NEWPORT NEWS, Va. — A small group took the search for 4-year-old Codi Bigsby into new territory on Tuesday morning.
W.A.T.E.R. Team Inc. started looking for Codi in Newport News.
The acronym in the group's name stands for "We Are The Emergency Response," and the organization is made up of military veterans.
“We’ve covered a good, good chunk of Hampton. So, now we have to start looking outside the box. We’re not leaving Hampton. There are definitely places there we still want to search in Hampton but we need a much bigger party to go out there and do that,” said Joe Slabinski with W.A.T.E.R. Team Inc.
The organization began searching for Codi on Jan. 31, the day Codi's father reported him missing, spending much of its time in Hampton. Slabinski said team members are looking at places with easy entrances, places that he described as "able to do what you had to do and able to get out with nobody watching."
The team spent hours searching Huntington Park Tuesday, looking through the trees and by the water.
“Yes, you’re looking for Codi but you’re also looking for things that may possibly let you to believe that he was put here, maybe removed,” Slabinski noted.
He said there are a lot of moving parts now that they are two weeks into the search for Codi.
“The animals will be involved now," Slabinski said. "We’ve had temperature swings two times now. So, you got to take that into play.”
With support from police and the community, Slabinski said the group will continue its search efforts.
“It does give me a sense that we are out here for a good purpose and that we are needed to be doing this,” he said.
The group will expand its search efforts to Norfolk on Wednesday. On Saturday, a team with dozens of volunteers will return to Hampton to look for Codi.