Elijah Gumbus (13) missing from Maricopa County, AZ since 8/31/2024

[raisedbywolves]

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/...g/75594588007/

It has been over a month since a 13-year-old boy walked away from his mom at an Arizona car wash as local authorities continue a fervent search for the missing teen who has little familiarity with the area.

Elijah Gumbus has been missing since Aug. 31 and surveillance footage from the Weiss Guys Car Wash in Maricopa County, which USA TODAY obtained, shows the moments leading up to his disappearance. The boy, who is wearing a red shirt in the video, is seen hopping out of his mother's car and jogging west.

Elijah's mother can be heard in the footage calling out his name multiple times before the video cuts off.

“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," Tolleson police Lt. Lee Garrett told KPNX.

At the time of Elijah's disappearance, his mother was driving from California to Louisiana for her work, according to Garrett, per the Arizona-based TV station. The mother and son stopped at the car wash, and while she was cleaning the vehicle, Elijah jogged away, the lieutenant said.
Pictured is Elijah Gumbus

Neither Elijah nor his mother have ties to Arizona, which makes this case even more problematic and worrisome, Garrett told KPNX. There have been custody issues between Elijah's father and mother, but neither live in Arizona, and police have confirmed that the child is not with either of them, the TV station reported.

[Boston Babe 73]

Ugh. By the sounds of it, he didn't want to move. I really hope he's okay. Thirteen years old is old enough to maybe get along independently, but not old enough to maybe realize if someone is dangerous.

[Nic B]

Yeah, I wonder if he planned to hitchhike back. He could be hiding out at a friend's house, or something bad happened to him on the way.

[Bewitchingstorm]

The article says in Maricopa County. The county is massive and there are two locations for the car wash. One in Glendale and one in Phoenix. Both cities have sketchy areas.

[Bewitchingstorm]

There appears to be a third location in Scottsdale. Overall, it would be nice to know the city where this boy is missing from.

[raisedbywolves]

I found this:
https://www.12news.com/article/news/...f-50de5a2aad4a

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.

[Bewitchingstorm]

That is helpful - thanks, RBW.