HAMPTON, Va. — Codi Bigsby's family held a press conference Friday afternoon where they talked about a new $25,000 reward for any information that leads to someone finding the little boy, as well as about Codi's father, Cory Bigsby, being held in jail on charges unrelated to his son's disappearance
Cory Bigsby first reported Codi missing on Jan. 31. Since then, police and volunteer organizations have been looking for the 4-year-old, but they haven't been able to find him.
Since the beginning of the case, the Hampton Police Division chief has said investigators don't think Codi wandered off, and they don't think he was abducted.
Amina Matheny-Willard, the Bigsby family's lawyer, said the family "condemns the commonwealth's dereliction of duty evidenced by their continued persecution of Cory Bigsby."
Cory Bigsby is facing charges of child abuse and neglect unrelated to the boy's disappearance. Matheny-Willard is representing him in court for those charges. A grand jury deemed there was enough evidence to move forward with a trial on July 5.
Cory's aunt, Jeannette Hinnant, said she believes the 4-year-old is still alive. She said the family is getting tired of waiting for information on what happened to Codi.
"You don't sit up at night praying and crying and wondering, 'Is Codi OK? Who has him? Is he crying for his siblings?' We do," Hinnant said.
The family is offering the reward for information that leads to Codi himself, or the arrest of whoever took him.
“If we knew, if we had any idea, where Codi was, we wouldn't be here today," Hinnant said.
Cory’s uncle said they are offering the reward months later because they want to reach more people.
“We need to get this out of Hampton. As long as it's just in Hampton news, only Hampton knows, and only Hampton law is doing the way Hampton law will do it," he said. "But once it gets outside of Hampton, then changes can be made. Even people in my job and where we live and they say, 'We don't know that,' so not many people know about this out of Hampton, so we had to get this... out of Hampton."
Cory's uncle said he still wants to know why State Police didn't send out an Amber Alert for Codi. As 13News Now reported, Hampton Police say it's because Codi's disappearance did not match the criteria for an Amber Alert.
Cory’s family members said they believe Codi is still alive and hope this reward will create more incentive for someone to come forward.
We reached out to Hampton Police to hear their side of the investigation and any updates on the latest search for Codi Bigsby. A spokesperson for the department said officials cannot comment at this time.