Sky’s Father Says Disappearance Linked to Custody Dispute

ABC News(BELLEVUE, Wash.) -- The father of a Washington toddler missing for more than one week said Monday he believes the boy’s disappearance is related to a court decision granting him visitation rights.

Solomon Metalwala, the father of missing toddler Sky Metalwala, has previously said that he believes his wife Julia Birkyukova knows what happened to the 2-year-old boy.

Solomon and Biryukova have been locked in a bitter divorce, but in the week before Sky disappeared, the parents reached a tentative agreement that would allow Metalwala to have some visitation with the couple’s two children.

But two days later -- and two days before she reported her son missing -- Biryukova decided to pull out of the agreement, according to published reports.

In a letter sent by her attorney, Biryukova insisted that everyone at the mediation session had been against her and the settlement was unfair, according to Metalwala’s divorce attorney, D. Michael Tomkins.

“Sadly to say, yes,” Solomon Metalwala said today when asked on “GMA” if he believes Sky’s disappearance is related to the custody battle between him and his wife.
“She needs to help and I’m praying that she will,” he said.

“She has had Sky for the last 10 months so I believe that she does know something,” the husband said Monday on Good Morning America.

Sky Metalwala was last seen Nov. 6 while in the custody of Birkyukova. Biryukova told detectives in Bellevue, Wash., that she was driving her two children, Sky and the couple’s 4-year-old daughter, to Overlake Hospital Medical Center Sunday morning because Sky wasn’t feeling well.

She said she ran out of gas, so she left Sky in the car while she and her four-year-old daughter walked about a mile away to a gas station. When she returned to her silver Acura SUV, the child was gone, she told police.

A team of more than 150 local and state police and FBI agents have been working on the case for the past week, sorting through leads coming from hundreds of miles away, to no avail.

Both Metalwala and Biryukova were cited for reckless endangerment in a December 2009 incident in which a then 3-month-old Sky was left in the family’s SUV in a Target parking lot for 55 minutes on a 27-degree day, court records showed.

The case was dismissed earlier this year after the pair completed a year of probation, 40 hours of community service and a ten-week parenting class.

Copyright 2011 ABC News Radio

Occupy Oakland Protests Slowing Down

ABC News(OAKLAND, Calif.) -- Riot police are cleaning out the Occupy Wall Street protesters and making arrests at a week-old camp in Oakland. In fact, the crowd has grown so small they are now power washing the streets.

ABC’s Alex Stone reports from Oakland that things are petering out and most of the tents are gone now. Police have now put their batons in their holders, removing them from across their chests, but remain shoulder to shoulder around the park.

The protest group has already begun shrinking, and the protesters showed little resistance when police made arrests.

Roughtly 200 of them watched as police took down their tents, and were heard cheering every time they saw someone get arrested.

When the police first arrived, they acted very differently than they did several weeks ago, when they used tear gas and shot beanbag and other non-lethal rounds to control the protesters.

This time, they were sure to act slowly and methodically as they set up barricades. They held tear gas guns in their hands, making it clear what would happen if the protesters moved the barricades.

Copyright 2011 ABC News Radio

Alleged Penn State Victim Begins Civil Case as Investigation Widens

Justin K. Aller/Getty Images(STATE COLLEGE, Pa.) -- As the investigation of the child sexual assault charges surrounding former Penn State football coach Jerry Sandusky widens, at least one alleged victim has now hired an attorney to explore a civil lawsuit.

Pennsylvania attorney Ben Andreozzi told ABC News that he has been retained by one of Sandusky's alleged victims to explore a civil lawsuit against not only the former coach, but anyone who may have not reported the alleged attacks against his client.  That could include a number of officials and staff at Penn State University and The Second Mile charity which Sandusky founded and helped run.

As the investigation unfolds into the charges that Sandusky assaulted eight boys over 15 years, it is still unclear how many victims will come forward.  While he criticized police, school officials and even the whistleblower that witnessed one of Sandusky's alleged assaults, Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Corbett said he thinks more victims will come forward.

"When the word gets out, when people understand that authorities are actually doing something about this, that they may be believed, then more people come forward," Corbett said on Fox News Sunday.  "If I had to speculate I wouldn't be surprised if we had more victims come forward."

"We would have expected law enforcement to be involved much sooner," he added.  Mike McQueary, the coaching assistant who testified that he saw Sandusky sexually assaulting a boy in a campus shower almost a decade ago, "did not in my opinion meet a moral obligation" in reporting the abuse, the governor added.

