TOLLESON, Ariz. — It's been over a month since a 13-year-old boy went missing from a car wash in Tolleson. Elijah Gumbus was last seen around 7 a.m. on Aug. 31.
Surveillance footage from the Weiss Guys Car Wash at 83rd Avenue and McDowell Road shows Elijah wearing a red shirt getting out of his mom's car then jogging west.
Seconds later, his mother is heard calling out his name. She steps out of the car wash bay and calls out his name again. The video cuts off there.
Elijah has not been seen or heard from since then.
“We're extremely concerned. We're very involved. We have a detective that is 100% dedicated to just this case at this point," said Lt. Lee Garrett of Tolleson PD.
More than a month has gone by since Elijah's strange disappearance.
“There's a lot of areas there that he could have either met with somebody or taken off or hid or something like that, but at the moment, that's the only information that we had and the only surveillance that we had in the area that was able to pick him up in a direction of travel," Garrett said.
Garrett added Elijah and his mom were driving from California to Louisiana for her work. They stopped at the car wash and his mom was in the process of cleaning the vehicle out when Elijah took off. As far as police know, they have no known ties to Arizona, making the case even more concerning.
"According to the mom, she witnessed him get into a maroon SUV, but that hasn't been confirmed and we don't have any information to validate that information that she provided to us," Garrett said.
Police said there is a history of custody issues between Elijah's mom and dad, but neither live in Arizona and police have confirmed Elijah is not with either of them.
Tolleson PD has teamed up with the FBI and the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children to widen their search. They believe Elijah could still be in Arizona or in California, Louisiana or Nevada.
“What's most concerning is his age and the fact that he doesn't have ties to Arizona or any family here. We don't know how he would have connected with somebody here, or if he just simply ran away,” Garrett said. “He's not a very big kid, so he's somebody that would stand out. He's got a very young face. So we're hoping that somebody will see this and realize that if he's on the streets, or if he's with somebody he shouldn't then they will call 911 immediately.”
If you have any information about Elijah's whereabouts, call Tolleson PD's tip line at 623-936-7186 or you can report an anonymous tip to Silent Witness by calling 480-WITNESS.
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