The father of missing toddler Sky Metalwala will regain custody of his 4-year-old daughter once a domestic-violence protection order filed by his estranged wife is modified or rescinded, something the man's attorneys expect to happen this week.
At a dependency hearing in Kent on Monday, Commissioner Richard Gallaher granted Solomon Metalwala's request that his daughter, Maile, be allowed to live with him at his mother's Kirkland home. However, Gallaher said the "protection order needs to be addressed before that happens."
Metalwala's attorneys hope to reunite father and daughter by Dec. 18, Maile's fifth birthday. The year-old protection order was based on unfounded allegations of domestic violence made by the girl's mother, Julia Biryukova, said Leslie Clay Terry III, Metalwala's divorce attorney.
"Now it's just a matter of doing the paperwork" to have the order vacated, he said.
During Monday's dependency hearing, Gallaher also granted Biryukova supervised visitation with Maile to begin one week after the girl is returned to her father. But Biryukova's visits can be limited or terminated based on the recommendation of the child's therapist, Gallaher said.
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Soloman Metalwala's twice-weekly visits with his daughter have been observed by a Bellevue police detective, though the little girl has not provided any new information about events leading up to the disappearance of Sky, attorneys involved in the case told Gallaher.
Metalwala was in court for Monday's hearing but Biryukova was not. A lawyer appeared on her behalf.
Outside the courtroom, Metalwala said he has plans to take Maile to Bellevue Square and do "Christmas things I haven't gotten to do with my daughter."
Tom Masco, an assistant attorney general who is representing the state Department of Social and Health Services, requested that Biryukova have no visitation with her daughter because of concerns the mother could have "undue influence" on the child.
Maile "is one of the few sources of information that could shed light on where Sky might be," Masco said.
He said the protection order barring Metalwala from contacting his estranged wife or children was granted in the context of a bitter divorce and custody battle.
"The wrong parent might have won," Masco said, adding that Biryukova has "very profound mental-health issues."
Robert Wyman, the attorney representing Biryukova in the dependency case, said police have interviewed Maile several times without gleaning any new information about Sky's whereabouts. Biryukova hasn't seen her daughter since Sky disappeared and Maile was placed in foster care.
"Ms. Biryukova is devastated by the disappearance of her son and is absolutely heartbroken she can't in any way comfort Maile," Wyman said.
