WA WA - Sky Metalwala, 2, Bellevue, 6 Nov 2011 - #16

jjenny said:

If people wanted to buy a baby I presume they would go for a newborn. Not a child like Sky who is easily recognizable. Sky doesn't look like a classic baby with blue eyes and blond hair so if someone saw him they would likely have no problems recognizing him. When baby Lisa went missing I believe there were hundreds of false sightings of her because she looks like so many babies out there. I haven't heard about one false sighting of Sky (I presume because he actually has a distinct look to him so he is not likely to be confused for another child).

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A possible Sky sighting in Renton | Police blotter
By DEAN RADFORD
Renton Reporter Editor
December 12, 2011 · 4:32 PM


The following information has been compiled based on City of Renton Police reports.

A Puyallup man thought he saw Sky Metalwala, the 2-year-old boy missing for several weeks on the Eastside, at the IKEA store in Renton on Nov. 12.

He contacted Renton Police on Nov. 23 to report the possible sighting. He told officers that the child with a couple who spoke either Russian or Ukrainian looked like the missing Sky. The boy was asleep in the stroller; a girl around 6 years old was with the couple, too.

The man told officers he called the tip line set up by the Bellevue Police Department about two days after seeing the couple and child at IKEA. A Bellevue detective told him to ask the Renton Police Department to obtain store security footage from Nov. 12.


http://www.rentonreporter.com/news/135477888.html

No follow up.

To me it looks like children's clothing lots of pink and definitely little girl shoes.
It's taken at the Sierra Hotel in Redmond.

I wonder why they were staying there??

Maybe if it's not too much trouble for search&seek, he/she can follow up on this lead. Hopefully it's not too late to get the video surveillance. *sigh*

Alice Ramnit said:

To me it looks like children's clothing lots of pink and definitely little girl shoes.
It's taken at the Sierra Hotel in Redmond.

I wonder why they were staying there??

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Pretty sure these photos were taken with Julia's father was visiting from the Ukraine.

Adrienne37 said:

Pretty sure these photos were taken with Julia's father was visiting from the Ukraine.

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I thought the same thing. The clothes look like the same clothes to me as in the other photos, as does the bedspread.

LCoastMom said:

<snip>
Back when LE was still doing interviews Nancy Grace asked if there were diapers found in JB's house. LE said, "No comment" - Nancy said, "I'll take that as a no!"
<snip>

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In this article, published in the initial days following the reported disappearance, it said:

Police noted that Biryukova had numerous pictures of the 4-year-old girl on her Facebook page and in the home, but no pictures of the boy.

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I hadn't read that before today and think it's very interesting. I wonder if she had any photos of Sky displayed in the apartment prior to his disappearance. If so, it may be that she didn't want any reminders around after he was gone.

She had plenty of photos of both of the children on flickr. More of M than of Sky but there were plenty of photos of him there.

jjenny said:

She had plenty of photos of both of the children on flickr. More of M than of Sky but there were plenty of photos of him there.

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Yes, true. And I suspect the reason there weren't any of Sky on her FB page is because those were all older photos of M (from before Sky was born).

However, the fact that JB didn't have any photos of Sky in the home (at least when LE searched), but did have some of M, is quite telling. Particularly since she had many photos of him to choose from on Flickr.

~n/t~ said:

A possible Sky sighting in Renton | Police blotter
By DEAN RADFORD
Renton Reporter Editor
December 12, 2011 · 4:32 PM


The following information has been compiled based on City of Renton Police reports.

A Puyallup man thought he saw Sky Metalwala, the 2-year-old boy missing for several weeks on the Eastside, at the IKEA store in Renton on Nov. 12.

He contacted Renton Police on Nov. 23 to report the possible sighting. He told officers that the child with a couple who spoke either Russian or Ukrainian looked like the missing Sky. The boy was asleep in the stroller; a girl around 6 years old was with the couple, too.

The man told officers he called the tip line set up by the Bellevue Police Department about two days after seeing the couple and child at IKEA. A Bellevue detective told him to ask the Renton Police Department to obtain store security footage from Nov. 12.


http://www.rentonreporter.com/news/135477888.html

No follow up.

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We should follow up on everything, I believe, just in case it does lead somewhere. But, this seems pretty unlikely to me. For someone to brazenly walk around an Ikea store with a stolen or purchased child TEN MILES from where he was reported missing -- that's pretty unlikely. According to another poster's facebook page, there's a fairly decent Russian community in the area , so it's possible the man just saw another couple with their own children. But, good to cover all bases. I find it telling the police didn't directly follow up.

