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

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I just watched the Disappeared episode and I'm more convinced now of a suicide. There were a lot of red flags, she said she felt she let down herself and her family the night before on the phone call to her dad, when he said he wanted her to come back home. She was walking on then turned around and ran off the bridge, set the backpack down off the bridge in bushes (there were some photos of it on the episode) and then ran back on and was seen running across the bridge on the cameras before disappearing in the fog. They found artwork, colored pencils, notebooks (no note apparently) and some clothes in her backpack and she checked out of the Hilton that morning. The doorman at the hotel had actually chatted with her while she waited to get picked up by the Uber and helped her get in the car and thought she acted normally. Though I can understand the parents wanting more proof.
 
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amethystcrystal said:
I just watched the Disappeared episode and I'm more convinced now of a suicide. There were a lot of red flags, she said she felt she let down herself and her family the night before on the phone call to her dad, when he said he wanted her to come back home. She was walking on then turned around and ran off the bridge, set the backpack down off the bridge in bushes (there were some photos of it on the episode) and then ran back on and was seen running across the bridge on the cameras before disappearing in the fog. They found artwork, colored pencils, notebooks (no note apparently) and some clothes in her backpack and she checked out of the Hilton that morning. The doorman at the hotel had actually chatted with her while she waited to get picked up by the Uber and helped her get in the car and thought she acted normally. Though I can understand the parents wanting more proof.
Click to expand...
That was the same impression I had. To add to that, she was last seen wearing slip-on Van's. Not a normal choice for someone going for a run or exercising. Second, was the concussion and the fact she received it jumping off a bridge (which could be symbolic).
patients diagnosed with concussion or mild traumatic brain injury (TBI) had double the risk of suicide when compared with people who did not have brain injuries. Concussion, brain injury linked to higher risk of suicide
bbm
JMOO
 
SpanishMossAntiques said:
"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.
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True, yet if you look at her behavior prior to getting picked up by her Uber and by what she did before she was last seen on Camera Footage on the Bridge, it leaves a bit of doubt on the idea that she committed suicide. Based on the latest interview by her dad on the Investigation-Discovery Show 'Disappeared' which aired this month. Of course they couldn't show us the video on the bridge on the day she disappeared but the dad gave us a description of what he saw.

Sydney was seen on camera walking on the bridge after being dropped off at Crissy Fields. She was on her phone and was carrying her backpack... suddenly she left out of view. She suddenly reappeared back at the entrance of the bridge without her back pack. (This is where they believed she had set her backpack down where it was later found days after her disappearance) Her dad then said that he watched her jog with only her phone and headphones. Her dad mentions that moment stood out to him because as he watched her run, he thought back to a time where he had taught her how to run so that she doesn't damage her knees. She was last seen jogging past the second CCTV camera a few ways into the bridge. The dad mentioned that they spent time watching the entrance and exit of the bridge but she wasn't spotted again. My question is - a lot of thoughts could be going on in her mind if she was considering jumping to end her life. It's a huge decision that would require her specifically focused on that one moment anxious and busily making every effort to get the courage to do the unthinkable. So why, of all the moments to choose from between the hotel and the bridge, would she change focus just to safely hide her backpack? She's ending her life by jumping, why not take her backpack, leave it on the spot she chose to jump? Running back I assume would be a distraction from the task at hand.

An hour earlier, prior to getting to the bridge, she took the time to conversate with the doorman at the front door of the hotel while waiting for her Uber. Doorman said that she was a delightful person to speak to and he remembered her vividly when questioned days later due to her demeanor. There's a lot at play here and I think it's suspicious.
 
IslandGurrl2124 said:
An hour earlier, prior to getting to the bridge, she took the time to conversate with the doorman at the front door of the hotel while waiting for her Uber. Doorman said that she was a delightful person to speak to and he remembered her vividly when questioned days later due to her demeanor. There's a lot at play here and I think it's suspicious.
Click to expand...

