A 13-year-old boy has been missing for over a month after he was last seen at an Arizona car wash with his mom. Elijah Gumbus vanished without a trace at around 7 am on August 31 when he and his mother stopped off at a Weiss Guys Express Wash in Tolleson, Arizona. They were traveling from California to Louisiana for her work, as reported by the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children on Tuesday.
Surveillance footage from the car wash, obtained by USA Today, shows his mom stopping at the car wash to clean out her car. Elijah, dressed in a red shirt and white trainers, is then seen jumping out of his mom’s car and running off in the direction of the highway. He has not been seen since.
Tolleson Police mentioned that the boy’s mom claims to have seen her son jumping into a stranger’s maroon SUV, but law enforcement officials have not been able to verify this claim, according to 12News. Authorities are now asking for the public’s help in finding the missing teen, one month on from his disappearance.
Investigators believe the 13-year-old could still be in Arizona or may have ventured to California, Louisiana, Nevada, or Illinois. Elijah and his mom have no known ties to Arizona. His parents have had custody issues in the past, but neither of them lives in Arizona, and the police have confirmed that the teen is not with either of them.
Tolleson Police Lt Lee Garrett told 12News that authorities are trying to determine whether he “just simply ran away.” He mentioned, “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 be, then they will call 911 immediately.”
Elijah is described as being 5ft 5 inches tall, weighs 130 pounds, and has brown eyes and black hair, according to KTLA5. Anyone with information about the teen is urged to contact NCMEC at 1-800-THE-LOST or the Tolleson Police Department at 1-623-936-7186.