A Netflix software developer has disappeared after boarding an Uber before his wallet and phone were mysteriously found near the Golden Gate Bridge.
Yohanes Kidane, 22, was last seen around 7:15 p.m. Monday night getting into the black Toyota Camry in San Jose.
The young Cornell graduate with a major in computer science has not been seen since and did not show up for work on Tuesday.
His family and friends have traveled to the Bay Area to help find him and have littered the city with missing posters.
Yohanes Kidane, 22, was last seen around 7:15 p.m. Monday night getting into the black Toyota Camry in San Jose
His family and friends have traveled to the Bay Area to find him and have pelted the city with missing posters
Kidane’s younger sister Sarah said her brother’s phone location revealed he was at the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco Monday night.
Noticing his location didn’t change, she asked her older brother if he had spoken to him, but he hadn’t.
Family members began calling Kidane’s friends, but no one had any information on his whereabouts.
On Tuesday morning, a commuter found his phone and wallet near the Golden Gate Bridge Welcome Center and turned them over to police officers.
Kidane’s brother told KTVU Fox2 San Francisco, “Someone who was in San Rafael and was on his way to work saw a phone and a wallet on that little grassy hilltop right between the Welcome Center and the coffee shop.”
He added, “Thirty dollars in cash was in his wallet, IDs, phone untouched.”
On the same day, Kidane didn’t show up at his new Netflix job and the police couldn’t find him at home.
On Wednesday, the family said police found his backpack containing two laptops and some personal documents that “appeared to be untouched,” his brother said.
Kidane completed his computer science degree and graduated from Cornell University’s College of Engineering in May
The San Jose Police Department encourages anyone with information to call 408-277-8900 and may provide case number 23-277-0531
Kidane’s family described him as “a very intelligent, high-performing individual with high expectations of himself”. “They said he was also top of his class at Cornell.”
He started his new job on August 7, a week before his disappearance.
Kidane is 5 feet 8 inches tall and weighs 150 pounds. He was wearing a black hoodie, gray sweatpants and black shoes.
Some of Kidane’s family members arrived in San Francisco on Tuesday evening and began searching on Wednesday.
Posters were distributed and the family also asked the media and authorities for help.
Lucas Achkarian, who described Kidane as one of his closest friends, said he reportedly told some colleagues that he was planning to meet a friend, but no one knew who it was.
Achkarian told the Cornell Daily Sun that there is still a great deal of uncertainty as to what happened.
Yosief and his father flew to California on Tuesday to search for Kidane, who has been missing since August 7. He was last seen getting into a black Toyota sedan with an Uber sticker on it
He said he and another friend FaceTimed Kidane on Saturday.
They described him as “normal as ever” and said he’s “always been a really positive guy.”
He added, “We don’t think it’s related to self-harm or anything.”
A poster circulating about missing 22-year-old Yohanes S. Kidane
Missing flyers from Kidane were posted near the Golden Gate Bridge and surrounding areas
“Because I think his family situation was perfectly fine, his friends are fine, his job is fine.”
“He was super motivated, honestly. “He went to the gym and he was just really excited about life.”
Achkarian described Kidane as a positive and reliable person who is always willing to help both friends and strangers.
“Whenever I had a problem, I could come to him,” Achkarian said. “It is what every human being should honestly strive for.”
As of Saturday night, a GoFundMe in support of search has raised more than $41,000 towards the $60,000 goal.