HAMPTON — During a press conference on Monday, Feb. 14, Hampton Police Department (HPD) admitted to denying legal counsel to the father of a missing 4-year-old boy.
Hampton Police Chief Mark Talbot said that Cory Bigsby, father of missing 4-year-old Codi Bigsby, went to police headquarters willingly with three of his children on Jan. 31, the day he reported that his son was missing. HPD stated that he was read his rights that day and that he voluntarily waived them.
Bigsby submitted to a polygraph examination that Chief Talbot noted was administered by a federal agency. Prior to the examination, he was reminded of his rights and, once again, Bigsby waived them.
Following the examination, Bigsby was once again questioned by detectives.
Around 4 a.m. on Feb. 1, Bigsby got into a heated exchange with the detective on the case regarding the results of said test. That was when Bigsby requested to speak to an attorney. He made another request approximately 20 minutes later, according to Talbot.
Talbot said that on Friday, Feb. 11, HPD began reviewing footage of interviews with Bigsby.
“We have our own obligation here,” Talbot said. “We didn’t meet it, frankly. We have our own obligation to maintain the highest standards of conduct to make sure we’re not skirting any lines that appear to be inappropriate or are questionable.”
Talbot said that the lead detective on the case has been put on paid leave.
Bigsby was charged with seven counts of felony child neglect on Feb. 3. Those charges are based on evidence given in police interviews prior to his asking for an attorney.
HPD and a slew of other departments from all over the region and at the federal level continue to search for Codi more than two weeks after he was reported missing.
WYDaily will continue to keep you up-to-date on this story as more information becomes available.
