13-year-old Walked Away From His Mother at an Arizona Car Wash. A Month Later, He is Still Missing

It has been more than a month since a 13-year-old boy walked away from his mother at an Arizona car wash, and local authorities are still searching for the missing adolescent, who is unfamiliar with the area.

Elijah Gumbus has been missing since August 31, and USA TODAY discovered CCTV footage from the Weiss Guys Car Wash in Maricopa County that depicts the events leading up to his disappearance. In the footage, the youngster is seen getting out of his mother’s car and sprinting west. He is wearing a red shirt.

Elijah’s mother can be heard crying out his name several times before the video ends.

“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,” Lieutenant Lee Garrett of Tolleson police told KPNX.

USA TODAY contacted Tolleson police on Wednesday but has not responded.

As the search for Elijah continues, Garrett stated that the department has a “detective who is 100% dedicated to just this case at this point,” according to KPNX.

“We’re extremely concerned,” the lieutenant stated. “We’re very involved.”

Garrett told the Arizona-based TV station that Elijah’s mother was driving from California to Louisiana for business when he went missing. The mother and boy stopped at the car wash, and while she was cleaning the vehicle, Elijah sprinted away, according to the lieutenant.

Garrett told KPNX that neither Elijah nor his mother had any ties to Arizona, making the situation even more complicated and frightening. Elijah’s father and mother have custody issues, but neither lives in Arizona, and authorities have confirmed that the youngster is not with either of them, according to the TV station.

“What concerns me the most is his age and the fact that he has no ties to Arizona or family here. “We don’t know how he would have connected with someone here, or if he simply ran away,” Garrett said. “He’s not a huge kid, so he stands out. He has a young face. So we’re hoping that someone sees this and realizes that if he’s on the street or with someone he shouldn’t be, they’ll contact 911 right away.”

Anyone with information on Elijah’s location can call the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children at 1-800-THE-LOST or Tolleson police at 1-623-936-7186.