HAMPTON, Va. — UPDATE: The father of a missing Hampton boy has been indicted on charges in connection to the death of his son, according to court documents obtained by 13News Now.
The documents show that Cory Bigsby is accused of murdering 4-year-old Codi Bigsby "on or about" June 18, 2021, and doing something to conceal his body with malicious intent and hide the crime from law enforcement.
The documents didn't specify the evidence used to back these charges, and it's unclear why Codi wasn't reported missing until Jan. 31, 2022, seven months after the date of the crime listed.
The indictment came from a Hampton grand jury on Monday, June 5.
“A lot of us, even given the fact that many of us have never met Codi Bigsby, have been emotionally attached to him since the day this whole thing broke," said Norfolk Police Chief Mark Talbot.
Talbot led the Hampton Police Division when the investigation into Codi's disappearance began.
"The fact of the charges themselves aren’t much of a surprise having had an inside view of the evidence for so long," Talbot said.
Hampton Mayor Donnie Tuck said over the last year, city leaders stayed on top of the case.
"Hopefully when this whole thing is settled there will be some closure," Mayor Tuck said.
Bigsby's attorney Amina Matheney-Willard and his family always said Bigsby maintains his innocence in Codi's disappearance. Matheney-Willard said she will likely release a statement with the family about these new indictments Monday.
After Codi was reported missing, police brought Bigsby in for questioning about his son. He allegedly told them he sometimes left his young children home alone, which led to 30 child neglect charges that aren't connected to Codi's disappearance.
According to a letter from the Southern Virginia Mental Health Institute to Judge James Hawks, a doctor advised that Bigsby's competency to stand trial has been restored. The judge will make the decision on his competency in a hearing next Wednesday.
Bigsby has been behind bars since Feb. 3, 2022, and his bond has been denied six times as he awaits a trial.
Since Codi's disappearance, search teams and the public have banded together at different times to search for the child, but he hasn't been found yet.