Gitana had a count of all the photos back on one of first threads about Sky. I'll have to dig them out but there was a major difference in the number of photos of M versus the ones of Sky. In fact, in all of her FB photos, there was only 1 of him and the rest were M.

LCoastMom said:

There was a picture early on of Sky and M in the backseat of someone's car (in car seats) they each had a smallish blanket on their lap. Going on memory I thought Sky's blanket was found in the back of JB's brothers' car. <snipped>

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You're right about the blanket. From this article:

An FBI agent with expertise interviewing children has spoken to M, and the little girl said her brother Sky was in the car, wrapped in a blanket, on Sunday, "which wasn't what we expected to hear," Johnson said.

A blanket was found inside the vehicle, providing K-9 search and rescue teams with a scent to follow, but their hours-long search near the car on Sunday didn't turn up any trace of Sky, he said.

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And the photo you were talking about can be seen here.

jash said:

I think you may have gotten confused by references to "Grandma Sue" who is actually SJ. In JB's Flickr account, there was a photo of SJ assembling a toy kitchen with M and Sky at her house. JB had tagged the photo "building a kitchen with Grandma Sue" or something to that effect.

I don't think SM's mother's name is Sue.

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Pardon me but I am not confused. I have no idea why you would want to dismiss a fact in a case just because you don't think SM's mother's name is Sue but in fact, Sue Metalwala filed a Declaration to the court in Soloman and Julia's divorce on 1/20/11. See court info here

gitana1 said:

CPS did not fail these kids. According to dad and his attorney, they cleared him. So we would be looking at the court when it comes to blame. But, it is almost impossible to sue a court system. Judges have judicial immunity. I don't see that happening here.

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What about the commissioner and the doctors who deemed JB to not only be a fit parent, but the best parent for the kids to be with full-time with no access to SM who could feed them? Could SM sue them?

I don't know about any lawsuits, but why weren't CPS checking on the children? After all both father and mother made accusations against each other, but apparently father's accusations (which were serious such as children not being fed) were ignored. In fact by preventing father from seeing the children the court removed someone who could have at least made sure both children were still present. No one was checking on these children.

jjenny said:

I don't know about any lawsuits, but why weren't CPS checking on the children? After all both father and mother made accusations against each other, but apparently father's accusations (which were serious such as children not being fed) were ignored. In fact by preventing father from seeing the children the court removed someone who could have at least made sure both children were still present. No one was checking on these children.

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Agree Jjenny. 11 months and 5 days is how long Solomon was allowed no contact with M and Sky. Plenty of officials in this case dropped the ball.

I've noticed something about JB's facebook page: she tends to post during times of high stress. Here we go:

March 10, 2010: thanks people on facebook for her birthday wishes
March 11, 2010: JB sends the suicidal text message and is involuntarily hospitalized

*There is a long facebook hiatus while JB is hospitalized and then getting a battery of tests and treatment at Navos Institution; 3 weeks after her discharge, the custody battle ensues and the facebook posts pick up again

September 27, 2010: thanks SO for some facebook pics
September 27, 2010: SM and JB appear before the courts and shared custody is rendered
September 28, 2010: JB rejoices on facebook that she was deemed "the primary parent" by the courts

August 28, 2011: facebook post
August 29, 2011: facebook post
August 31, 2011: I can't understand all the lingo in the court record, but JB is listed as a defendent in a complaint filed on this day in King County Superior Court; it refers to an unlawful detainer

September 21, 2011: another notice of unlawful detainer in the court records
September 22, 2011: facebook post

October 19, 2011: SVU "Missing Pieces" airs
October 19, 2011: JB posts on facebook

October 23, 2011: JB posts on facebook twice
October 24, 2011: JB offers to forego child support and move with the children

November 2, 2011: 12-hour mediation (children reportedly left unattended at home)
November 4, 2011 (at 1:28am): JB's last public facebook wall posting
November 4, 2011: JB backs out of custody agreement
November 5, 2011: REPEAT of SVU's "Missing Pieces"
November 6, 2011: Sky reported missing by JB

*It could all be coincidence, but if JB does post on facebook during times of high stress, then it is possible that the October dates she posted on facebook could be one of the days Sky actually went missing. Those dates are: October, 13, 19, 21, 23 (twice) and November 4th. It also narrows down the days LE would want to check the landfills to October 14, 21, 28 and November 4th.

Great work Rougelatete, much to think about there.

jjenny said:

I don't know about any lawsuits, but why weren't CPS checking on the children? After all both father and mother made accusations against each other, but apparently father's accusations (which were serious such as children not being fed) were ignored. In fact by preventing father from seeing the children the court removed someone who could have at least made sure both children were still present. No one was checking on these children.

