A statewide alert is now blasting out across Virginia for a missing 15-year-old Arlington girl who hasn't been seen in three days. Maryam M. Al-Hadj was last spotted around noon on August 21 in the 1400 block of 28th Street South in South Arlington, and police say her disappearance poses a credible threat to her health and safety.
The Arlington County Police Department has classified Al-Hadj as critically missing, and Virginia State Police issued a statewide CODI Alert for her at 4:45 p.m. Monday, according to Daily Voice. Police describe her as having mental and/or physical health concerns, standing 5-foot-10 and weighing approximately 165 pounds, with black hair and brown eyes. When she was last seen, she was wearing a white long-sleeve shirt and light blue jeans.
What a CODI Alert Actually Means
A CODI Alert is a different animal than the AMBER Alerts most people are familiar with. An AMBER Alert requires law enforcement to reasonably believe a child has been abducted, whereas a CODI Alert only requires that a child's location is unknown alongside suspicious circumstances or a credible threat to health and safety, as explained by WSLS 10. That distinction matters here, since nothing in the case points to a kidnapping, but authorities still believe Al-Hadj's wellbeing is at stake.
The Critical Operation for a Disappeared Child Initiative was created by the Virginia General Assembly in 2024, following the January 2022 disappearance of 4-year-old Codi Bigsby in Hampton, a case that couldn't trigger an AMBER Alert because there was no initial evidence of a kidnapping, per the Virginia State Police. The alert system became operational statewide on September 26, 2024, joining AMBER, Senior, Critically Missing Adult, Missing Person with Autism, and Blue Alerts as one of six emergency notification tools the state police now manage.
Arlington Police Ask Public for Help
Under Arlington County Police Department's own internal policy, officers are required to classify a missing person under 18 as a critically missing juvenile if they meet certain state and federal database criteria, which then requires notifying state authorities within two hours. Police have released multiple photos of Al-Hadj and are asking the public to help bring her home. Anyone with information about her whereabouts can contact the Arlington County Police Department's Emergency Communications Center at 703-558-2222, and anyone who spots her should call 911.
The 1400 block of 28th Street South sits in South Arlington near residential blocks and local facilities including Gunston Middle School. The AWARE Foundation, a regional advocacy organization, issued a public bulletin Monday amplifying the police department's photos and description in hopes of drawing more eyes across Northern Virginia to the search.
Why Officials Escalated So Quickly
The three-day gap between when Al-Hadj was last seen and when the statewide alert went out hasn't been explained in detail, and the specific nature of her health concerns remains unclear. What is clear is why cases like this get escalated fast: the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children reported assisting law enforcement with 32,167 missing child cases nationwide in 2025, with an overall recovery rate of 90 percent. But NCMEC data also shows that more than 90 percent of missing children reported to the organization are classified as endangered runaways, a population facing serious risks including abuse, homelessness, and trafficking, which underscores why a case without evidence of abduction can still become a statewide emergency.
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