You make some interesting points to consider, but I want to focus on her conversation with the doorman. Sometimes people who have made a decision to commit suicide seem happy and cheerful, even if they’ve been depressed previously. It’s as if once the decision has been made, a load is lifted. So it’s not necessarily a sign that suicide can be dismissed.

www.hopkinsmedicine.org

Depression and Suicide

Most people who commit suicide have a mental disorder, most commonly a depressive disorder or a substance abuse disorder.
www.hopkinsmedicine.org www.hopkinsmedicine.org
 
amethystcrystal said:
I just watched the Disappeared episode and I'm more convinced now of a suicide. There were a lot of red flags, she said she felt she let down herself and her family the night before on the phone call to her dad, when he said he wanted her to come back home. She was walking on then turned around and ran off the bridge, set the backpack down off the bridge in bushes (there were some photos of it on the episode) and then ran back on and was seen running across the bridge on the cameras before disappearing in the fog. They found artwork, colored pencils, notebooks (no note apparently) and some clothes in her backpack and she checked out of the Hilton that morning. The doorman at the hotel had actually chatted with her while she waited to get picked up by the Uber and helped her get in the car and thought she acted normally. Though I can understand the parents wanting more proof.
Click to expand...
when i worked at a jail we received training on signs to look for in persons considering suicide. one of which was a previous depressed person seeming all of a sudden normal and rational. its because they have decided to end it and are relieved.
 
IslandGurrl2124 said:
True, yet if you look at her behavior prior to getting picked up by her Uber and by what she did before she was last seen on Camera Footage on the Bridge, it leaves a bit of doubt on the idea that she committed suicide. Based on the latest interview by her dad on the Investigation-Discovery Show 'Disappeared' which aired this month. Of course they couldn't show us the video on the bridge on the day she disappeared but the dad gave us a description of what he saw.

Sydney was seen on camera walking on the bridge after being dropped off at Crissy Fields. She was on her phone and was carrying her backpack... suddenly she left out of view. She suddenly reappeared back at the entrance of the bridge without her back pack. (This is where they believed she had set her backpack down where it was later found days after her disappearance) Her dad then said that he watched her jog with only her phone and headphones. Her dad mentions that moment stood out to him because as he watched her run, he thought back to a time where he had taught her how to run so that she doesn't damage her knees. She was last seen jogging past the second CCTV camera a few ways into the bridge. The dad mentioned that they spent time watching the entrance and exit of the bridge but she wasn't spotted again. My question is - a lot of thoughts could be going on in her mind if she was considering jumping to end her life. It's a huge decision that would require her specifically focused on that one moment anxious and busily making every effort to get the courage to do the unthinkable. So why, of all the moments to choose from between the hotel and the bridge, would she change focus just to safely hide her backpack? She's ending her life by jumping, why not take her backpack, leave it on the spot she chose to jump? Running back I assume would be a distraction from the task at hand.

An hour earlier, prior to getting to the bridge, she took the time to conversate with the doorman at the front door of the hotel while waiting for her Uber. Doorman said that she was a delightful person to speak to and he remembered her vividly when questioned days later due to her demeanor. There's a lot at play here and I think it's suspicious.
Click to expand...
BBM see my reply immediately above this.
 
cvaldez1975 said:
when i worked at a jail we received training on signs to look for in persons considering suicide. one of which was a previous depressed person seeming all of a sudden normal and rational. its because they have decided to end it and are relieved.
Click to expand...
I followed her case very closely and really wanted her to be found alive and well. She was a lovely, vibrant, talented young woman looking to find her way in the world. I was really rooting for her.

After reading many of her emotional posts, most of which have been deleted by her family, I saw how hard she was struggling. And the last year of her known life was very difficult for her. She was adrift and very troubled, it seems.

I grew up in the Bay Area and have known a few people who decided to jump off that bridge. My high school boyfriends older brother did so in 1968. It shocked us to the core.

I went to UC Berkeley in the 70's, and 3 students that I knew of, were believed to have done the same thing during my years there. It was haunting.

So when I watch that last known video of her, getting lost in the fog as she walks along the bridge, I tend to believe she took that same sad journey. Heartbreaking, devastating but all too familiar.
 
