos were proof of ice cream trucks' involvement in a "mass abduction" of children.
As shown above, there is no evidence of any "mass abduction" of children in Virginia — the claim is false. Furthermore, Lawson — the Virginia State Police spokesperson — said in an email that police did not have any evidence of ice cream trucks' involvement in cases of missing children. "I can confirm that we are NOT investigating any ice cream trucks at this time, nor do we have any evidence to support the rumored speculation of the involvement of an ice cream truck in relation to any missing children," she said.
Some of the videos were blatantly misleading. For example, one video with more than 5.7 million views, as of this writing, began with footage apparently showing someone in a large pickup truck attempting to pull a drive-thru worker through the service window, not an ice cream truck driver abducting a child.
(TikTok user @maqbobbe9yj)
While there is no formal investigation as of this writing into the alleged involvement of ice cream trucks in the missing child cases, there is also no evidence of such involvement in any of the resolved cases from early August 2025, nor in the remaining eight unsolved cases of children who went missing from Aug. 3 to 9 in Virginia.
What can we learn from these findings?
Snopes is not new to cases of widespread panics surrounding false, unfounded or exaggerated claims. We've fact-checked claims regarding marijuana edibles in Halloween candy, Venezuelan gang members taking over a Colorado apartment, mystery drones flying over New Jersey and more. Misinformation can cause undue panic that distracts from real problems at hand.
In its Aug. 13 statement, the Virginia State Police offered the following tips to parents or guardians to help keep children safe:
Have your child practice making 9-1-1 calls from both a cell phone and a landline (unplugged or with batteries removed).
Make sure your child knows not to accept 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.
As collective residents of the internet, we each have a role in catching misinformation rather than playing a role in spreading it. For tips on how to spot misinformation, click here.
Sources:
'About Us'. National Center for Missing & Exploited Children, http://www.missingkids.org/content/ncmec/en/footer/about.html. Accessed 19 Aug. 2025.
Fact Check: There Was NOT An Unusual Spike In Missing Children In Virginia In Early August 2025 -- Post Misstates The Data | Lead Stories. 15 Aug. 2025, https://leadstories.com/hoax-alert/2025/08/fact-check-post-does-not-prove-unusual-spike-in-missing-children-in-virginia-in-early-august-2025.html.
'Missing Posters Search Results'. National Center for Missing & Exploited Children, http://www.missingkids.org/content/ncmec/en/gethelpnow/search/poster-search-results.html. Accessed 19 Aug. 2025.
Virginia State Police Address Viral Social Media Videos Regarding Missing Children in the Commonwealth. 13 Aug. 2025, https://vsp.virginia.gov/virginia-state-police-address-viral-social-media-videos-regarding-missing-children-in-the-commonwealth/.
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