This 2-Year-Old Disappeared After His Mom Claimed To Have Left Him In Her Car On The Side Of The Road
On November 6, 2011, Sky Metalwala, a 2-year-old boy from Bellevue, Washington, disappeared.
His mother, Julia Biryukova, claimed to have left him in her car, which supposedly ran out of gas, on the side of the road while she walked to a gas station. Yet, over a decade later, questions remain regarding the validity of her story.
A Tumultuous Marriage
Sky’s mother, Julia, and his father, Solomon, originally met at a service station. She was 15-years-old; meanwhile, he was 21-years-old and running a successful convenience store.
A few years after Julia graduated from high school in 1999, the pair tied the knot in 2003. It wasn’t until 2007 that their life together began to unravel.
That year, Julia and Solomon encountered some financial struggles. They also welcomed their first child, Maile, into the world.
Solomon continued to work at the convenience store, and Julia stayed home with Maile. But their daughter’s birth marked the beginning of concerning behavior from Julia.
She started to clean compulsively, neglecting other responsibilities and tidying up their home for hours on end. Sometimes, Julia’s obsessive cleaning would even cause her not to feed her baby or herself.
Eventually, Julia was diagnosed with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) and was prescribed medication. The treatment appeared to help until 2009 when she learned she was pregnant again.
At that point, Julia reportedly went against her doctor’s orders and stopped taking her medication. The symptoms of her OCD, as well as depression, began to spiral.
She and Solomon’s second child, Sky, was born on September 6, 2009, and Julia’s OCD was taking over her life. She would supposedly clean for up to 10 hours straight some days, and Solomon would have to leave work in order to feed their two children.
On Julia’s twenty-ninth birthday in March 2010, she was committed to a psychiatric hospital for the first time after she allegedly told Solomon she’d had dreams about strangling their kids.
It was reportedly determined by a psychiatrist that Julia’s condition wouldn’t impact her care abilities for her children. Nonetheless, once she was out of the hospital, Solomon filed for divorce on June 4, 2010.
This move sparked a biting custody battle. Julia alleged that Solomon had anger issues and was abusive toward both her and her kids. Conversely, he claimed that she was lying and her condition had impeded her ability to look after herself and their children.
Julia’s statements about Solomon prompted an investigation by Child Protective Services (CPS). She was granted full custody, and he wasn’t allowed to see their children for months. In the end, Julia’s claims were deemed baseless, and Solomon kept fighting for the right to visit his kids.
In November 2011, a court-ordered mediation session occurred mere days before Sky went missing. The session lasted numerous hours, and it was ultimately decided that Julia would retain custody and Solomon would be granted visitation rights.
Despite the session seeming successful, Julia reportedly wound up wanting to call off their agreement days later. Then, on November 6, 2011, Sky vanished.
Sky’s Disappearance
That morning, Sky supposedly woke up feeling sick, and Julia planned to bring him to the hospital. According to Julia, she put both Maile and Sky in her brother’s car, a silver 1998 two-door Acura Integra, and headed toward Overlake Medical Center.
However, Julia claimed to have run out of gas near the 2600 block of 112 Street N.E. She reportedly pulled the car over and walked one mile to a gas station with Maile in tow. As for Sky, who was supposedly sleeping in the backseat, she left him in the car.
Julia called a friend once she reached the gas station and asked for a ride back to her vehicle. It took about an hour for her to make it back to her car, and by then, Sky was gone.
She used her friend’s phone to contact the police at about 9:50 a.m. After Sky was reported missing, authorities searched a 20-block radius surrounding the location of the car and used canines. Still, no sign of Sky was found, and the canines reportedly did not pick up on Sky’s scent outside the vehicle.
The timeline of events started to become questionable as well since Julia’s car reportedly started without issue and had 2.2 gallons of gas left.
Additionally, the police learned Sky had been left alone in the car on other previous occasions. At just 2 months old, he was reportedly left sleeping in the car for 55 minutes while Julia and Solomon went shopping at Target. Following the incident, they were required to complete community service and parenting classes.
Solomon was informed of his son’s disappearance at approximately 11:00 a.m. on November 6. At that point, investigators discovered that, aside from Julia and Maile, no one had seen Sky for two weeks. Neighbors in Julia’s apartment building claimed they rarely saw Julia or the kids, and when she did go out, the children would sometimes be left alone in her apartment.
Julia allowed investigators to search her home, her car, and her computer. Yet, she refused to take a polygraph test or be questioned by the police.
Solomon took on an active role in the search for his son and reportedly believed Julia was responsible for Sky’s disappearance. Julia, on the other hand, would not cooperate with authorities.
“We have asked Julia to come forward and talk to us and provide us with any information that she has. She has not cooperated with us,” said Bellevue Police Department Major Debbie Christofferson in 2021.
Over A Decade Later And Still No Answers
Solomon and Julia’s divorce was finalized in 2012. Not long after Sky’s disappearance, his sister, Maile, was taken out of Julia’s care.
Solomon was eventually granted full custody, and his lawyer, Leslie Clay Berry, reportedly doesn’t think Sky was ever in Julia’s car on the morning he was reported missing.
Still, there is little evidence in Sky’s case despite the large amount of resources that have been poured into the investigation.
“We have spent over $2 million on this case. We have investigated over 2,500 tips, and we have spent over 14,000 hours on this,” Major Christofferson explained.
As of 2021, Julia was residing in the same area. She had gotten remarried but then wound up getting into a new custody battle with another ex-husband. Solomon holds onto hope, though, that Sky is still alive.
“There’s no evidence that says he’s not. So I still kind of stand on that and to keep myself going,” he stated.
For the 10-year anniversary of Sky’s disappearance, the Bellevue Police Department released an age-progressed photo. Solomon hopes someone, perhaps even Sky, will see the picture and connect the dots.
A Facebook page entitled “In Pursuit Of Justice: Sky Elijah Metalwala” was also created to raise awareness about his case.
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