I am local. I live in Pleasanton and grew up In downtown SF. No one is “minimizing” how she departed from her backpack but rather being practical enough to realize that it most likely was not left exactly how Sydney departed from it unless it was found very shortly after she went missing.
I lived in SF for more than a decade and I agree that even an early morning backpack might riffled through (although...I am not going to say that is certain).
I think that some people on WS think that there should be or should have been more of an investigation involving this missing person, but since I worked in the Bay Area (mostly in jails and mental hospitals) for 15 years (not that long ago), I am well aware that LE doesn't spend tons of man hours on these cases.
We'd have young people in mental wards for six months before any LE would even answer our emails or letters. And SF has a terrible crime clearance rate. For a county of 900,00o or so (many of them rich). I think some people regard this as "minimizing," which is all I'm saying. That was back in the day (15 years ago) where such longterm holds for young people were possible - today they are turfed out or simply discharged, disoriented, in urban settings.
I'm neutral. I think this case has gotten way more publicity that any case in the town where I currently live, but it's still not very much.
There are 20,000 missing persons in California. How many of them are on WS? Only a handful.
Which counties have the highest rates of missing persons? I am not sure, but NorCal (Humboldt County in particular) has the worst record, IMO. There are more articles about Sydney than any other SF missing person that I can find - including young teens.
That's because her parents have been diligent in contacting LE, IMO.
But the fact that her last known artifact is on GG bridge is a big clue, and I do not think that SF are going to go to any further lengths, at this point, to find her.
She went to Crissy Field early in the morning (and apparently changed clothes within sight of the Bridge). Then somehow her backpack is on the approach or early section of the bridge.
She could have hitchhiked. But her social media presence was pretty regular, and no one has heard from her.