McQueary, who the university has put on leave, met the legal "minimum obligation" after he reported the incident to his superiors.  For many, this represents part of the problem -- that state law doesn't require all people to report child abuse to police.

"Pennsylvania's law is in need of repair," Wes Oliver, associate professor at Widener University School of Law, told ABC News. "Pennsylvania's law requires someone who learns through the course of his or her employer that a child is being abused that person go to their supervisor -- all the way up to the head of the organization."

It is feared that dozens of people knew about Sandusky's alleged sexual assaults and kept quiet.

Copyright 2011 ABC News Radio

Dept. of Transportation Issues First Ever Fine for Tarmac Delay

Hemera/Thinkstock(WASHINGTON) -- The U.S. Department of Transportation has announced that American Eagle Airlines became the first airline to be slapped with fines for violating the department’s three-hour limit for tarmac delays.

On May 29, 2011, 15 different American Eagle Airlines flights left 608 passengers sitting on the Chicago O’Hare International Airport tarmac for a total of 225 minutes -- 45 minutes beyond the limit.

For the violation, American Eagle Airlines has received a fine of $900,000 -- the largest fine to date in a consumer case not involving civil rights violation.

"A total of $650,000 must be paid within 30 days, and up to $250,000 can be credited for refunds, vouchers, and frequent flyer mile awards provided to the passengers on the 15 flights on May 29, as well as to passengers on future flights that experience lengthy tarmac delays of less than three hours," the DOT said in a statement Monday.

The rule, which was put in place in April 2010, states that any U.S. airlines operating with 30 or more passenger seats are prohibited from allowing their flights to remain on the tarmac for more than three hours without giving passengers an opportunity to deplane.

“We put the tarmac rule in place to protect passengers, and we take any violation very seriously,” explained U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood.  “We will work to ensure that airlines and airports coordinate their resources and plans to avoid keeping passengers delayed on the tarmac.”

And it seems to be working.  In Monday’s press release, the DOT notes that between May 2010 and April 2011, the larger U.S. airlines required to file tarmac delays reported 20 tarmac delays of more than three hours but less than four hours.  By comparison, during the 12 months before the rule took effect, these carriers had 693 tarmac delays of more than three hours, and 105 delays longer than four hours.

Copyright 2011 ABC News Radio

Rep. Gabrielle Giffords Speaks Out in First Interview Since Shooting

ABC/Ida Mae Astute

(NEW YORK) -- For years, Rep. Gabrielle Giffords fought for her causes in Congress, fought her way through 10-mile hikes and runs with her friends in Tucson, Ariz., and with her husband, astronaut Mark Kelly, fought -- through in vitro fertilization and fertility drugs -- to have a child.

But on Jan. 8, all of that changed.  Following the shooting of 19 people at a meet-and-greet in Tucson, Giffords fought to survive a near-deadly gunshot to the brain, and after that, she had to fight once again for the life she wanted back.

"Difficult," Giffords says in her first interview since the shooting, with ABC News' Diane Sawyer.

Giffords still struggles for the right words to form sentences, a condition called aphasia that is common in brain injury patients.  She has undergone months of intensive speech and physical therapy to try and rebuild the connections in her brain that were severed when a bullet entered just over her left eye, traveling through the left side of her brain.

"It's clear that any lower, it would've killed her, any further midline, it would've killed her," Kelly tells Sawyer.  "If it crossed hemispheres, it would've killed her.  Any further outboard, she'd never be able to speak again.  Any higher, she'd never be able to walk."

Giffords' remarkable journey to recovery and the love story that brought her and Kelly together is the subject of a new book they worked on together, called Gabby: A Story of Courage and Hope.

In the beginning of the book, Kelly writes that he and his wife hoped that 2011 would be "the best year of our lives." Kelly would command the last flight of the orbiter Endeavor, Giffords would begin her third term in Congress, and the two would hopefully conceive a child together.

Instead, 2011 was punctuated first with terror and grief: 22-year-old Jared Lee Loughner apparently targetted Giffords at a public event, fatally shooting six people and wounding 13 others, including Rep. Giffords. Since then, her daily routine has been hard work, occasional setbacks and personal triumphs.  Together, Giffords and Kelly learned what survival really meant.

"She was sitting in her wheelchair, tears running down her face. She was hyperventilating, absolutely panicked," Kelly told Sawyer.  "I saw how scared she was.  I got scared, too.  I just held her, and said, you know, 'We'll get through this.'"

