Dad killed 4-year-old, then reported him missing 7 months later, Virginia officials say
More than a year after 4-year-old Codi Bigsby was reported missing in Virginia, his father has been indicted on a murder charge, prosecutors said.
On June 5, Cory Bigsby, 44, was indicted by a grand jury on charges of murder and that he “did unlawfully and feloniously transport, secret, conceal, or alter a dead body … with malicious intent and to prevent detection of an unlawful act,” according to documents from the Circuit Court for the City of Hampton.
The indictment also included when prosecutors believe Bigsby killed his son. According to court documents, Bigsby murdered Codi “on or around June 18, 2021,” in Hampton, seven months before he reported his son missing.
Bigsby told police Codi had wandered from his home on Jan. 31, 2022, around 2 a.m., McClatchy News previously reported.
The next day, Hampton Police Chief Mark Talbot said authorities were “most interested in” Codi’s parents and had identified a person of interest in the case, according to a news conference streamed by WTKR.
On Feb. 2, Bigsby was named as the person of interest after he told police he woke up to Codi missing from the house, WAVY reported.
One day later, Bigsby was charged with seven counts of child neglect after telling police that he left his four children, all under the age of 5, home alone on multiple occasions, WAVY reported.
Bigsby was later charged with 18 more counts, including child abuse and failing to get medical attention for a child, but was found incompetent to stand trial in March after a court appearance, the Virginian-Pilot reported.
A letter obtained by 13News Now showed Bigsby had been mentally evaluated again and his competency was restored on April 4.
The search continued for Codi, but a year later he had still not been found.
It wasn’t until the new indictment that authorities confirmed they believed Codi was deceased, as a body has never been found, multiple outlets reported.
The indictment accuses Bigsby of killing his 4-year-old son months before he decided to report him missing to authorities. The indictment did not outline how authorities reached the estimated time of death.
Murder trials in which a body has never been found are rare, the Virginian-Pilot reported, but they have a higher conviction rate compared to other murder cases because they are brought to a grand jury with a significant amount of circumstantial evidence, according to the Bureau of Justice Statistics.
A “Codi Fence” memorial to the missing child was erected in January 2022 near the apartments where the Bigsby’s lived, WTKR reported. Flowers and stuffed animals have been placed there since the indictment was announced.
Codi was reported missing in Hampton, about 15 miles from Norfolk.
This story was originally published June 9, 2023 at 9:36 AM with the headline "Dad killed 4-year-old, then reported him missing 7 months later, Virginia officials say."
