Disappearance of Sydney West

Sydney Kaitlyn West was born on July 11, 2001, and grew up in the San Francisco Bay Area before her family relocated to North Carolina in 2017. She graduated from Carrboro High School in Carrboro, North Carolina, where she played volleyball. After taking a gap year, West moved back to California in late August 2020 to attend summer sessions at UC Berkeley as a freshman. Due to a concussion sustained during the summer of 2020 and disruptions from the COVID-19 pandemic, she deferred her formal enrollment until Fall 2021. At the time of her disappearance, she was living with family friends in the Bay Area. The San Francisco Police Department noted that she was considered at risk due to depression.

West was described as a white female, 5 feet 10 inches tall, weighing approximately 130 pounds, with blue eyes and blonde or light brown hair. She was last seen wearing a teal or blue hoodie or sweatshirt, dark leggings or shorts, and slip-on Vans sneakers, possibly with a tropical print, and carrying a black backpack, with her hair in a bun and possibly wearing eyeglasses.

On the evening of September 29, 2020, West had a lengthy phone conversation with her father. The following morning, around 6:45 a.m., she took a ride share to Crissy Field, a park adjacent to the Golden Gate Bridge that she often visited to walk or run. Surveillance footage captured her walking eastbound toward the bridge before she disappeared into dense fog and smoke from regional wildfires that were affecting the area at the time. The bridge was reported to be crowded that morning. There has been no activity on her phone, bank accounts, or social media accounts since that morning. A family member reported her missing to authorities on October 1, 2020, and the case was transferred to the San Francisco Police Department.

The SFPD issued a public appeal for information on October 2, 2020, describing West as at risk due to depression. Search efforts focused on the bridge area. Authorities received dozens of tips in the initial months following her disappearance. West's family hired private investigator Scott Dudek to pursue leads in the case. By early 2021, the family had offered a $10,000 reward for information leading to her safe return, an amount later increased to $25,000. Cyclists have organized rides to raise awareness of her disappearance, and her case has been featured on the television program Disappeared. As of the most recent reporting, the case remains unresolved, with no confirmed sightings or evidence of her whereabouts since the morning of September 30, 2020.