Police search for tips on Washington toddler's disappearance

(CBS/AP) SEATTLE - Police in Bellevue, Wash., set up a roadblock for five hours Sunday to talk to people passing the site where a missing toddler was last seen at the same time a week earlier.

Pictures: Missing toddler Sky Metalwala

Officers, standing near a sign and a police car with flashing lights, talked to more than 20 people and gathered about a dozen new tips Sunday morning, Bellevue Police Maj. Mike Johnson said at a news conference.

Julia Biryukova told police her 2-year-old son, Sky Metalwala, vanished on Nov. 6 in Bellevue when she left him sleeping alone in her unlocked car after it ran out of gas. She said she and her 4-year-old daughter went to get gas and when they returned an hour later, the boy was gone.

Officers spent time at Biryukova's apartment complex Sunday hoping to find someone who remembers something about last weekend that may help them find the boy, Johnson said.

He urged the public to keep calling in with tips.

"That information is critical," he said.

Johnson has acknowledged that Bellevue Police, working with law enforcement partners from around the region, have yet to get a productive lead in the case, but insists that could change at any time with some help from the public.

He could not offer any details from the tips police gathered Sunday morning.

Bellevue police are also talking to authorities in other cities to get advice about how they handled similar cases. Among the advice: don't get tunnel vision and check out every possibility.

The missing boy's father, Solomon Metalwala, spent Saturday with friends and relatives hanging up flyers around the community asking for help finding his son. He has said he does not trust Biryukova not to harm his son.

The couple has been involved in a bitter divorce and custody battle and both have made accusations concerning the safety of their children.They separated in March 2010 amid back-and-forth protective orders and allegations of abuse and psychiatric problems.

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