CA CA - Sydney “Syd” West, 19, Univ of CA student, San Francisco, 30 Sep 2020 #2

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"It was foggy, but she kind of disappears into the fog," private investigator Scott Dudek told Fox News Digital. "You would think if somebody went and crawled up on the rails with all those people and bike riders, somebody would have either called, which, that never happened, or somebody would have tried to talk to her and try to come forward with all that publicity, and that never happened."

"There were a lot of people on the bridge that morning, so that's what continues to baffle us," West's mom, Kimberly West, told the outlet.

According to a website dedicated to her disappearance, Sydney suffered a concussion in the summer of 2020 before her move to Berkeley. At Berkeley, she was taking classes remotely because of COVID and "this proved challenging for Sydney and she made the decision to defer until Fall 2020 so she could fully recover," the website said.
people.com

Family of Missing Student 'Baffled' After Footage Shows Her Vanishing 'into the Fog' Near Golden Gate Bridge

Sydney West was last seen walking towards San Francisco's Golden Gate Bridge on Sept. 30, 2020. The 19-year-old student was captured on surveillance video around 6:45 a.m. around Crissy Field, a popular recreation area.
people.com people.com
 
"There were a lot of people on the bridge that morning, so that's what continues to baffle us," West's mom, Kimberly West, told the outlet.

Even with a lot of people on the bridge there are still numerous videos of people waiting for the right moment when no one's looking, and they quickly climb up and over the railing. This literally takes less than a minute, stalled only by if they hesitate.
 
www.statnews.com

The tragedy of the Golden Gate Bridge’s $400 million anti-suicide net

Spending $400 million to save 30 people a year in a country where more than 48,000 die annually by suicide is a misuse of funds.
www.statnews.com www.statnews.com

Snipped...
...While building a barrier net is invaluable to those affected, it is, in truth, a poor use of dollars. It would make far more humane and fiscal sense if we caught people long before they jumped.

The current population of the Bay Area is about 3.3 million. While money certainly can’t buy happiness, at $120 per resident, $400 million can buy an awful lot of therapeutic help and crisis intervention for those who need it — particularly given that 85% of those who choose to jump from the Golden Gate live within an hour’s drive of the bridge.

...Only 2% of people who die by suicide choose to do so by jumping from heights. Of the 48,183 suicides recorded in 2021 in the U.S., Golden Gate jumpers account for less than one-tenth of one percent of total suicide deaths.

ETA: Where are you Sydney,???
 
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tarabull said:
While building a barrier net is invaluable to those affected, it is, in truth, a poor use of dollars.
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I couldn't disagree with this article more. So angering that anyone would feel this way.

A significant portion of suicides are rather impulsive. Barriers that prevent attempts allow people time to reconsider and change their mind. This bridge is something San Francisco needs to fix. Why would it matter what it costs? Fix it.

They could have fixed it a long time ago and used current funds toward additional mental health services. Do we want to be having the same discussion a decade from now?

To the nurse who wrote that article, I am talking to you. To the city of San Francisco, I am talking to you.
 
ChatteringBirds said:
I couldn't disagree with this article more. So angering that anyone would feel this way.

A significant portion of suicides are rather impulsive. Barriers that prevent attempts allow people time to reconsider and change their mind. This bridge is something San Francisco needs to fix. Why would it matter what it costs? Fix it.

They could have fixed it a long time ago and used current funds toward additional mental health services. Do we want to be having the same discussion a decade from now?

To the nurse who wrote that article, I am talking to you. To the city of San Francisco, I am talking to you.
Click to expand...

ChatteringBirds said:
I couldn't disagree with this article more. So angering that anyone would feel this way.

A significant portion of suicides are rather impulsive. Barriers that prevent attempts allow people time to reconsider and change their mind. This bridge is something San Francisco needs to fix. Why would it matter what it costs? Fix it.

They could have fixed it a long time ago and used current funds toward additional mental health services. Do we want to be having the same discussion a decade from now?

