CA CA - Sydney “Syd” West, 19, University of CA student, San Francisco, 30 Sept 2020

[Birdie1212]

Can someone from California area search and help find her
Not good that there are no local searches, barely any media covering it here

The family posted on their Facebook page that there will be a vigil on Sunday in San Francisco. Maybe they will organize a group search at that time? Of course, we are 16 days into the disappearance. Not sure at this juncture where they would search. Find Sydney West

 

[steff13]

They held a vigil in NC on Thursday, so I think as of this past Thursday they were still in NC. She does have an uncle in SF, perhaps he's representing the family there?

 

[ElizabethAnne]

Not knowing where Syd was during that evening, perhaps it is possible that she was dropped off in that area ... by a person who has or hasn't come forward.

Not knowing who she was living with leaves so much speculation to be had. Was she living with old friends of hers, was she living with new friends of hers, was she living with friends of her parents?

No one seems to have addressed this to my knowledge. At first the missing info said UC Berkeley student, then former UC Berkeley student living in the "San Francisco area." Is this SF, Oakland, or a suburb? No one seems to be saying.

I read on the Berkeley subreddit recently that if someone withdraws from Berkeley, they have a 30 day window to move out of the dorms. I'm not sure it is accurate, but that is what I read. Many freshman live in the Blackwell dorm, but no one has said what dorm she was living in, what she was planning to major in, etc. The Raleigh N&O article stated that her uncle Robert West helped her move into the dorm with the father.

Articles have been in the online SFGate, the Patch, several Bay Area TV station websites, the Pleasanton Weekly (online and printed edition last week), but there have been no articles that I have seen in the East Bay Times/Mercury News (which is strange because the East Bay Times covers Berkeley which is in the East Bay) or berkeleyside.com which is an independent news site covering Berkeley.

I don't think it has been announced when she withdrew from Berkeley as well. Merced and Berkeley are the only UCs on the semester system so classes started in the mid-August time frame (mainly online due to COVID). It would be helpful for the family to at least provide a ballpark of when she withdrew.

 

[ElizabethAnne]

<modsnip: Quoted post was removed>

I haven't heard of any organized searches in the SF area. The missing information from the SFPD (hope this link works) San Francisco Police Seeking Public’s Assistance with Missing Person Investigation (UPDATE) 20-109(a) | San Francisco Police Department describes Sydney's hair color as blonde, which differs from pictures I've seen the family release. Also yesterday from the Facebook live, I thought I heard her hair length described as shoulder length, which is a lot shorter than I thought from the pictures. I am wondering if the family is releasing current photos or relying on pictures they have that are older. If they don't have a current photo, I wish they would say it. Perhaps Sydney's hair is blonde and shoulder length, but it would be nice to have a photo that matches the description. Or if the SFPD description is not accurate, I wish the family would work with the SFPD to correct it.

 

[ElizabethAnne]

Since I found out Sydney seems to have withdrawn from classes, I started looking around for posts regarding withdrawing. There is a posting on the Berkeley subreddit from a month ago entitled "Withdrawal from semester questions." Student is a freshman who is from the east coast that is living in the dorms at UC Berkeley, wants to withdraw, says there has been two recent deaths in the family, says he/she is depressed. Says they are an intended MCB major, but want to change it. They talk about concerns about losing housing in the Blackwell dorm immediately after withdrawing.

It looks as though people who post to this subreddit use temporary generic Userids. I'm afraid if I do a direct link to this subreddit post, my post will be deleted. It isn't from insyderator, but from another userid.

I was curious and looked up what MCB means and it says this stands for Molecular and Cell Biology. Someone posted a few days ago when they looked for other Reddit postings that Sydney said she wants to be a Biology major at UC Davis (this is when she did not think she would be accepted at UC Berkeley). If you look at this post via google, does it seem to possibly have been make by Sydney West?