IslandGurrl2124 said:
True, yet if you look at her behavior prior to getting picked up by her Uber and by what she did before she was last seen on Camera Footage on the Bridge, it leaves a bit of doubt on the idea that she committed suicide. Based on the latest interview by her dad on the Investigation-Discovery Show 'Disappeared' which aired this month. Of course they couldn't show us the video on the bridge on the day she disappeared but the dad gave us a description of what he saw.

Sydney was seen on camera walking on the bridge after being dropped off at Crissy Fields. She was on her phone and was carrying her backpack... suddenly she left out of view. She suddenly reappeared back at the entrance of the bridge without her back pack. (This is where they believed she had set her backpack down where it was later found days after her disappearance) Her dad then said that he watched her jog with only her phone and headphones. Her dad mentions that moment stood out to him because as he watched her run, he thought back to a time where he had taught her how to run so that she doesn't damage her knees. She was last seen jogging past the second CCTV camera a few ways into the bridge. The dad mentioned that they spent time watching the entrance and exit of the bridge but she wasn't spotted again. My question is - a lot of thoughts could be going on in her mind if she was considering jumping to end her life. It's a huge decision that would require her specifically focused on that one moment anxious and busily making every effort to get the courage to do the unthinkable. So why, of all the moments to choose from between the hotel and the bridge, would she change focus just to safely hide her backpack? She's ending her life by jumping, why not take her backpack, leave it on the spot she chose to jump? Running back I assume would be a distraction from the task at hand.

An hour earlier, prior to getting to the bridge, she took the time to conversate with the doorman at the front door of the hotel while waiting for her Uber. Doorman said that she was a delightful person to speak to and he remembered her vividly when questioned days later due to her demeanor. There's a lot at play here and I think it's suspicious.
Click to expand...

As someone else said (but I think it's very important to emphasize), suicidal people who are resolved to end their lives and have a specific plan (often a plan they think will spare their families finding a body - or spare First Responders from having to respond) are cheerful, relieved, and much more willing to converse.

I find the cheerful demeanor with the doorman to be quite ominous. As a teacher (of adults), I'm quite aware that a depressed student who is suddenly friendly and cheerful needs a bit of concern (the doorman couldn't have known - but we teachers see people regularly).

Most of the time, people who are serious about suicide (but somehow fail) talk about how certain and composed they were at the time of their attempt. Instead of "lots of thoughts," the thoughts calm and disappear - once the resolution is made. This is good to know, I think. I've worked on suicide hotlines but also done training for people who are going to work on suicide hotlines and a lot of research in mental hospitals. A lot of suicidal people do not feel they have to "work up courage" to do the deed, just figure out how to minimize impact on the rest of the world.

It's one of the saddest things in the world.

:(
 
katydid23 said:
I followed her case very closely and really wanted her to be found alive and well. She was a lovely, vibrant, talented young woman looking to find her way in the world. I was really rooting for her.
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Same. In the beginning I believed the pressure became too much for her and she just ran off somewhere else. After finally learning more I feel the signs indicate more towards a potential suicide instead.

I saw on the family's official Find Sydney page today that they are getting help from a group called "We Are the Essentials" (a group of former law enforcement officers and military) who try to track down missing people and set up a Go-Fund-Me. I wonder if they will find anything.
 
Sydney’s case has gotten to me. I believe it is the “not knowing” what happened to this beautiful young girl, and I, as a parent would go to the ends of the earth to find out-or I’d give it a darn good try until I physically couldn’t go anymore. IMO, until I saw a body, there would be that little glimmer of hope that my child could be alive out there somewhere.
 
Thoughts on the episode of Disappeared...

- A few parallels with the Jason Landry case. All virtual learning, staying in the dorm/apt all the time, difficult to adjust, not the college experience they were expecting.

- The parents mentioned moving her into the dorm. I'm assuming no roommate due to COVID protocols? how much stuff would she have had after withdrawing + where would she have put it? It doesn't relate specifically where Syd was, but it would certainly provide background.

- I don't see any realistic scenario where she stages her disappearance from the bridge. She was seen three times on camera, but they think she could have left without being spotted again?

