Toddler Vanished From Car: Police Suspect Foul Play, Family Hasn't Seen Boy in 2 Weeks
Police in Washington state strongly suspect foul play in the disappearance of missing 2-year-old Sky Metalwala after only the boy’s mother and 4-year-old sister admitted seeing the child in the last two weeks.
The mother, Julia Biryukova, originally told police Sunday that her son vanished in Bellevue, Wash., when she left him unattended in her unlocked car for an hour after it ran out of gas. The mother told police she walked to a gas station with her daughter and noticed the boy was missing when they returned to the car.
"Nothing about the story adds up," said Bellevue Police Maj. Mike Johnson. "Something else happened.”
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Details of the case are murky. Relatives, family friends and neighbors reportedly have not seen the boy in more than two weeks, police officials said.
“Given the limited amount of information we have, the fact that there’s really no solid leads to follow up on in regard to where he might be - absolutely, we suspect foul play,” Johnson said.
Biryukova declined to take a polygraph test, police officials said. The boy’s father, Solomon Metalwala, took a polygraph test Monday that was inconclusive.
It is unclear what other relatives have taken polygraph tests or whether Metalwala has retaken the test.
Police are not working to collect surveillance video from anywhere the family may have been during the past two weeks. It is unclear if police officials are successful in obtaining any surveillance videos.
Questions continue to surround the family’s current situation and past reports of neglect.
Metalwala and Biryukova filed protection orders against each other as the pair continues with divorce proceedings, according to the Associated Press. The pair is slinging accusations of abuse and psychiatric problems at each other. However, past endangerment is not doubted.
The boy was found in a car in a Target parking lot in December 2009. The parents were shopping inside while the boy was left in the car, according to court records.
Both parents were cited for reckless endangerment stemming from the incident on a 27-degree winter day. The charges were later dropped after the parents completed a year of probation, community service and parenting classes.
The latest incident showed no sign of forced entry into the car, according to Officer Carla Lafrate, representative for the Bellevue Police Department.
"We don't know much, other than that the child is still missing," said Lafrate. "I don't know if the child got out on his own. We don't have very much information."
