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

[ocsalumni]

MOO, I really think you guys need to be easier on her mom. She has probably been told not to release certain info publicly because it's an ongoing investigation (which she mentions in one of the comments). I personally get the vibe that her family is not at all involved and this might be a case of trafficking or kidnapping. Maybe they think whoever did it is watching the news, so they have to be careful about what they release to keep Syd safe. I don't know. Just lots of possibilities, and I don't think casting suspicion on her mom (who lives across the country) is going to lead to much.

I agree that there should be more urgent ground searches happening, but who knows what their reasoning was. I just don't find it fair to judge

 

[turanna25]

MOO, I really think you guys need to be easier on her mom. She has probably been told not to release certain info publicly because it's an ongoing investigation (which she mentions in one of the comments). I personally get the vibe that her family is not at all involved and this might be a case of trafficking or kidnapping. Maybe they think whoever did it is watching the news, so they have to be careful about what they release to keep Syd safe. I don't know. Just lots of possibilities, and I don't think casting suspicion on her mom (who lives across the country) is going to lead to much.

I agree that there should be more urgent ground searches happening, but who knows what their reasoning was. I just don't find it fair to judge

I agree. This feels like a kidnapping/trafficking case. The parents video was very scripted and I believe they were told not to show much emotion. I believe more is being done behind the scenes and the mother cannot provide much detail since its an ongoing investigation. I really feel for her parents. I couldn't imagine going through this. Praying Syd is found soon.

 

[Vail]

MOO, I really think you guys need to be easier on her mom. She has probably been told not to release certain info publicly because it's an ongoing investigation (which she mentions in one of the comments). I personally get the vibe that her family is not at all involved and this might be a case of trafficking or kidnapping. Maybe they think whoever did it is watching the news, so they have to be careful about what they release to keep Syd safe. I don't know. Just lots of possibilities, and I don't think casting suspicion on her mom (who lives across the country) is going to lead to much.

I agree that there should be more urgent ground searches happening, but who knows what their reasoning was. I just don't find it fair to judge

Anything is possible, but Syd does not match the profile of someone at risk for trafficking. If her family is wealthy and her father has enemies, kidnapping could be possible but they would have been contacted by now and not making statements in the media asking the public for help.

 

[ocsalumni]

Anything is possible, but Syd does not match the profile of someone at risk for trafficking. If her family is wealthy and her father has enemies, kidnapping could be possible but they would have been contacted by now and not making statements in the media asking the public for help.

I'm so confused- how does she not match the profile of someone at risk for trafficking? She's a young, attractive woman who was walking around (presumably) alone at night in San Francisco.

 

[Kaligirl]

My guess is that Syd dropped out/deferred, parents said come home and get a job or go to community college. There was probably a lot of discord between them and possibly Syd not answering their calls/texts. Syd had spent 2 years trying to get into top colleges -- which IMO is too much stress/focus on getting into college but is very often the case for wealthier families. Syd felt lost and alone. Trouble ensued..... I just hope this amazing 19 year old is found safe and knows her future is bright and full of possibility.

 

[flower_girl]

I'm so confused- how does she not match the profile of someone at risk for trafficking? She's a young, attractive woman who was walking around (presumably) alone at night in San Francisco.

How frequently are affluent white women plucked off the street in major cities and sold into sex trafficking?

 

[Birdie1212]

My intuition told me at first ( in the very beginning) that she was under someone else’s control by force - or, perhaps hiding from whatever she considered dangerous from her perspective. But her objectives weren’t clear to me. I did feel she was “running” and trying to hide from someone or not be seen. This could be interpreted in different ways.

 

[scapa]

My guess is that Syd dropped out/deferred, parents said come home and get a job or go to community college. There was probably a lot of discord between them and possibly Syd not answering their calls/texts. Syd had spent 2 years trying to get into top colleges -- which IMO is too much stress/focus on getting into college but is very often the case for wealthier families. Syd felt lost and alone. Trouble ensued..... I just hope this amazing 19 year old is found safe and knows her future is bright and full of possibility.

