Missing
Sky Elijah Metalwala
Sky, approximately 2011; Age when reported missing: 10 (approximately 2019); Julia Biryukova; Solomon Metalwala; Sky's sweatpants
Date and time person was reported missing : 11/06/2011
Missing location (approx) :
Bellevue, Washington
Missing classification : Endangered Missing
Gender : Male
Ethnicity :
Asian, Biracial, White
DOB : 09/06/2009 (11)
Age at the time of disappearance: 2 years old
Height / Weight : 2'10, 28 pounds
Description, clothing, jewerly and more : A gray or green hooded sweatshirt, aqua and black striped Carter sweatpants with an elastic waistband, and white socks. A photo of the pants is posted with this case summary.
Distinguishing characteristics, birthmarks, tattoos
: Biracial (Asian/Caucasian) male. Black hair, brown eyes. Some Age at the time of disappearance: ncies give Sky's DOB : as October 6, 2009. He is of Ukrainian and Pakistani descent.
Information on the case from local sources, may or may not be correct : Sky was last seen in Bellevue, Washington on November 6, 2011. His mother, Julia V. Biryukova, said he got sick and she was driving him and his four-year-old sister to Overlake Hospital Medical Center in her brother's silver 1998 Acura when it ran out of gas in the 2600 block of 112th Avenue northeast.
Biryukova left Sky strapped in a car seat in the unlocked vehicle, took his sister and walked to a gas station a mile away for help. When she arrived, she didn't buy gas, but instead called a friend who dropped her off at the car about an hour after she'd left it. By this time, Sky was gone. He has never been heard from again.
An extensive search of the area turned up no indication of Sky's whereabouts. Authorities did find a toddler's shoe but later determined it wasn't his.
Biryukova did not have a gas can with her when she called the police at 9:50 a.m. to report her son's disappearance. Police learned that the car had not, in fact, run out of gas and had no mechanical problems. Witnesses said they'd seen the car between 8:00 and 10:00 a.m. and there wasn't a child in it.
Biryukova refused to take a polygraph or speak directly to the police about her son's disappearance, communicating through an attorney instead. The rest of Sky's family members, including his father, Solomon S. Metalwala (also spelled "Salman"), cooperated with the investigation, and Solomon has been active in the search for Sky whereas Biryukova has not been.
The couple separated in 2010 and were in the process of a bitter divorce. Both sides accused the other of abuse and they sought protective orders against each other. Photographs of both Sky's parents are posted with this case summary.
In December 2009, while the Metalwalas was still married, they were cited for reckless endangerment for leaving Sky, then three months old, unattended in their car on a 27-degree day. They agreed to take parenting classes, do community service and spend a year on probation, and after they'd fulfilled these requirements the case was dismissed.
The court had forbidden Solomon to have any contact with his children and he hadn't seen either of them for almost a year before Sky disappeared. He claimed Biryukova suffered from long-standing mental health issues, including depression and obsessive-compulsive disorder, that caused her to neglect her children's needs and herself. She spent time as an inpatient in three mental health facilities.
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