Golden Gate Bridge Suicides

[Bit of hope]

@Shampooedrug Is trying to find them yourself an option? Are you searching for someone in particular?

This are all the people with search term Golden Gate Bridge in Charley project. Advanced Search – The Charley Project

Besides Sidney West who I posted above there were no other people in 2020 listed on this missing person's list.

In Namus I couldn't find UIDs from 2020 in San Francisco that were found in the water.

ETA = Edit to Add

 

[ChatteringBirds]

I didn't realize they managed to stop so many potential suicides. Well done.

 

[Shampooedrug]

@Shampooedrug Is trying to find them yourself an option? Are you searching for someone in particular?

This are all the people with search term Golden Gate Bridge in Charley project. Advanced Search – The Charley Project

Besides Sidney West who I posted above there were no other people in 2020 listed on this missing person's list.

In Namus I couldn't find UIDs from 2020 in San Francisco that were found in the water.

ETA = Edit to Add

Thank you for this list! I greatly appreciate this!!!!

One more thing: is this list definitive?

 

[Bit of hope]

Thank you for this list! I greatly appreciate this!!!!

One more thing: is this list definitive?

I'm not sure what you mean with definitive.

To answer your question if I read you right. No, you can't say it's definitive.

FAQ – The Charley Project

Does the Charley Project feature every missing person in the United States?

No, not by far. It is impossible to determine how many people are reported missing every year; there is no centralized database, and many reports are misplaced or closed without being solved. In any case, the Charley Project profiles only a minuscule number of all the people who disappear every year.

Namus
Does Namus include all missing persons? No, it depends if they are entered. Is there a nation wide policy to use Namus? No, not yet.

There is also the possibility someone went missing and was not reported missing officially and not in a database (sometimes only named on social media). The so called missing-missing.

Missing persons can be added to databases after years have passed because family members (you see it often that extended or the younger generation starts looking for an estranged family member after close family passed f.i.) can start looking for them and report officially.

My search and the upcoming list from Charley Project was based on searching on the words 'Golden Gate Bridge'. There are other bridges in the bay too and I guess there might be a slight chance there are other persons missing who eventually jumped of the GGB bridge, where that specific search term isn't used in the file.

Are you looking for someone/something in particular?

 

[WaySheGoes]

A new campaign to save people who jump from Golden Gate Bridge

Bay Area first responders are getting a new rescue training net to practice saving people who jump from the Golden Gate Bridge.

www.latimes.com

In 2021, 223 people came to the bridge to try to hurt themselves, according to Mulligan. Of those, 198 were stopped and 25 people jumped. In 2020, numbers were similar, with 213 coming to the bridge, 185 being stopped and 28 who jumped.

Another beautiful human being who (most likely) jumped from the GGB in 2020. So sorry.

Sydney Kaitlyn West – The Charley Project

View attachment 379510

West was last seen on September 30, 2020. A rideshare driver drove her to the Crissy Field area of San Francisco, California and dropped her off near the Golden Gate Bridge.

After West's disappearance, her backpack with some of her belongings was found in an area on the Golden Gate Bridge that she liked to visit. She would visit there to admire the view, take photographs and go running. Although the bridge has security cameras, fog and poor air quality from nearby wildfires often obstructed the view on the morning West disappeared, and the footage offered little evidence as to what happened.

I’m new to Webslueths and specifically joined to help bring awareness to this case as her parents live nearby here in NC and they have no closure. It’s so completely heartbreaking.
I wonder what the statistics are surrounding people leaving behind notes before jumping from heights like the GGB. I just can’t help but think someone wouldn’t want to leave a loved one questioning forever what ever happened to them. But of course people who complete suicide are in a very heightened emotional state and probably have a difficult time even having the bandwidth to consider this, but from what I’ve read, she had spoken with her father for a long time just the day before she went missing, and they had planned on speaking the next day. It’s all just so sad.

 

[Bit of hope]

I’m new to Webslueths and specifically joined to help bring awareness to this case as her parents live nearby here in NC and they have no closure. It’s so completely heartbreaking.
I wonder what the statistics are surrounding people leaving behind notes before jumping from heights like the GGB. I just can’t help but think someone wouldn’t want to leave a loved one questioning forever what ever happened to them. But of course people who complete suicide are in a very heightened emotional state and probably have a difficult time even having the bandwidth to consider this, but from what I’ve read, she had spoken with her father for a long time just the day before she went missing, and they had planned on speaking the next day. It’s all just so sad.

Hi and welcome @WaySheGoes. Thank you for your post.

