Friday, November 4, 2011

Is the Karen Johnson Swift and Sky Metalwala Disappearance More Fuel For the Fire? Update 11-29--11





Too many times the existing family law/dissolution laws have appeared to spawn violence. LINK. Let's hope Tennessee is not the site of another such tragedy. We certainly don't need another fiasco like some of those in the recent past. LINK.


Karen Johnson Swift, 44, of Dyersburg, Tenn., was reported missing on Sunday by her estranged spouse. (Karen filed for divorce in October of this year according to MYFoxMephis.com.) Her white 2004 Nissan Murano was later found on a nearby road. However, neither Karen or her cell phone have been located. According to Dyer County Sheriff Jeff Box, the investigation is being treated as a missing person case. To date there is no confirmation of any foul play. A recent helicopter search using a heat-sensor failed to turn up any clues. The search is continuing to fan out.

Karen Johnson Swift is 5 feet 5 inches tall with green eyes and blonde hair. She weighs about 140 pounds. Anyone with information is asked to contact the Dyer County Sheriff's Office at (731) 285-2802.

Update 11-5-11: Supposedly Halloween weekend, Karen Johnson Swift " went to bed with her daughter, and when the girl woke up around 6 a.m., her mother was gone." Karen's car was found near her home with flat tires. A neighbor, Marty Lamb, discovered her abandoned car. Police are investigating the possibility of a serial abductor or murderer in the central and west Tennessee regions. There have been other cases of missing women in the area. In any event, it is unlikely she willingly disappeared.

Karen's cell phone records indicate that someone apparently used her phone to access the Internet around 5:00 a.m. Her husband has been interviewed by police and isn't considered a suspect at this time. Karen Johnson Swift filed for divorce October 11, 2011 but was apparently still living with her husband at the time of the disappearance.

On the surface the case shares enough similarities with the disappearance of Sue Waller in Missouri that the husband is possibly a person of interest. Furthermore, Karen's husband has yet to address the media. In the interim, Karen's husband is presumed completely innocent and deserves to be treated as such.

Update 11-10-11: Police have found some of Karen Johnson Swift's clothing. Her Halloween costume was found in the car and a pair of jeans and a gray zip-up were found in some brush not far from her car. DNA from her mother confirms that the DNA on the clothes is Karen's. (The Dyer County Sheriff's Office has not publicly confirmed this information.) To date aerial helicopter searches have been unproductive. Her marriage has been described as "pretty volatile." David Swift has been interviewed by police, but is not officially a suspect or person of interest. A Facebook post recently indicates that David and family "...want her home and love her very much." WMC-TV. In what appears to be an unrelated matter, John E. Hogshooter, a neighbor of the Swifts was arrested on an outstanding felony warrant for animal cruelty. (Hogshooter is accused of poisoning two dogs.) Dyersburg State Gazette. Authorities have not found any items connecting Hogshooter to Swift's disappearance and do not consider him a suspect.

Karen Swift Update 11-29=11: So far, no luck in the search despite searches by:

. Dyer County Sheriff's Deputies, Sheriff's Investigators, Sheriff's Tracking Team

. Tennessee Highway Patrol Strike Teams, Aviation Unit, Cert Team, and many troopers.

. Tennessee Bureau of Investigation Special Agents, Crime Scene Unit, and Crime Lab.

. Tennessee Department of Corrections Fort Pillow Bloodhound Unit

. Lauderdale County Sheriff's Bloodhound Unit

. Scott County Missouri Sheriff's Search and Rescue Dogs including Cadaver Dogs

. Shelby County Tennessee Sheriff's Search and Rescue Unit with Dogs including Cadaver Dogs

. Dyer, Lake, Obion, Lauderdale, Gibson, & Henry Rescue Squads with sonar & drag equipment.

. Dyer County, Millsfield, Bogota, Lenox, Bonicord and Finley Fire Dept's.

. Dyer County Emergency Management

. Personnel on horseback and many other local volunteers.

If you have information, contact the Dyer County Sheriff's Department at 731-285-2802. Crime Stoppers is offering a cash reward for information. 731-285-TIPS (8477).

Update 11-8-11 Sky Metalwala: Another disappearance is suspicious of being related to domestic turmoil. Sky Metalwala, a two year-old who is the subject of a custody battle, has disappeared. (Sky is pictured up above on the right hand side.) The 2-year-old Washington state boy is missing after his mother allegedly left him in her stalled car on a city street. The boy's mother, Julia Biryukova and her four year old daughter walked to a gas station leaving the child unattended in an unlocked car. Sky Metalwala is apparently no stranger to being left alone. Sky had previously been left alone in a car when he was just 3 months old. Apparently his parents left him in their sport utility vehicle in a Target parking lot for 55 minutes. The parents retrieved him after police arrived and asked for the vehicle's owner to be paged. Redmond police cited both parents with reckless endangerment. Charges were recently dismissed after both parents completed 40 hours of community service and 10 weeks of parenting classes.