To the nurse who wrote that article, I am talking to you. To the city of San Francisco, I am talking to you.
Click to expand...
I think help needs to be available long before a person decides to jump. That's more useful, IMO, vs last minute help. Ideally, help should always be available at all times

I really hope Sydney is still out there, somewhere, doing her own thing
 
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Protectwomenandgirls said:
I think help needs to be available long before a person decides to jump. That's more useful, IMO, vs last minute help. Ideally, help should always be available at all times
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I agree, but both are important. There needs to be easily accessible help before it gets to that point but also barriers for when it does. I'm saying, let's value both. San Francisco has so much wealth, but not enough is going toward helping the problems, IMO.
 
Sydney's case is going to be featured on the ID show Disappeared on August 27.


A Vanishing At The Golden Gate State Bridge Premieres Sunday, August 27 at 10/9c

19-year-old Sydney West is a vibrant young woman who's just been accepted to her dream school for college. But on the morning of September 20th, 2020, Sydney decides to visit the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco and mysteriously vanishes into the fog.

Breaking News - discovery+ and ID Highlights - Weeks of August 14 and August 21 | TheFutonCritic.com

www.thefutoncritic.com www.thefutoncritic.com
 
Pursula said:
Sydney's case is going to be featured on the ID show Disappeared on August 27.


A Vanishing At The Golden Gate State Bridge Premieres Sunday, August 27 at 10/9c

19-year-old Sydney West is a vibrant young woman who's just been accepted to her dream school for college. But on the morning of September 20th, 2020, Sydney decides to visit the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco and mysteriously vanishes into the fog.

Breaking News - discovery+ and ID Highlights - Weeks of August 14 and August 21 | TheFutonCritic.com

www.thefutoncritic.com www.thefutoncritic.com
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Thanks. I just saw that on the TV guide, it's on tonight. I hope they get the facts straight.
 
Watched the “Disappeared“ episode and I’m of the opinion that sadly, this young woman took her own life. Her parents seem to be in denial but admit that she had anxiety and depression. I’m not judging them, I’m sure they are suffering but to me this is pretty cut and dried. She was emotionally struggling and she jumped. It’s a terrible thing and I pray her family can find peace.
 
Kittycat01 said:
Watched the “Disappeared“ episode and I’m of the opinion that sadly, this young woman took her own life. Her parents seem to be in denial but admit that she had anxiety and depression. I’m not judging them, I’m sure they are suffering but to me this is pretty cut and dried. She was emotionally struggling and she jumped. It’s a terrible thing and I pray her family can find peace.
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I didn’t see the program, but early on it seemed likely that she took her own life. It’s easy for me to say as an outsider looking in, but I can’t begin to imagine how hard it is for parents to accept. And yes, sometimes parents are right when they say “My child would never take their own life. It has to be foul play.” But usually their child has managed to hide the increasing depth of their pain and hopelessness from those close to them. So their suicide understandably blindsides their families and leaves them wondering what they could have done differently. I too pray they can find peace.

I have followed many threads that were probable suicides and WS members who are suicide survivors and have generously shared their thinking leading up to their suicide attempt(s). So often they have believed that the pain will never end and that their loved ones would be better off without them. That’s depression talking, of course. But it helped me see that suicide isn’t necessarily the “selfish” “attention-seeking” act it’s often assumed to be. They simply didn’t want to be a burden. I can imagine Sydney feeling this way.

JMO
 
Lilibet said:
I didn’t see the program, but early on it seemed likely that she took her own life. It’s easy for me to say as an outsider looking in, but I can’t begin to imagine how hard it is for parents to accept. And yes, sometimes parents are right when they say “My child would never take their own life. It has to be foul play.” But usually their child has managed to hide the increasing depth of their pain and hopelessness from those close to them. So their suicide understandably blindsides their families and leaves them wondering what they could have done differently. I too pray they can find peace.