I'm so sorry for her loved ones and all other's who lost a family member through suicide. It must be really very tough, the not knowing, to live with so many unanswered questions, the grief, the overwhelming emotions and the never ending train of thoughts. I'm not such a "fan" of the word 'closure', but I think I understand what you mean. Grief can last a lifetime, even if you had a chance to say your last goodbyes. It comes in many shapes and forms. There is also even "living" grief. It's very possible parents who's children suffer from mental health problems (as an example) have to deal with that too. Good thoughts for them and you.

I'm in the unknown why some people leave a note and others don't.

 

[ChatteringBirds]

I wonder what the statistics are surrounding people leaving behind notes

I know there is research out there specifically on the topic of notes, because I remember a discussion on a thread here on Websleuths. But I just can't remember which thread...

I think SW left her backpack on or near the bridge, and although no actual note was reported, I consider leaving the backpack to be a message of sorts. Perhaps it shows she didn't want to leave her family just wondering where she was.
I think often suicide victims love their families very much, but they are just too overcome by something else to stop themselves. JMO.

 

[WaySheGoes]

Hi and welcome @WaySheGoes. Thank you for your post.

I'm so sorry for her loved ones and all other's who lost a family member through suicide. It must be really very tough, the not knowing, to live with so many unanswered questions, the grief, the overwhelming emotions and the never ending train of thoughts. I'm not such a "fan" of the word 'closure', but I think I understand what you mean. Grief can last a lifetime, even if you had a chance to say your last goodbyes. It comes in many shapes and forms. There is also even "living" grief. It's very possible parents who's children suffer from mental health problems (as an example) have to deal with that too. Good thoughts for them and you.

I'm in the unknown why some people leave a note and others don't.

Thanks for responding. I completely hear you regarding the word closure, and I feel the same way. I quickly wrote my message and honestly probably would have reworded it better if I reread before posting. I suppose because it was never confirmed that she completed suicide via jumping off the GGB, and from the resource materials I’ve read up on this case, the family does not believe she took her own life and believes there was a different cause resulting in her disappearance, they are still left with the unknown. I can say from personal experience that a concussion can absolutely cause some serious mental health challenges, and there’s just no way to know exactly what frame of mind she was in. I lost my brother too young (he was 31), but I at least know what happened to him. Her family can’t say the same and I can’t even imagine how gut wrenching that is.

 

[WaySheGoes]

I know there is research out there specifically on the topic of notes, because I remember a discussion on a thread here on Websleuths. But I just can't remember which thread...

I think SW left her backpack on or near the bridge, and although no actual note was reported, I consider leaving the backpack to be a message of sorts. Perhaps it shows she didn't want to leave her family just wondering where she was.
I think often suicide victims love their families very much, but they are just too overcome by something else to stop themselves. JMO.

Thanks for your reply, I’ll have to search up on the topic of notes, as I’m quite curious about it.
I also read that she left her backpack behind, and maybe you are on to something about it being left behind as a message. But then my mind also goes to thinking what if she didn’t disappear on her own terms and was possibly taken against her will, but I only entertain that thought given the family doesn’t believe she completed suicide.
And I absolutely agree with your last comment about being all too consumed when someone is contemplating suicide.

 

[not.a.muggle]

As someone who has dealt with mental health issues, I wanted to offer my perspective on notes. Sometimes you may want to end your life to punish your family and not leaving a note would cause them even more pain.

I am NOT currently feeling anything close to that.

 

[NeverPersonal]

a few of the stories that really get to me.

The Search for Gavin Octaviano Continues – The Guardsman
Disappearance not taken very seriously at first likely due to him being not white, his family says.
Matthew Chase Whitmer – The Charley Project
Two witnesses saw a young Caucasian man jumping into the water at 6:25 a.m. Whitmer had looked up directions to the bridge on his computer, and also checked online to see whether there were any barriers in place. The last contact with him was a text message he sent to a friend at 6:23 a.m., saying "Peace out."
Casey Joanna Brooks – The Charley Project
Video surveillance cameras at the Golden Gate Bridge showed Casey parking her car at the north end and walking onto the bridge on the east sidewalk. She smoked a cigarette, climbed over the rail and jumped. Casey left a note behind at home saying, "The Saab is parked at the Golden Gate Bridge. I'm sorry."

 

[WaySheGoes]

As someone who has dealt with mental health issues, I wanted to offer my perspective on notes. Sometimes you may want to end your life to punish your family and not leaving a note would cause them even more pain.

I am NOT currently feeling anything close to that.

Fair point, however SW had spoken to her father at length the day before, and from what I understand, it was a positive conversation involving them expressing that they love and miss each other. Her father said they had plans to speak again the next day, as in the day she was last seen alive. But once again, when someone is to the point of contemplating the taking of their own life, logic and reason typically cannot be within their scope of reach.