But the recent disappearance of the toddler from the Bellevue area comes on the heels of a custody fight between his parents, Julia Biryukova and Solomon Metalwala. They couple separated in March 2010 and since then have been the subject of protective orders, allegations of abuse and questions of sanity. A recent mandatory mediation provided for Metalwala to have some visitation with Sky and his older sister. Biryukova consented to have her vehicle and home searched. In the mean time, the daughter has been placed in protective custody.

The couple separated in March 2010. A couple month later, Metalwala filed for divorce and Biryukova filed for a protection order on behalf of herself and their two children. Biryukova claims Metalwala has anger issues. Metalwala claims his estranged spouse has mental health problems and was involuntarily committed to a mental clinic in 2010. But a social worker with state Child Protective Services reported that Biryukova is in good mental health and is an appropriate caregiver.

Update 11-9-11: Police apparently failed to find a gas can near Biryukova's vehicle. Furthermore, they were able to start her car. Allegedly Biryukova has refused to take a polygraph whereas Metalwala submitted to a polygraph. So far, there are no official suspects but foul play is suspected.
Sky Metalwala Update 11-29-11: Police are suspecting that Sky may not have even been in the car the day his mother reported him missing. Sky's father openly questions whether Julia Biryukova has their son hidden somewhere.

15 comments:

Anonymous said...

The husband may have a complete air tight alibi. Don't jump to any conclusions.

Anonymous said...

adorable toddler in the photo in the link.

Anonymous said...

Nothing to pin anything to the husband so far.

Anonymous said...

attractive woman.... recently filed for divorce....
disappears....

Legal Pub said...

Update 11-5-11: Supposedly Halloween weekend, Karen Johnson Swift " went to bed with her daughter, and when the girl woke up around 6 a.m., her mother was gone." Karen's car was found near her home with flat tires. A neighbor, Marty Lamb, discovered her abandoned car. Police are investigating the possibility of a serial abductor or murderer in the central and west Tennessee regions. There have been other cases of missing women in the area. In any event, it is unlikely she willingly disappeared.

Karen's cell phone records indicate that someone apparently used her phone to access the Internet around 5:00 a.m. Her husband has been interviewed by police and isn't considered a suspect at this time. Karen Johnson Swift filed for divorce but was apparently still living with her husband at the time of the disappearance.

On the surface the case shares enough similarities with the disappearance of Sue Waller in Missouri that the husband is possibly a person of interest. Furthermore, Karen's husband has yet to address the media. In the interim, Karen's husband is presumed completely innocent and deserves to be treated as such.

Legal Pub said...

Update 11-8-11: Another disappearance is equally suspicious of being related to domestic turmoil. Sky Metalwala, a two year-old who is the subject of a custody battle, has disappeared. The 2-year-old Washington state boy is missing after his mother allegedly left him in her stalled car on a city street. The boy's mother, Julia Biryukova and her four year old daughter walked to a gas station leaving the child unattended in an unlocked car. Sky Metalwala is apparently no stranger to being left alone. Sky had previously been left alone in a car when he was just 3 months old. Apparently his parents left him in their sport utility vehicle in a Target parking lot for 55 minutes. The parents retrieved him after police arrived and asked for the vehicle's owner to be paged. Redmond police cited both parents with reckless endangerment. Charges were recently dismissed after both parents completed 40 hours of community service and 10 weeks of parenting classes.

But the recent disappearance of the toddler from the Bellevue area comes on the heels of a custody fight between his parents, Julia Biryukova and Solomon Metalwala. They couple separated in March 2010 and since then have been the subject of protective orders, allegations of abuse and questions of sanity. A recent mandatory mediation provided for Metalwala to have some visitation with Sky and his older sister. Biryukova consented to have her vehicle and home searched. In the mean time, the daughter has been placed in protective custody.
The couple separated in March 2010. A couple month later, Metalwala filed for divorce and Biryukova filed for a protection order on behalf of herself and their two children. Biryukova claims Metalwala has anger issues. Metalwala claims his estranged spouse has mental health problems and was involuntarily committed to a mental clinic in 2010. But a social worker with state Child Protective Services reported that Biryukova is in good mental health and is an appropriate caregiver.

Legal Pub said...

Update 11-9-11: Police apparently failed to find a gas can near Biryukova's vehicle. Furthermore, they were able to start her car. Allegedly Biryukova has refused to take a polygraph whereas Metalwala submitted to a polygraph. So far, there are no official suspects but foul play is suspected.

Legal Pub said...