I agree. I'm a research prof at a U15, and over the past few years would estimate that around 1/4 of my advisor hours are spent trying to talk down students who are having a very hard time in the challenging uni environment and are afraid to explain those difficulties to their parents/family. Covid has ramped those stresses up significantly.

I also tell students that there is surprising parity between research schools in terms of the quality of an undergrad education -- and has been ever since the bar for obtaining a tenure-track job was reset back in the 90s -- but this is a difficult message to convey, and it's often parents and not their children who are often the most resistant, despite having attended uni and entered the job market under VERY different circumstances, in the main.

I hope Syd is well and just finding time and a place to reset, but these are difficult cases.

 

[Lusitana]

I'm sorry, but I can't understand the suspicion around her mother. They don't even live in the same state. Are we supposed to believe that her mother traveled from NC to CA and did something to her adult child? I honestly just think these parents are stressed out, scared about what people will think about them, probably not super happy with so much personal information coming out and being discussed everywhere, etc. I don't doubt they're suffering, their child is missing, it doesn't matter if she's 9 or 19, she's still their kid. Also, I believe they're trying so hard to keep it together because they have a 10-year-old kid at home who is probably having a really hard time right now, and asking many, many, many difficult questions.

 

[ocsalumni]

How frequently are affluent white women plucked off the street in major cities and sold into sex trafficking?

I.. don't know? But we don't know if she was intending to meet with someone or not. And what difference would it make if she were alone at night in SF if she was affluent or not? I get your point about a typical profile, but SF has a trafficking problem. And according to this 2017 data report, white women were equally as likely as hispanic/latinx women to be victims. I'm genuinely confused about how someone would be able to differentiate between an affluent white woman vs. a not-affluent white woman who is alone in the early hours of the morning.

 

[Lusitana]

I.. don't know? But we don't know if she was intending to meet with someone or not. And what difference would it make if she were alone at night in SF if she was affluent or not? I get your point about a typical profile, but SF has a trafficking problem. And according to this 2017 data report, white women were equally as likely as hispanic/latinx women to be victims. I'm genuinely confused about how someone would be able to differentiate between an affluent white woman vs. a not-affluent white woman who is alone in the early hours of the morning.

The point is, Syd is not a "good" target for trafficking. She has people that would look for her, I believe the whole point is to take girls that are isolated and that, sadly, if they just disappear, the chances of someone looking for them or reporting them missing are very low.
Sure, Syd might have been a little lonely, maybe even isolated. But she had friends, she has a family, she has people that would look for her.

 

[ocsalumni]

The point is, Syd is not a "good" target for trafficking. She has people that would look for her, I believe the whole point is to take girls that are isolated and that, sadly, if they just disappear, the chances of someone looking for them or reporting them missing are very low.
Sure, Syd might have been a little lonely, maybe even isolated. But she had friends, she has a family, she has people that would look for her.

That makes sense. I won't keep going into the what-ifs, I'll just leave it at that there's so many possibilities of what could've happened to her, and I don't think it's right to cast suspicion on her mom.

 

[ElizabethAnne]

I'm so confused- how does she not match the profile of someone at risk for trafficking? She's a young, attractive woman who was walking around (presumably) alone at night in San Francisco.

I don't think Sydney fits the profile for trafficking, but certainly as someone walking alone at night in Berkeley/SF, knows the risk of being raped/attacked/kidnapped. Any UC Berkeley student, recent and current, knows of the case of the girl who was attacked right outside of her dormitory by a man who tried to get into her dorm in order to rape her late at night. The surveillance video was shown all over the Bay Area of him trying to get into her dorm - Berkeley man attacks Cal student The man, later identified by the police/public as Berkeley resident Alphonzo McInnis, though not convicted on the UC Berkeley freshman attack (deadlock 11-1) was convicted of raping a 15 year old Berkeley girl walking to school two weeks earlier and is now in prison.

