Search Continues for Missing Virginia 2-Year-Old Who Vanished from His Own Bed

Noah Tomlin, 2, was last seen at 1 a.m. on Monday, June 24, in the Buckroe Beach area of Hampton, Virginia. Hampton Police Department

Police said they are searching for a missing Virginia 2-year-old who was put to bed inside his home on Sunday but on Monday morning was nowhere to be found.

Noah Tomlin was last seen around 1 a.m. Monday, June 24, in his mobile home in the Buckroe Beach area of Hampton, Virginia, according to Hampton Police Chief Terry Sult.

Sult told reporters at a press conference Monday that the boy’s mother reported him missing at 11:35 a.m. The police chief expressed appreciation to those offering to help look for the missing boy but urged civilian search parties to stay away.

Sult said police have so far been unable to find the boy despite engaging multiple search parties. He added that the Virginia Department of Emergency Management Search Team, the State Police, and the FBI have been called in to help in the investigation.

“We’re turning over every stone,” Sult told reporters. “We’re going to do everything we can do to bring this child home safely.”

Sult said Hampton Police were asking for the public’s help finding the missing boy.

He added that no possibility was being ruled out, including foul play.

“This is weighing heavy on the officers’ hearts and minds that are searching and we are hoping for a positive resolution,” Hamilton Police Sgt. Reginald Williams said in a statement.

The little boy was last seen wearing a white and green striped pajama shirt and a diaper.

Missing Children

There were 424,066 missing children reported in the FBI’s National Crime Information Center in 2018, according to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC). Under federal law, when a child is reported missing to law enforcement they must be entered into the database. In 2017, there were 464,324 entries.

Reve Walsh and John Walsh speak in Washington on May 18, 2011. Kris Connor/Getty Images

“This number represents reports of missing children. That means if a child runs away multiple times in a year, each instance would be entered into NCIC separately and counted in the yearly total. Likewise, if an entry is withdrawn and amended or updated, that would also be reflected in the total,” the center notes on its website.

“Unfortunately, since many children are never reported missing, there is no reliable way to determine the total number of children who are actually missing in the U.S.,” NCMEC added.

In 2018, the center said it assisted officers and families with the cases of more than 25,000 missing children. In those cases, 92 percent were endangered runaways, and 4 percent were family abductions.

The center said that it participates in the Amber Alert Program, which is a voluntary partnership between numerous entities including broadcasters, transportation agencies, and law enforcement agencies. The Amber Alert Program issues urgent bulletins in the most serious child abduction cases.

According to the NCMEC, to date, 941 children have been successfully recovered as a result of the Amber Alert Program.

The center notes that of the more than 23,500 runaways reported in 2018, about one in seven were likely victims of child sex trafficking.