 

[WaySheGoes]

I didn't realize they managed to stop so many potential suicides. Well done.

I hadn’t realized this either, and it gives me hope for humanity. Some silver lining in a grim reality.

 

[Bit of hope]

From Namus

2020 - November, 22, 2022: GGB bridge

The National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs)

By bringing people, information, forensic science and technology together, NamUs helps resolve cases.

www.namus.gov

Tehilla Ben-Mashiah, Female, --
August 16, 2020
Missing From Marin County, California
Missing Age 24 Years
Brown hair, brown eyes

The missing person was last seen at the Golden Gate Bridge on August 16, 2020.

The National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs)

By bringing people, information, forensic science and technology together, NamUs helps resolve cases.

www.namus.gov

William Kreitzberg Spinrad, Male, White / Caucasian
September 13, 2020
Missing From Sausalito, California
Missing Age 30 Years
Brown hair, green eyes

Reported reported her 30 year, William Spinrad, missing. <this strange sentence is like this entered in Namus> Spinrad's vehicle was located at the toll plaza and his CA ID, car keys and wallet were located on the bridge, at a location where there was a report of someone jumping off and into the water. No body has been recovered from the water and although it is believed he did commit suicide by jumping off the GGB, he is considered missing at this time. Spinrad is entered in MUPS, a Trak Flyer was sent to local agencies and a DNA sample was collected from his mother for future analysis.

2020 - November 22, 2022 Bay Bridge

The National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs)

By bringing people, information, forensic science and technology together, NamUs helps resolve cases.

www.namus.gov

Robert Snakard, Male, White / Caucasian
Date of Last Contact December 4, 2020
Missing From San Francisco, California
Missing Age 26 Years
Brown hair, brown eyes

Robert was last known to be in San Francisco on December 4, 2020. On December 5, 2020 in the early morning hours, police found his car abandoned on the Bay Bridge. He has not been located.

 

[not.a.muggle]

Fair point, however SW had spoken to her father at length the day before, and from what I understand, it was a positive conversation involving them expressing that they love and miss each other. Her father said they had plans to speak again the next day, as in the day she was last seen alive. But once again, when someone is to the point of contemplating the taking of their own life, logic and reason typically cannot be within their scope of reach.

Sorry, I wasn't commenting on any particular case, just suicide notes in general.

 

[WaySheGoes]

Sorry, I wasn't commenting on any particular case, just suicide notes in general.

No apologies needed, I appreciate your insight.

 

[WaySheGoes]

a few of the stories that really get to me.

The Search for Gavin Octaviano Continues – The Guardsman
Disappearance not taken very seriously at first likely due to him being not white, his family says.
Matthew Chase Whitmer – The Charley Project
Two witnesses saw a young Caucasian man jumping into the water at 6:25 a.m. Whitmer had looked up directions to the bridge on his computer, and also checked online to see whether there were any barriers in place. The last contact with him was a text message he sent to a friend at 6:23 a.m., saying "Peace out."
Casey Joanna Brooks – The Charley Project
Video surveillance cameras at the Golden Gate Bridge showed Casey parking her car at the north end and walking onto the bridge on the east sidewalk. She smoked a cigarette, climbed over the rail and jumped. Casey left a note behind at home saying, "The Saab is parked at the Golden Gate Bridge. I'm sorry."

These are all so tragic. There are a few cases that I can think of to be ones that keep me up at night.

 

[Audrina]

This is the one that has stayed with me since he disappeared...
Joe Churchville Ricks III – The Charley Project
His brother adored him and searched for him, and he was very involved in trying to figure out what happen. Joe had SO many friends who loved him deeply.

 

[ifindedout]

A progress update on the GGB's anti-suicide net, from the end of August:

A new campaign to save people who jump from Golden Gate Bridge

Bay Area first responders are getting a new rescue training net to practice saving people who jump from the Golden Gate Bridge.

www.latimes.com

"The construction of a suicide prevention net at the Golden Gate Bridge was first approved in 2014 with a set completion date of 2021, but the project is two years behind schedule because of staff turnover and changes with the lead contractor, according to district general manager Denis Mulligan. The net is now slated to be completed in November 2023, after the construction company was bought and sold twice."

 

[Audrina]

A progress update on the GGB's anti-suicide net, from the end of August:

"The construction of a suicide prevention net at the Golden Gate Bridge was first approved in 2014 with a set completion date of 2021, but the project is two years behind schedule because of staff turnover and changes with the lead contractor, according to district general manager Denis Mulligan. The net is now slated to be completed in November 2023, after the construction company was bought and sold twice."

you'd think there'd be more urgency..