I have followed many threads that were probable suicides and WS members who are suicide survivors and have generously shared their thinking leading up to their suicide attempt(s). So often they have believed that the pain will never end and that their loved ones would be better off without them. That’s depression talking, of course. But it helped me see that suicide isn’t necessarily the “selfish” “attention-seeking” act it’s often assumed to be. They simply didn’t want to be a burden. I can imagine Sydney feeling this way.

JMO
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Sadly, so do I.
 
ChatteringBirds said:
I couldn't disagree with this article more. So angering that anyone would feel this way.

A significant portion of suicides are rather impulsive. Barriers that prevent attempts allow people time to reconsider and change their mind. This bridge is something San Francisco needs to fix. Why would it matter what it costs? Fix it.

They could have fixed it a long time ago and used current funds toward additional mental health services. Do we want to be having the same discussion a decade from now?

To the nurse who wrote that article, I am talking to you. To the city of San Francisco, I am talking to you.
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They did this in Canada, and people just went to a different bridge to jump. Unfortunately, putting up a net only stops them from jumping off of *that* bridge.

And I do believe that Sydney's life was far from idyllic. WHY did they move across the country when she was a junior in high school? Especially when her entire life was in CA? I would think leaving her there to finish school, or waiting it out, would have been better. I am not blaming them-life happens, but moving a kid who is a junior is not fun at all. I think she did jump off of the bridge. I guess I just wish she would have left a note in her backpack.
 
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StephanieH said:
They did this in Canada, and people just went to a different bridge to jump. Unfortunately, putting up a net only stops them from jumping off of *that* bridge.
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which, IMO, is fine. It doesn't take away from the need to build a suicide barrier for the GGB. Jumping from a bridge is incredibly impulsive. The GGB is often alluring. Would-be jumpers can change their mind in just a few minutes. 29 out of 29 survivors of jumping the GGB have all said they regretted it the instant they jumped. (source)

This 2003 NYT article cites an NYPD police officer who believes suicides have been prevented simply because despondent people drawn to jump from the Brooklyn Bridge had changed their mind in the 20-30 minutes it took to reach the area.
 
GGB has an excessive number of suicides/attempts, IMO. Can't think of another place in heavily populated California that attracts so many. SF County itself has only 800,000 people. At any rate, SF and California put aside money for suicide prevention and that's probably the biggest single place where spontaneous suicides occur. Probably less now with opiates in the picture.

Also, the parents claim there were "lots of people" on the bridge early that morning, but local LE (IIRC) stated that most were in cars or rapidly biking across the bridge at the beginning of rush hour. There were some joggers (and Syd might have looked like a jogger). The act would have been quick. I can't get my mind around what she was going through - the pressures she appeared to be under were intense.

IMO.
 
IMO this is a suicide as well. There will always be a fraction of family and friends unable to accept the victims decision. My father committed suicide in our garge in 1999. Yet some 24 years later, my Dad’s brothers have came up with elaborate murder conspiracies, even though there was a note and voicemail messages, 2 prior suicide attempts within the year before this…Occam’s razor, right. I’m watching shows like, “Still a mystery, unsolved mysteries and Disappeared”, sometimes it’s edited out or just scanned over completely prior suicide attempts, threats or other mental health issues. I hope the family is able to find peace in their search for answers, soon and be able to grieve properly.
 
Chappy said:
IMO this is a suicide as well. There will always be a fraction of family and friends unable to accept the victims decision. My father committed suicide in our garge in 1999. Yet some 24 years later, my Dad’s brothers have came up with elaborate murder conspiracies, even though there was a note and voicemail messages, 2 prior suicide attempts within the year before this…Occam’s razor, right. I’m watching shows like, “Still a mystery, unsolved mysteries and Disappeared”, sometimes it’s edited out or just scanned over completely prior suicide attempts, threats or other mental health issues. I hope the family is able to find peace in their search for answers, soon and be able to grieve properly.
Click to expand...

RBBM

I'm so sorry for your loss.
 
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