When we think about missing children, we assume that a stranger in an unmarked van pulled up and either bribed or forced them into the car against their will. If they’re younger, we recognize that they may have wandered off. But rarely do we consider the children who made the active and conscious decision to leave their parents’ care.
While many children fantasize about running away from home, few actually go through with it for any length of time. But on August 31, 2024, 13-year-old Elijah Gumbus, ran away from his mother. He hasn’t been seen or heard from since.
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There is video of the moment Elijah left his mother.
Gumbus was last seen with his mother at a carwash in Tolleson, Arizona, USA Today reported. Surveillance video from the Weiss Guys Car Wash shows the last moments before Gumbus’ disappearance. In the video, Gumbus, who is wearing a red shirt, jumps out of his mother’s car and starts jogging west.
Seconds later, his mother appears in the footage and calls her son’s name repeatedly before the footage 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,” Tolleson Police Lt. Lee Garrett told KPNX.
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There is a history of custody issues between the boy's parents.
On the day Gumbus ran from his mother’s car, the two were traveling from California to Louisiana for her work, Lt. Lee Garrett told KPNX. The mother and son stopped at the car wash so she could clean out her car. Neither mother or son have ties to Arizona, which makes the case that much more problematic and worrisome, Garrett said.
In the past, there have been custody issues between Gumbus’ mother and father, but neither of them live in Arizona and police have confirmed that he is not with either parent.
'He's not a very big kid, so he's somebody that would stand out,' Garrett said.
Garrett said Gumbus’ disappearance raises a lot of questions. “We don’t know how he would have connected with somebody here, or if he just simply ran away,” he said. “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 then they will call 911 immediately.”