 

[Kaligirl]

I don't think the parents harmed or caused Syd's disappearance in any way. I just think they have information that they are withholding because it may not paint them in a good light. As a parent of two teens, I have a lot of imperfect moments, it's just the way it is -- but if my kid went missing I'd give it all up plus my right arm to find them.

 

[Kaligirl]

Sorry for the double post

 

[Lusitana]

I don't think the parents harmed or caused Syd's disappearance in any way. I just think they have information that they are withholding because it may not paint them in a good light. As a parent of two teens, I have a lot of imperfect moments, it's just the way it is -- but if my kid went missing I'd give it all up plus my right arm to find them.

I believe they are keeping things private to protect their image, but also Sydney's. I believe what they're not saying (if that's actually the case), is not just about them as a family, but may also be very private things about Sydney herself. I can understand they don't want to upset her even more if she left on her own accord, or in case she is found safe.

 

[GordianKnot]

How frequently are affluent white women plucked off the street in major cities and sold into sex trafficking?

Rhetorical question, so I'll go ahead and answer it:

Never.

The set of circumstances here do not support a sex trafficking conclusion.
My main man William of Occam is shaking his head emphatically at that suggestion.

Last seen near a bridge famous for suicides = Self-harm is the most probable outcome.

Second most probable is voluntarily missing.

Third likeliest would be a foul play scenario ala the Lueck case…this case does appear to bear some similarities.

Sex trafficking falls somewhere south of alien abduction on the list of possibilities.

Trafficking is one of the most common rabbit holes people love to chase around here.
In all the mp cases I've followed on WS, I haven't seen a single one that ended up being the result of sex trafficking.

Not. One.

JMO.

 

[crhedBngr]

Rhetorical question, so I'll go ahead and answer it:

Never.

The set of circumstances here do not support a sex trafficking conclusion.
My main man William of Occam is shaking his head emphatically at that suggestion.

Last seen near a bridge famous for suicides = Self-harm is the most probable outcome.

Second most probable is voluntarily missing.

Third likeliest would be a foul play scenario ala the Lueck case…this case does appear to bear some similarities.

Sex trafficking falls somewhere south of alien abduction on the list of likely possibilities.

Trafficking is one of the most common rabbit holes people love to chase around here.
In all the mp cases I've followed here, I haven't seen a single one that ended up being the result of sex trafficking.

Not. One.

JMO.

I agree.

@gitana1 , one of our Verified Attorneys, has discussed this at length in other WS cases.

SW doesn't fit the profile.

JMVHO.

 

[katydid23]

I've thought about Kenzie since hearing about Sydney missing, which is why I want to know how she got to the area around Crissy Field. If she did head out in the late hours of Sept. 29 into the early morning hours of Sept. 30, she most likely would have picked up an Uber or Lyft.

I can't shake the similarities. That said, I'm admittedly still shaken from what happened to Kenzie.

If she got picked up by Uber/Lyft, I am pretty sure LE would have known already. I hope so anyway. Wouldn't they have looked at her debit card and her phone records for that time period?

 

[Andreee]

MOO, I really think you guys need to be easier on her mom. She has probably been told not to release certain info publicly because it's an ongoing investigation (which she mentions in one of the comments). I personally get the vibe that her family is not at all involved and this might be a case of trafficking or kidnapping. Maybe they think whoever did it is watching the news, so they have to be careful about what they release to keep Syd safe. I don't know. Just lots of possibilities, and I don't think casting suspicion on her mom (who lives across the country) is going to lead to much.

I agree that there should be more urgent ground searches happening, but who knows what their reasoning was. I just don't find it fair to judge

Omg, of course people shouldn't judge the mom, walk a mile in her shoes comes to mind plus we don't know all the background circumstances! In fact, if the mods. get wind of this....