Police Respond To Viral Conspiracy Theory That 80 Children Were Kidnapped In Virginia This Month

About

The 80 Kids Missing In Virginia Hoax is an internet hoax that went viral in August 2025, alleging that 80 or more children in Virginia, U.S. went missing in the span of 12 days, allegedly due to kidnapping, with no amber alerts being sent out, suggesting there is a conspiracy to keep the children missing. The claims of a mass kidnapping event started spreading in mid-August 2025, particularly on TikTok, as social media users encouraged others to spread the word. The virality of the hoax inspired a response from officials, who denied the claims of a mass kidnapping, claiming that 39 children in Virginia were reported missing between August 1st and 13th, that none were suspected kidnappings, the majority of missing children reported are runaways who return home and that there was no unusual spike in missing children.

Origin

It is unconfirmed who started the claim that there was an uptick in missing children in Virginia in August 2025. One of the earliest known videos on the topic was posted by TikToker @mermaidmianna on August 11th, 2025. In the video, which gained over 2.8 million views in three days, she claims that 30 children have gone missing in Virginia since August 1st and says there have been no amber alerts to warn about it.

Spread

The claim of missing children in Virginia spread over the following days, with the number steadily rising to claim that as many as 50 to 80 children were missing.

On August 13th, 2025, TikToker @sxyballerina posted a video sharing a recording they allegedly took on August 10th of themselves standing outside at night as an ice cream truck goes by, implying that the ice cream truck is being used to kidnap kids, garnering over 4.9 million views in a day.

On the same day, TikToker @arospeaks posted a video sharing the rumor, directly claiming that the kids were kidnapped. In the video he suggests that there is a cover up and says he’s beginning to think that the news is child trafficking ring because they haven’t reported on it. The video gained over 5.4 million views in a day.

Official Response

In response to the virality of the story, the Virginia State Police department addressed the concerns in a statement. In their statement, they claim that “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 goes on to describe the criteria that must be met to release an amber alert, claims most reports of missing kids are runaways who return home shortly after and shares the stats on missing children in Virginia, showing that there is no uptick in missing children and no evidence to suggest a mass kidnapping event.

Continued Spread

Despite the statement from police, the rumor continued to spread. On August 14th, 2025, X user @TaraBull808 reposted a video spreading the claim, writing, “Over 50 kids have gone missing in Virginia in less than two weeks and no one is talking about it. No amber alerts either. What is going on?” garnering over 8,300 likes in under a day.

Various Examples

Search Interest

External References