I'm from the Palo Alto area, and am around Syd's age, and I can tell you that there is truly a suicide pandemic in my city. While the train has been discussed frequently in the news, suicide by other methods are sadly just as common. From my high school alone we have lost three students over the last two years, and while there has been a shift among the student body to discuss and reduce the stigma of depression and mental illness, I have not seen a major shift in the habits and practices of teachers and parents. I know this seems off topic, but I view CAL as very similar to this environment- very academically competitive, socially isolating, and extremely easy to get lost as a student.
From the information we have been given it seems evident that Syd attended CAL for the summer session (typically reserved for freshman anyway) and then withdrew or dropped out (a decision she made likely with out consulting her parents). I know that a lot of people in the comments are alluding to suicide and the bridge, but IMO it is equally likely that the pressure at CAL made Sydney want to live off on her own, and it seemed like even before she was reported missing she was a little bit off the grid and maybe even had halted contact with her parents.
The amount of time she has been missing is very shocking and worrisome , and the lack of information the public has been given alludes to the parents already knowing the outcome (I think that fact that her parents are still in NC says the same thing sadly), but I'm still wondering, why even release any information online at all? I think we should all be hopeful, however, as the lack of information could be an effort to give Sydney space.
Off topic but I know someone discussed the "Finsta" earlier- the vast majority of people my age have finsta accounts for their friends only where they share stories, rants, and content that shouldn't be seen on a public account. This is normal and is not really cause for concern in my opinion.
