HAMPTON, Va. — “It just makes you want to hold your kids closer, a lot closer,” said Tonya Johnson-Gordon.
Signs, balloons and lit candles all sit by a soccer field next to Buckroe Pointe Apartment Townhomes, the home of Codi Bigsby. Tonya Johnson-Gordon lives nearby.
Before heading off to run errands on Monday morning, she dropped off this teddy bear. It's something her kids asked her to do.
“They felt like he was alone and that he needed something that would make him feel comfortable because they think he’s here," she said.
She said she doesn’t know Codi, but her kids saw him playing just two weeks before his father, Cory Bigsby, reported him missing. Many others stopped by too, holding onto hope.
“We prayed that he comes home,” Esmy Alvarez said.
As the love grows for Codi, some organized searches are winding down.
“Working strategically with the police department, we don’t want to be redundant in the areas that we’re canvassing,” said Yugonda Sample-Jones, who is the founder of the organization EmPower All.
Sample-Jones brought multiple organizations together to search for Codi last week. She said because these groups aren’t getting much communication from police, they are taking a step back from foot searches.
“Our main mission now is to make sure people are aware," she said. "Just notifying people, ‘Hey, there’s still a four-year-old missing.’”
She said she doesn’t want that to stop you from doing your own search for Codi if you can.
“Be safe when you’re in the woods," Sample-Jones said. "Be safe when you’re looking for baby Codi and always keep in mind that we want to keep the integrity of the crime scene.”