 

[ElizabethAnne]

The family posted on their Facebook page that there will be a vigil on Sunday in San Francisco. Maybe they will organize a group search at that time? Of course, we are 16 days into the disappearance. Not sure at this juncture where they would search. Find Sydney West

The latest news story in the Bay Area is this KRON story from October 15th. I did not see anything about a SF vigil on Sunday, but a request that people put candles on their porch. I might be missing it, because I am not all that great concerning searching Facebook. Here is the KRON story from October 15 Sydney West is still missing

 

[turanna25]

Since I found out Sydney seems to have withdrawn from classes, I started looking around for posts regarding withdrawing. There is a posting on the Berkeley subreddit from a month ago entitled "Withdrawal from semester questions." Student is a freshman who is from the east coast that is living in the dorms at UC Berkeley, wants to withdraw, says there has been two recent deaths in the family, says he/she is depressed. Says they are an intended MCB major, but want to change it. They talk about concerns about losing housing in the Blackwell dorm immediately after withdrawing.

It looks as though people who post to this subreddit use temporary generic Userids. I'm afraid if I do a direct link to this subreddit post, my post will be deleted. It isn't from insyderator, but from another userid.

I was curious and looked up what MCB means and it says this stands for Molecular and Cell Biology. Someone posted a few days ago when they looked for other Reddit postings that Sydney said she wants to be a Biology major at UC Davis (this is when she did not think she would be accepted at UC Berkeley). If you look at this post via google, does it seem to possibly have been make by Sydney West?

I saw that post.Unfortunately, without more information (regarding her major or plans for a major and living arrangements and also if there were any deaths in the family recently) we can't be sure. Although, that username has 3 posts in total under their name and created that acct on 10/3/2019. It also says that account is verified by e-mail.

I have been scouring reddit as well since her insyderator username doesn't seem to have any recent posts (most recent being 5 months ago), I was wondering if she created a new username.

 

[ChatteringBirds]

I think a vigil in SF will be a good way to bring attention and maybe tips.

I'd think her parents really need support, love, and help with / at the vigil. Just kindness, no questions.

Are any SF locals here planning to go?

Wish I could tell Sydney, although we don't know you, we all care here. We remember being 19 and what it feels like. Please call your family this weekend.

 

[ElizabethAnne]

It looks like a vigil will be held in Pleasanton on First Street at Lions Wayside Park this Thursday Oct 22 at 6 PM.
Vigil to Find Sydney West - West Coast/FB Live

 

[moody_chicago]

Is nobody considering any foul play whatsoever? It kinda scares me thinking that someone could have possibly taken her but yet we’re convinced she ran away or self harmed, ya know?
jmo

 

[10ofRods]

Is nobody considering any foul play whatsoever? It kinda scares me thinking that someone could have possibly taken her but yet we’re convinced she ran away or self harmed, ya know?
jmo

I for sure am considering it. The question is whether SFPD is treating that as a possibility.

 

[ElizabethAnne]

Is nobody considering any foul play whatsoever? It kinda scares me thinking that someone could have possibly taken her but yet we’re convinced she ran away or self harmed, ya know?
jmo

The SFPD does not investigate potential crimes that occur on the Presidio in San Francisco because it is considered Federal property. Instead the Park Police (Federal) investigates potential crimes there because the SFPD does not have jurisdiction there. Crazy but true. Station Finder | San Francisco Police Department

 

[katydid23]

Is nobody considering any foul play whatsoever? It kinda scares me thinking that someone could have possibly taken her but yet we’re convinced she ran away or self harmed, ya know?
jmo

An absolute possibility. She may have met up with someone who had bad intentions. She may have been lured or kidnapped..Or she may have run off with someone and things went sideways...or maybe she doesn't want to be found yet?

 

[siliconda]

Since I found out Sydney seems to have withdrawn from classes, I started looking around for posts regarding withdrawing. There is a posting on the Berkeley subreddit from a month ago entitled "Withdrawal from semester questions." Student is a freshman who is from the east coast that is living in the dorms at UC Berkeley, wants to withdraw, says there has been two recent deaths in the family, says he/she is depressed. Says they are an intended MCB major, but want to change it. They talk about concerns about losing housing in the Blackwell dorm immediately after withdrawing.

It looks as though people who post to this subreddit use temporary generic Userids. I'm afraid if I do a direct link to this subreddit post, my post will be deleted. It isn't from insyderator, but from another userid.

I was curious and looked up what MCB means and it says this stands for Molecular and Cell Biology. Someone posted a few days ago when they looked for other Reddit postings that Sydney said she wants to be a Biology major at UC Davis (this is when she did not think she would be accepted at UC Berkeley). If you look at this post via google, does it seem to possibly have been make by Sydney West?