- Scenarios of her being forced into a vehicle or striking up a conversation with + then being abducted by someone also do not convince me. First, she still should have been seen leaving the bridge area. And as said upthread, there is no shoulder to pull over and stopping for any amount of time would have caused a traffic slowing that would have been noticed.

- I found it striking that she was chatting with her dad up until 4:30 a.m. and then left in an Uber at 6:00 a.m. IMO, there's no way she slept well (if at all). An hour is not long enough to get rested.

- I would love believe a scenario where she decided to flee/cut contact and live off the grid, metaphorically speaking. However, I really just don't see it, due to the lack of footage of her leaving the bridge. If the last proof we knew was her buying a bus ticket to another area of the country (like V.B. did), I could believe it.

Everything is IMO.
 
SimplyCass said:
I found it striking that she was chatting with her dad up until 4:30 a.m. and then left in an Uber at 6:00 a.m.
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I haven’t seen the “Disappeared” episode. Did it say whether it was just chit chat or something more important? IMO if you’re talking to your kid when she would normally be sleeping, it would be about something important and/or emotional. Did it say how long they talked? How sad for her Dad.
 
Lilibet said:
I haven’t seen the “Disappeared” episode. Did it say whether it was just chit chat or something more important? IMO if you’re talking to your kid when she would normally be sleeping, it would be about something important and/or emotional. Did it say how long they talked? How sad for her Dad.
Click to expand...

I rewatched that segment
- Dad said it was about an hour or so (so 3:30-4:30 am)
- He wanted her to return to Chapel Hill but she didn't, feeling that she had let everyone down
- He asked how he could help her, make it better
- the next morning, he checked up on her location and saw she was offline. Location sharing is routine for their family, especially as she was across the country.
- He called and texted her, when no response, he then alerted his brother (the one living in Pleasanton) that Syd had dropped off the grid.

Something I had missed the first time: He was in San Diego (business trip), so the same time zone, not three hours ahead as I originally believed.

I have to imagine - though speculative - that he was asleep when Syd called, unless this was something that routinely happened (phone calls in the early hours). Not saying if it's good or bad, but it would shed some light on Syd's routine after withdrawing from college.
 
SimplyCass said:
I rewatched that segment
- Dad said it was about an hour or so (so 3:30-4:30 am)
- He wanted her to return to Chapel Hill but she didn't, feeling that she had let everyone down
- He asked how he could help her, make it better
- the next morning, he checked up on her location and saw she was offline. Location sharing is routine for their family, especially as she was across the country.
- He called and texted her, when no response, he then alerted his brother (the one living in Pleasanton) that Syd had dropped off the grid.

Something I had missed the first time: He was in San Diego (business trip), so the same time zone, not three hours ahead as I originally believed.

I have to imagine - though speculative - that he was asleep when Syd called, unless this was something that routinely happened (phone calls in the early hours). Not saying if it's good or bad, but it would shed some light on Syd's routine after withdrawing from college.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the details. How very sad that she felt she had let everyone down. :-(
 
i just watched the disappeared episode... she & her dad reminds me so much of my dad and i. his heartbreak is all over his face. i really wish her family could at least KNOW what happened for certain.
 
SimplyCass said:
I rewatched that segment
- Dad said it was about an hour or so (so 3:30-4:30 am)
- He wanted her to return to Chapel Hill but she didn't, feeling that she had let everyone down
- He asked how he could help her, make it better
- the next morning, he checked up on her location and saw she was offline. Location sharing is routine for their family, especially as she was across the country.
- He called and texted her, when no response, he then alerted his brother (the one living in Pleasanton) that Syd had dropped off the grid.

Something I had missed the first time: He was in San Diego (business trip), so the same time zone, not three hours ahead as I originally believed.

I have to imagine - though speculative - that he was asleep when Syd called, unless this was something that routinely happened (phone calls in the early hours). Not saying if it's good or bad, but it would shed some light on Syd's routine after withdrawing from college.
Click to expand...
i believe her dad said it was 430pm September 29. The day before.
 
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