It is that determination, along with Giffords' own personal strength, that shine through in exclusive home videos taken by Kelly and their family that will be seen for the first time as part of the Diane Sawyer special.

Kelly and Giffords' family decided to document every milestone of her recovery, realizing some day Giffords would want to know what had happened to her.

Gabby and Mark: Courage and Hope, a Diane Sawyer Exclusive, airs Monday, Nov. 14 at 10 p.m. ET on ABC.

Copyright 2011 ABC News Radio

Occupy Crackdown: Beginning of the End for Protests?

KIMIHIRO HOSHINO/AFP/Getty Images(OAKLAND, Calif.) -- The tension is mounting outside Oakland's City Hall after police issued three eviction notices to anti-Wall Street protesters over the weekend, telling demonstrators they do not have the right to camp overnight.

Still, 150 tents remained Sunday in Frank Ogawa Plaza.

Though authorities have not said when or if they plan to raid the encampment, protesters are bracing for a possible crackdown.

Oakland police issued similar warnings to Occupy Oakland before raiding the campsite on Oct. 25.  More than 80 protesters were arrested and the clashes turned violent.  Police used tear gas and bean bags, seriously injuring an Iraq war veteran in the process.  He was reportedly released from the hospital, but his friends say he still has trouble speaking.

But the movement that garnered support around the country is now facing backlash from city governments nationwide.  Police in many cities say they have run out of patience, and officials are raising concerns about what they call unsanitary conditions and a growing number of crimes at some camps.

Over the weekend in Philadelphia, police arrested a man after a woman was dragged into a tent and sexually assaulted.  At Occupy Albany, N.Y., police arrested dozens of campers for defying a curfew.  And in Salt Lake City, police arrested 19 people for refusing to leave a park one day after a man was found dead in his tent.

The largest clashes over the weekend occurred Saturday overnight in Portland, Ore., where there was a heated face-off between officers in riot gear and thousands of demonstrators.  Protesters built barricades with wood debris and old furniture to block streets.  Most finally agreed to leave, but police pushed out a few hundred stragglers late Sunday afternoon.

Meanwhile, at Occupy San Francisco, police say two demonstrators used a sharp object to attack two officers during a march.

In Oakland, Mayor Jean Quan released a statement saying, "While the camping must end, the movement continues."

Copyright 2011 ABC News Radio

Occupy Portland: 'We Declared Victory, Then We Went Home'

Natalie Behring/Getty Images(PORTLAND, Ore.) -- Occupy Portland demonstrators claimed victory Sunday after defying a midnight deadline to leave their downtown encampment at midnight, but then hours later peacefully followed police orders to move out of at least one of the two parks they had called home for 38 days.

Police began clearing tarps and debris after 8 a.m. Sunday after telling protesters who were still in Chapman and Lownsdale Squares that the "the park is now closed" and that they had to leave, ABC station KATU-TV in Portland reported.

Many protesters obeyed the order, and police let them gather their belongings, KATU reported.

After the protesters left, police went in and started taking down tents that were left behind and gathering up garbage and whatever else was left behind.

Madison Dines, 25, told The Oregonian that after the midnight celebration, there weren't enough demonstrators left to resist the police.

"We don't have enough physical bodies to stop the police from what they are doing," he said. "We all declared victory and went home, but the reality is we needed to be here."

Thousands of sympathizers of Occupy Portland had showed up before dawn, briefly halting downtown traffic, to support the protesters.

Occupy Portland's Facebook page lists an e-mail address for protesters wanting advice from the National Lawyers Guild—suggesting the group was resolved to stay put at a time when officials are voicing concern about the safety and health of Occupy encampments in several cities around the country.

Portland Mayor Sam Adams said Sunday morning that the protesters should clear the park, but the city has no timetable for when it will be done. He ruled out the kind of "surprise" actions police have carried out in some other cities, which have resulted in violent clashes between police and demonstrators.

"The surprise enforcements that we've seen around the country have been not consistent with the values of the people of Portland," he said in an early morning appearance at the park Sunday.

He said want to balance free speech and public safety, ABC affiliate KATU-TV in Portland reported.

He avoided blaming the demonstrators for creating a situation where he felt he had to set a deadline for them to leave the downtown encampment, but said he had to because of "a change in circumstances."

"I don't fault anyone in particular; it's a change of circumstances that was really out of the control of any one person or group of people," he said, according to KATU. "I was very clear [from the beginning of the protest] that behavior mattered and success mattered."

