Investigators have received more than 900 tips so far in the case of Sky Metalwala, a 2-year-old Redmond boy who has now been missing for more than a week.
Maj. Mike Johnson told reporters Monday morning that the department is encouraging people to continue to share tips, even if they are not sure the information they have is relevant to Sky's disappearance.
“We encourage people to err on the side of sharing that information,” Johnson said.
Police still have not decided to shift the missing persons investigation to a criminal investigation because they lack evidence to rule out the number of possibilities they have been pursuing regarding the toddler's disappearance.
“All theories are still viable,” Johnson said, adding that at some point it is likely that the efforts will become a criminal investigation, but police have not yet reached that point.
An , involving helicopters and hundreds of volunteers, focused on the area surrounding the missing boy’s home in Redmond and a wooded area near 112th Avenue N.E. in Bellevue where his mother, Julia Biryukova, reported him missing from her car Nov. 6.
But the extensive search produced no new substantive leads, Johnson said.
Biryukova told police she left her home in the in downtown Redmond that morning to take Sky to Overlake Hospital Medical Center in Bellevue because he was sick. She told detectives that her Acura Integra ran out of gas in the 2400 block of 112th Ave. N.E. in Bellevue. She said she left the sleeping toddler in the car while she and her daughter walked about a mile to get gas. When she and a friend returned to the car, the toddler was gone.
Johnson said that though Biryukova has not yet responded to police requests to come in for an additional interview with police, the Bellevue Police Department has been in contact with her through her attorney and does not consider her a suspect or person of interest at this time.
“It’s not fair to pose her as an uncooperative person,” he said, adding that police have not asked her any specific questions in the last few days, and police believe they know where she is.
Bellevue Police have relied on help from the FBI and experts around the country as they continue to investigate Sky's disappearance, Johnson said.
Sky Elijah Metalwala
- Age 2, 2’10” tall, 39 pounds, black hair, brown eyes.
- Sky was last seen on Nov. 6, 2011, in the 2600 block of 112th Ave. N.E., Bellevue, WA.
- He was last seen wearing a gray hooded sweatshirt, black and aqua blue sweatpants and white socks.
- Sky was in the silver 1998 Acura Integra three door coupe pictured when he disappeared.
- Police ask anyone who was traveling Sunday morning along 112th Avenue Northeast, between State Route 520 and Northeast 24th Street, to please call the Bellevue Police tip line at 425-452-2564.
