Bellevue police gather a dozen new tips in Redmond boy’s disappearance

A week after 2-year-old Sky Metalwala reportedly disappeared from his mother's car in Bellevue, police received a dozen new tips from people at a Bellevue command post Sunday morning.

A week after 2-year-old Sky Metalwala reportedly disappeared from his mother’s car in Bellevue, police received a dozen new tips from people at a Bellevue command post Sunday morning.

The post was set up in the same location along 112th Avenue Northeast where Julia Biryukova’s Acura Integra was parked when she reported her son missing the morning of Nov. 6.

“This morning we focused our efforts on recanvassing those areas known to us to be associated with this case,” Bellevue Police Major Mike Johnson said at a news conference at Bellevue City Hall Sunday morning.

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“The good news is we had about 20-30 contacts out at the scene on 112th Avenue Northeast this morning. Those contacts with vehicles and pedestrians led to the development of about 12 new tips that we’ll be following up on today and tomorrow.”

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.

Police later found there was gas in car.

Along with the FBI, about 20 officers from Bellevue, Redmond, Mercer Island and Medina were at the Bellevue site Sunday morning asking people if they remembered anything about the day the boy disappeared. But Johnson said this wasn’t a roadblock.

“We weren’t stopping and talking to every car,” he said. “So if people had information, they stopped and talked to us.”

He said he didn’t know specifically what the tips were yet, but would learn more about the information during a meeting set for later this afternoon.

Investigators will also discuss the timing to potentially move the case from a missing person to a criminal investigation.

“It’s on my list of things to do literally right here in front of me and we’ll be having that meeting today to discuss where we’re at, what we’ve gathered today, is there any new information that keeps us pointed in the direction of a missing person case or is this something else now? I hope to give you more of that tomorrow morning,” said Johnson.

Authorities also expanded their search for the missing Redmond boy to the 640-acre Marymoor Park on Saturday.

The park is close to the downtown Redmond apartment, where the boy lived with his 4-year-old sister and their mother.

Johnson said he doesn’t anticipate any other searches today.

“However, I don’t know what those tips brought this morning, so if in fact there are hot leads to follow up on as a result of the tips we received this morning, then absolutely you may see us out and about throughout the day today,” he said.

Police are also turning to other agencies that have handled high-profile cases like Sky’s disappearance.

“I don’t want to be specific and name those agencies, but I can tell you as recently as yesterday, we had a two-to-three hour conference call with an agency on a similar case that was extremely helpful.”

Anyone with information on the case is encouraged to contact police using the tip line at (425) 452-2564 or email Pdtipline@bellevuewa.gov.