Bellevue police have made a public plea to the mother of a missing 2-year-old Redmond boy to come forward and speak with investigators.
“We are open and willing to interview Julia (Biryukova) and take information from her whenever she is ready to do that,” Bellevue Police Maj. Mike Johnson said during a press conference Thursday.
Johnson admitted Thursday that police are no closer to finding Sky Metalwala, who went missing Sunday morning, than they were 24 hours ago.
The boy’s disappearance comes at the height of a custody fight between Biryukova and and the boy’s father, Solomon Metalwala , who have both accused each other of posing a threat to their children, according to court documents.
Solomon told KOMO radio that he cannot trust his wife and he is afraid she will hurt their son.”Julia wants to hurt me,” he told the radio station. “She knows how much I love my kids and tried to make me suffer throughout this dissolution, divorce.”
When questioned by media, police would not characterize Biryukova as either cooperative or uncooperative, and she has not been named a suspect or person of interest in the case.
At previous briefings, police said Biryukova has answered their every question through an attorney. But investigators haven’t spoken to her since the night of the boy’s disappearance. They believe the boy has not been taken out of the state.
“Our priority is to find Sky, find out what happened to him, whether he’s OK or not. We believe Julia holds the key to that, and we would really like that help,” Johnson said.
Sky reportedly went missing Sunday morning near the 2400 block of 112th Avenue Northeast when Biryukova’s Acura Integra ran out of gas. She left Sky in the car and then took her 4-year-old daughter with her to a gas station, where she called a friend to pick her up. When they returned to the car, the boy was gone, Biryukova said.
Police found that the car had enough gas in it to run for a significant amount of time, and technicians are planning on test driving the vehicle to see if her story could be corroborated by any other mechanical problems.
At this point in the process, Johnson said, police are crossing possibilities off the list. By using polygraph tests and exploring many possibilities they are narrowing down the possible outcomes in the case. Investigators have focused the search on Biryukova’s Redmond apartment and her vehicle. They believe the boy has not been taken out of the state.
Anyone with information on the case is encouraged to contact police using the tip line at 425-452-2564; Pdtipline@bellevuewa.gov