Copyright 2011 ABC News Radio

Franco Harris Defends Joe Paterno in Child Sex Abuse Scandal

Patrick Smith/Getty Images(STATE COLLEGE, Pa.) -- On Sunday, Pittsburgh Steeler great Franco Harris, who played college ball at Penn State, defended his former coach, Joe Paterno, who lost his job over the child sex abuse case that has rocked the university.

Harris was one of a stream of supporters who visited Paterno at his home in State College, Pa., on Sunday.

When he came out of the Paterno house, Harris said he didn’t understand why Paterno is being portrayed the way he is, that he did what he should have done in the case.

Paterno told investigators that when a graduate student told him in 2002 that he had seen former assistant coach Jerry Sandusky in the gym showers with a young boy, he in turn informed university officials.

Investigators say those officials never passed on the report to police to investigate.

Sandusky was arrested on Nov. 5, charged with sexually assaulting eight boys over a 15-year period.

Two university officials have also been arrested on perjury charges, and University President Graham Spanier and Paterno both lost their jobs.

The children Sandusky allegedly abused were all connected to his Second Mile charity, which was supposed to give at-risk children a chance to improve their lives through sports.

Harris, along with Cal Ripken Jr., Arnold Palmer and Philadelphia Eagles coach Andy Reid have all been listed as honorary directors of the charity.

Copyright 2011 ABC News Radio

Sky Metalawala: Police Expand Search for Washington Boy

Hemera Technologies/Thinkstock(BELLEVUE, Wash.) -- Authorities and volunteers are expanding their search efforts Sunday for a 2-year-old boy from Washington who has been missing for a week.

Police said they are doubling back on their earlier work and retracing their steps to find Sky Metalwala.

Without any significant leads, police are growing doubtful that they'll find the boy alive.

"Every hour that passes, this case becomes more and more disappointing for us that we haven't found something to lead to his discovery yet," Bellevue police Maj. Mike Johnson said.

K-9 units have covered the ground, hoping to pick up the scent of the missing toddler as dive teams combed the waters, looking for any clues.

On Saturday, police scoured a park near the apartment complex where Sky lived with his mother, Julia Biryukova.

Biryukova told police earlier that she left Sky alone in her car after she ran out of gas and walked off for help. When she returned to her silver Acura SUV, the child was gone, she told police.

According to police, Biryukova did walk to the Northtowne Chevron Service, but she never bought gas there, police said.

Instead, she spent time walking around a wealthy neighborhood where she reportedly didn't ask anyone for help, officials said.

When detectives checked to see how much gas was left in her car, they found enough for her to have continued driving.

Investigators took her car for a test drive, to see if it had any mechanical problems that would have forced her to leave it on the side of the road.

Police said they are now convinced it didn't have engine trouble and there was plenty of gas in the tank.

"I'll let the evidence speak to itself, which is there was gas in the car and was able to drive and operate. That's not what Julia told us," Bellevue police Maj. Mike Johnson said.

Police said that after Biryukova visited the gas station she called a friend who picked her up and took her back to her two-door silver Acura, where they allegedly discovered the boy was missing.

Sky's father, Solomon Metalwala, said Wednesday that he thinks Biryukova is connected with his son's disappearance.

Metalwala has agreed to take two polygraph tests, but Biryukova has refused to be tested, telling investigators that she has been too disturbed to participate.

Police have made a public appeal for Biryukova's cooperation, and have also asked the public to help.

Biryukova's attorney declined requests for comment to ABC News.

Copyright 2011 ABC News Radio

Occupy Portland Protesters Stay Past Deadline, Cops in Riot Gear

Natalie Behring/Getty Images(PORTLAND, Ore.) -- Occupy Portland protestors stayed past the 12:01 a.m. Sunday deadline and continued to demonstrate early Sunday morning as police in riot gear maintained the crowd of an estimated 3,000 protestors and supporters.

At least one arrest has been made after a protestor threw what appeared to be a lit firecracker at an officer, injuring him, according to Portland Police.

Police monitored the situation but did not make any attempt to move in, despite that the crowd refused to dissipate.

In other Occupy movements across the country, 18 people were arrested in Salt Lake City’s Pioneer Park on Saturday night. In Denver, 17 people were arrested Saturday night in the city’s Civic Center Park. In San Francisco, two police officers were attacked with sharp objects thrown at them by protesters on Saturday.

The Occupy Wall Street movement began Sept. 17 in New York City, and continues to gain momentum.

Copyright 2011 ABC News Radio