Could be wrong but I feel like it's not Syd based on how they type (that poster seems to use a lot of shortened words like abt bc rlly but Syd didn't in any of her posts/comments). Also did people see the image someone tweeted saying "Sydney is a freshman on our team. Keep her in your thoughts" -- did she join a team at Berkeley? The person who tweeted it is in SF so I assume it's recent and not talking about her high school vball teams. Edit: I just saw the poster goes to Cal as well and is on the rowing team (not sure if i'm allowed to link)

 

[Kaligirl]

I think it was a terrible idea for Cal to let freshmen into the dorms with all classes online. The month of Sept was not great for these kids, the dorms recirculate air so the dangerous smoke and bad air from the fires was in their rooms! These kids have never been away from home and now they are alone in a dorm room filled with smoke and the most challenging workload they have ever experienced. Talk about isolating. I went to Cal many moons ago and I remember my O Chem professor saying approx 60% of the auditorium will either drop or flunk the class -- he was very proud of that.

 

[ElizabethAnne]

Could be wrong but I feel like it's not Syd based on how they type (that poster seems to use a lot of shortened words like abt bc rlly but Syd didn't in any of her posts/comments). Also did people see the image someone tweeted saying "Sydney is a freshman on our team. Keep her in your thoughts" -- did she join a team at Berkeley? The person who tweeted it is in SF so I assume it's recent and not talking about her high school vball teams. Edit: I just saw the poster goes to Cal as well and is on the rowing team (not sure if i'm allowed to link)

Sydney said in her Reddit posts under insyderator that Cal had offered her a walk on position on the women's rowing team. The Blackwell dorm typically gives preference to Regent's scholarship students and UCB athletes so that is why I was wondering if it could be her. It's UC Berkeley's newest dorm and I think it has an attached gym if I remember correctly. I thought she used a lot of abbreviations (oos, bro, bruh, rd, ec, etc. some that I had to look up) in the insyderator posts. The user under the subreddit also posted about 100 days ago a thread called Blackwell-Socially Dead that has been deleted. I can't find a cached copy of what it said before it was deleted. It would mean it was posted about the 2nd week of August.[Revision: Oops, my calculation was wrong...100 days ago would put the posting in about mid-July, NOT 2nd week of August].

 

[siliconda]

Sydney said in her Reddit posts under insyderator that Cal had offered her a walk on position on the women's rowing team. The Blackwell dorm typically gives preference to Regent's scholarship students and UCB athletes so that is why I was wondering if it could be her. It's UC Berkeley's newest dorm and I think it has an attached gym if I remember correctly. I thought she used a lot of abbreviations (oos, bro, bruh, rd, ec, etc. some that I had to look up) in the insyderator posts. The user under the subreddit also posted about 100 days ago a thread called Blackwell-Socially Dead that has been deleted. I can't find a cached copy of what it said before it was deleted. It would mean it was posted about the 2nd week of August.

Here's a cached copy - doesn't say too much unfortunately
Removeddit

 

[ElizabethAnne]

Here's a cached copy - doesn't say too much unfortunately
Removeddit

Thanks for posting it. 100 days ago would mean it was posted in middle July. I don't know what I was thinking when I said 2nd week of August.

 

[SteveP]

Is nobody considering any foul play whatsoever? It kinda scares me thinking that someone could have possibly taken her but yet we’re convinced she ran away or self harmed, ya know?
jmo

Initially, I was on the fence about 50/50 that she had voluntarily disappeared or had harmed herself. As time has passed though, I think the odds of a voluntary disappearance have dwindled to almost zero, because if she had done that, surely SOMEONE besides her knows, and I believe someone would have either contacted LE or her family, or would have convinced her to by now, or she would have been spotted by someone, who then notified LE. I now am on the fence as far as self harm versus harm at the hands of someone else, either known, or unknown to her. I believe self harm is the most likely scenario now, but I certainly would not rule out the other. JMO

 

[ElizabethAnne]

Here's a cached copy - doesn't say too much unfortunately
Removeddit

I found another deleted post from this UserID posted 3 months ago asking about a political science course that the user was registered for that met once a week (probably remotely) once a week every Wednesday from 12-2 PM JUNIOR SEMINAR: Elections Around the World | Courses | UC Berkeley Political Science Then the post was deleted.