Investigators have received over 900 tips in the disappearance of 2-year-old Sky Metalwala of Redmond but are still no closer to figuring out what happened to the boy.
“None have led to high priority actionable material,” said Bellevue Police Maj. Mike Johnson. But Johnson re-emphasized that anyone with any information should contact authorities.
“Some people (who have given tips) didn’t know if their information was relevant,” said Johnson. “We want people to err on the side of reporting the information. We want whatever tips people have.”
The boy’s mother, Julia Biryukova, told police she left her son in the car last Sunday when it ran out of gas and took her 4-year-old daughter with her to walk to a gas station. The boy was gone when they returned to the car in the 2400 block of 112th Avenue Northeast, she told police.
Johnson said that the search of the 640-acre Marymoor Park in Redmond over the weekend, along with a doubling back over Julia Biryukova’s Redmond condo yielded no leads in the case.
Authorities also set up a command post on Sunday in the area where the car was abandoned, which generated a dozen tips. However, nothing has materialized, said Johnson.
“We had over 300 men and women helping,” he said about the weekend search that included local law enforcement, FBI and volunteers. But Johnson also said that authorities are still not ruling out anything in the case and that they do not immediately plan to name a person of interest or a suspect in the disappearance.
“All theories are viable,” said Johnson. “The thing we are lacking is evidence.”
Johnson said that authorities would still like to talk to Biryukova face-to-face but have not asked her any specific questions through her attorney.
The Bellevue Police Department was giving Biryukova a place to stay, but Johnson confirmed that they are no longer providing that.
The possibility that she may have travel plans in the future is something the authorities are evaluating but Johnson said that investigators believe they know where she is staying.
They have not taken action to stop her from traveling at this time.
“It is something that we are evaluating at this point,” said Johnson. “But it is something on our radar.”
Anyone with information on the case is encouraged to contact police using the tip line at (425) 452-2564 or email Pdtipline@bellevuewa.gov.