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I agree -- especially when there is a court document filed by the father who claims that the only reason those children got fed was because he was around (and hired an employee specifically to watch the store while he left to go feed the kids at an establishment outside the house). They had that document in their hands! Why wouldn't A = B in their minds?!?! If the father was not allowed access to the children and he was the only one feeding them, then who did CPS think was going to feed the children? If the mother didn't leave the house and she wouldn't let the children eat in the house, where did they think the children were going to eat and how? They had this information! It's infuriating!

The more I'm looking at that timeline, the more I think Sky might have disappeared between October 21-23. I can't really explain it -- just a feeling (and I know those are often wrong). I think JB realized she was going to need an alibi and asked SM for permission to leave the country on October 24 because something happened to Sky in the day or days prior and she wouldn't be able to produce him when necessary. When that didn't happen, things started snowballing and it was upon the SECOND airing of SVU's "Missing Pieces" that JB concocted her final alibi of a kidnapping -- but I don't think the way the baby in the tv show was disposed of is the way Sky was disposed of (if that happened), since I think the show "clicked" in her brain after Sky went missing and the only purpose it would serve then is to establish a kidnapping. Instead, I think the focus should be on the Cedar Hills Regional Landfill. Sure, statistics show that mothers dispose of their children close to home, but we also know that JB never bonded with Sky -- possibly, even despised him. I don't know that she would have had that natural maternal instinct to keep him close.

Rougelatete said:

What about the commissioner and the doctors who deemed JB to not only be a fit parent, but the best parent for the kids to be with full-time with no access to SM who could feed them? Could SM sue them?

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The commissioner is the same as a judge. Judicial immunity. As far as the therapist is concerned, I really don't know. It's not my area of the law. But I doubt it. Possibly, he could file a complaint with the ethics board but I don't see that going far. The therapist gave an opinion only. I don't even think this was a psychologist, psychiatrist or L.C.S.W..

Rougelatete said:

I've noticed something about JB's facebook page: she tends to post during times of high stress. Here we go:

March 10, 2010: thanks people on facebook for her birthday wishes
March 11, 2010: JB sends the suicidal text message and is involuntarily hospitalized

*There is a long facebook hiatus while JB is hospitalized and then getting a battery of tests and treatment at Navos Institution; 3 weeks after her discharge, the custody battle ensues and the facebook posts pick up again

August 28, 2011: facebook post
August 29, 2011: facebook post
August 31, 2011: I can't understand all the lingo in the court record, but JB is listed as a defendent in a complaint filed on this day in King County Superior Court; it refers to an unlawful detainer

September 21: another notice of unlawful detainer in the court records
September 22: facebook post

September 27, 2010: thanks SO for some facebook pics
September 27, 2010: SM and JB appear before the courts and shared custody is rendered
September 28, 2010: JB rejoices on facebook that she was deemed "the primary parent" by the courts

October 19th: SVU "Missing Pieces" airs
October 19th: JB posts on facebook

October 23rd: JB posts on facebook twice
October 24th: JB offers to forego child support and move with the children

November 2nd: 12-hour mediation (children reportedly left unattended at home)
November 4th (at 1:28am): JB's last public facebook wall posting
November 4th: JB backs out of custody agreement
November 5th: REPEAT of SVU's "Missing Pieces"
November 6th: Sky reported missing by JB

*It could all be coincidence, but if JB does post on facebook during times of high stress, then it is possible that the October dates she posted on facebook could be one of the days Sky actually went missing. Those dates are: October, 13, 19, 21, 23 (twice) and November 4th. It also narrows down the days LE would want to check the landfills to October 14, 21, 28 and November 4th.

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Smart sleuthing! Did she post at other times or were these the only times she posted?

Rougelatete said:

I agree -- especially when there is a court document filed by the father who claims that the only reason those children got fed was because he was around (and hired an employee specifically to watch the store while he left to go feed the kids at an establishment outside the house). They had that document in their hands! Why wouldn't A = B in their minds?!?! If the father was not allowed access to the children and he was the only one feeding them, then who did CPS think was going to feed the children? If the mother didn't leave the house and she wouldn't let the children eat in the house, where did they think the children were going to eat and how? They had this information! It's infuriating!

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CPS only gets involved when there is a complaint to them. I do not believe Solomon made a complaint to them. Instead, he went through the court system. The family court system did not believe him and apparently failed to monitor the situation through court-ordered counseling, review hearings, etc.