Father searches for missing Redmond toddler in Issaquah

Attention to the search for a missing 2-year-old Redmond boy moved to Issaquah Wednesday, after the boy's father organized a search party there.

This is the second search Solomon Metawala has organized since his son, Sky, disappeared from the back of mother Julia Biryukova's car Nov. 6.

His hope is to retrace the possible steps the mother made leading up to the boy's disappearance. Biryukova and the boy were living in Issaquah with Biryukova's mother in 2010.

"I'm trying to go where Julia was present," he said.

He also plans to continue his search in Kirkland and Redmond. Last weekend he lead a group that searched in Bellevue.

A handful of volunteers sat at the Costco Food Court Wednesday, stuffing fliers into plastic liners, while the rain poured outside.

The group planned to hit five different areas in Issaquah and Sammamish, posting photos and descriptions of the boy around town.

Beverly Satarelli, a mother of two, came out to Bellevue to help support the father. She didn't know the family, but being a mother, she sympathized.

"It's sad. It's just really sad," she said. "I just felt I had to come out and do something."

The mother first reported that the boy was missing Nov. 6. She told police that after running out of gas in Bellevue, she left the boy alone in an unlocked car for an hour while she got gas.

She took with her the boy's 4-year-old sister. When she returned with her friend, the boy was missing.

Although pointing to inconsistencies in the mother's story, police have yet to announce a person of interest or suspect in the case.

The parents were in a heated custody battle just before the boy went missing. Since the 4-year-old daughter has been taken into protective custody.

Few facts have turned up in the unusual disappearance, leaving police and the father scrambling for information. Twice-daily media events at the Bellevue Police Station have fizzled for lack of anything new.

Beverly Satarelli of Bellevue volunteered her afternoon to helping find Sky Metawala, a missing 2-year-old from Redmond. The search turned to Issaquah Wednesday, after the father decided to retrace his wife's steps.

Clay Terry, the family attorney for Solomon Metawala takes questions of the media Nov. 16 outside the Issaquah Costco just before a search.

 

Contact Issaquah Reporter Staff Writer Celeste Gracey at cgracey@issaquahreporter.com or 425-391-0363.

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