Update 11-10-11: Police have found some of Karen Johnson Swift's clothing. Her Halloween costume was found in the car and a pair of jeans and a gray zip-up were found in some brush not far from her car. DNA from her mother confirms that the DNA on the clothes is Karen's. (The Dyer County Sheriff's Office has not publicly confirmed this information.) To date aerial helicopter searches have been unproductive. Her marriage has been described as "pretty volatile." David Swift has been interviewed by police, but is not officially a suspect or person of interest. A Facebook post recently indicates that David and family "...want her home and love her very much." WMC-TV. In what appears to be an unrelated matter, John E. Hogshooter, a neighbor of the Swifts was arrested on an outstanding felony warrant for animal cruelty. (Hogshooter is accused of poisoning two dogs.) Dyersburg State Gazette. Authorities have not found any items connecting Hogshooter to Swift's disappearance and do not consider him a suspect.

Anonymous said...

Jeans and a grey zip-up top were found by the side of the road close to where Mrs Johnson Swift's car was abandoned.

Anonymous said...

Major Mike Johnson of Bellevue (Wash.) police said:

"Given the amount of time that's passed, unfortuatnelyt the reality of this is that Sky may have fallen into some very unfortunate circumstances... And as much as we don't like to think about that or talk about it, it's a reality.

"We hope for the best and prepare for the worst," he added.

Anonymous said...

always innocent until proven otherwise

Anonymous said...

http://mynorthwest.com/108/581884/Documents-reveal-Biryokovas-questionable-mental-state

SEATTLE --A watchdog group in Washington state has uncovered documents suggesting Julia Biryokova might have had mental health problems that should have raised red flags in the custody hearings for her two children with father Solomon Metalwala.

Mark Cavener, the executive director of the Washington Domestic Violence Commission said that his advocacy group had been following the case because they were closely monitoring the decisions being made by their family law commissioner.

Listen to Mark Cavener, executive director, Washington Domestic Violence Commission

In custody fillings, Metalwala wrote about his ex-wife's dangerous mental state.

"She began to have dreams about killing our children, even telling me of her dreams about strangling our youngest child," Metalwala wrote. "This became very scary, and I knew it was time I had to do something."

The documents reveal that Julia Biryukova was involuntarily admitted to a West Seattle mental hospital because she was considered a danger to herself and her children.

"He did something, he did what any good normal dad what do, he asked for a protection order," Cavener told 97.3 KIRO FM's Ron & Don Show. He said that Metelwala was denied that protection order despite an "alarming" Global Assessment of Functionality [GAF] score.

Biryukova scored a 15 on a scale on 1 to 100 when she was admitted on March 11, 2010. According to a GAF scale, that means she was in danger of hurting herself or others. When she was discharged in March 15, she scored a 40. That score indicates that she would have shown some impairment in reality, such as work, family relations, judgment, thinking, or mood.

Listen to Dr. Jeffrey Fong, Clinical Psychologist, Western State Hospital explain a GAF score

Biryokova admitted to doctors that she had sent her husband a text message threatening to commit suicide, but was not actually suicidal. Records indicate that after she arrived at the hospital, she said she only sent the message to "get attention" from Metalwala.

When Biryokova was discharged from the hospital, her suicidal tendencies weren't in question, but the doctor filing the report did say that her severe OCD could continue to be a stress on the family.

Shortly after Metalwala's denial for a protection order, Biryokova filed a protection order that was approved.

"It's a snowball's chance in hell for a dad to get a protection order," said Cavener, who had read the documents in the case and thought Metalwala should have been awarded the protection order. "Everything that should have lead to Solomon having custody of the child - it was there."

Now, Metalwala says that he hopes he's able to gain custody of his 4-year-old daughter by Christmas time, as he puts his faith in police to bring his son home.

Biryokova and Metalwala's son, Sky, went missing on Nov. 6. Police are looking for tips from anyone that saw Biryokova or Sky as early as Oct. 1. If you have information, Bellevue Police urge you to call (425) 452.2546 or email pdtipline@bellevuewa.gov

Anonymous said...

SEATTLE--- King County family law commissioner, Jaqueline Jeske, responsible for missing 2 year old, Sky Metalwala.

Washington Domestic Violence Commission investigators have been looking into dozens of similar cases where Jeske knowingly put children into harms way.

Jeske's nearly perfect record of 100% anti-male rulings over the past two years
have sparked law suits against Jeske and Superior Court Judges for failure to supervise their commissioners.

Anonymous said...

I hope Jeske did not discriminate against fathers.

Legal Pub said...

Karen Swift Update 11-29=11: So far, no luck in the search despite searches by numerous agencies.

Sky Metalwala update: Police and the boy's dad speculate that the boy was never in the vehicle the day of his disappearance.