HAMPTON, Va. — Starting the fourth week after he was reported missing, the Hampton Roads community is still hoping to find 4-year-old Codi Bigsby.
“We’re running out of time with the environment," said Joe Slabinksi, the W.A.T.E.R. Team Inc. founder. "The environment is getting ready to change within the next two to three weeks, and we’re going to lose the environment.”
As each day goes by, Slabinski said things get more challenging. He said also said having little information on where to look for Codi has been causing some frustration.
“The chief needs to understand that everybody out here is focused on one thing, and that is to find Codi, but he has to give us a little bit of information to help us with trying to pinpoint where we need to be,” he said.
Monday morning, community tips led the team to search a small wooded area behind Emmanuel Episcopal Church in Hampton. A team of four went through the area a few times, but found nothing that would lead them to Codi.
This location brings their search efforts closer to Codi’s home on Ranalet Drive after the team focused much of its efforts last week outside of Hampton.
“I don’t want to completely leave the apartments, but I don’t want to give up on looking outside the box and going beyond," he said. "It looks like we’re bouncing around, but I’m always looking at the next viable area.”
Slabinski said he’s focused on searching new areas, but will only retrace the team's steps if he thinks members missed something.
“As to Codi, what we look at is do we feel comfortable in how we searched that ground?" Slabinski said. "Do we feel like we thoroughly looked it over?”
If not, the team will pass through the area again. Right now, Slabinski is considering searching the area of Boo Williams Sports Complex again since it's a larger location.
The team is also looking to search properties near the Newport News city line, but are awaiting permission to do so.