Missing Boy's Mom: Cops Doubt Her Story

(Newser) – A Washington state mom who said her son vanished from her car while she was walking to get gas actually had plenty of fuel in her tank, according to cops. The situation described by mom Julia Birykova is "strikingly similar" to an episode of Law and Order: Special Victims Unit, according to increasingly suspicious investigators. While Buryukova has continued to talk to police about her missing 2-year-old son, Sky, she has refused to take a polygraph test. "The public, I'm sure, is as frustrated as we are in the fact that mom isn't willing to come in and provide a polygraph," said Bellevue Police Major Mike Johnson. "To be quite honest, that looks suspicious."

But he added: "We want to believe Julia. We want to help her find her missing child. Biryukova's son vanished amid a bitter custody battle between her and the boy's dad. She told police she was driving Sky to a hospital because he wasn't feeling well when she ran out of gas and left him sleeping in the car. But she left her purse and wallet with her cash, identification, and credit cards at home, reports AP. Biryukova has admitted to police that she had previously left Sky and her 4-year-old daughter at home for long stretches of time.