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

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Yes, tuition seemed to be a big stressor she also already did a gap year so she probably felt pressure to "make it work" this time particuarly from her parents.
NSamuelle said:
It’s strange that she didn’t immediately come home after withdrawing from Berkeley over a month before, instead of “couch-surfing” as the PI said on Nancy Grace, which may have been a slip of the tongue since the family said she was staying with “family friends.” What was she doing for that month?

Sydney said on her Reddit account that her parents refused to pay OOS tuition when she was accepted to Berkeley, so I wonder if staying in CA was her way to say “fine, I’ve withdrawn and I’ll stay for a year to get in-state tuition, stop guilting me for not getting into an Ivy.”
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collegeisintense said:
LE has been oddly silent. The only comment they really made in relation to Sydney was about mental health awareness and not foul play.
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I wish we could hear more from the SFPD, her parents have said they are not being helpful and their PI Scott Dudek in SF, said that the SFPD could be more compassionate. It definitely seems like LE is pretty sure suicide was sadly the end result.
 
SFbaychild said:
I wish we could hear more from the SFPD, her parents have said they are not being helpful and their PI Scott Dudek in SF, said that the SFPD could be more compassionate. It definitely seems like LE is pretty sure suicide was sadly the end result.
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I agree, I think that’s also why her parents hired Dudek so early on (less than two weeks after she went missing).
 
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I’m still suspicious of the two “creditable tips” that Jay advertised over a month ago in the same post where he released one of his songs. I just don’t believe the family would be publicizing tips if there was even a small chance that she was still out there; it would be way too risky. If she was abducted, for example, they would see that post and move her.
 
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NSamuelle said:
I’m still suspicious of the two “creditable tips” that Jay advertised over a month ago in the same post where he released one of his songs. I just don’t believe the family would be publicizing tips if there was even a small chance that she was still out there; it would be way too risky. If she was abducted, for example, they would see that post and move her.
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Exactly and if she ran away which they consistently deny, why would they possibly tip her off, she would relocate or take extra measures to avoid being noticed. It seemed like an attempt to keep interest in the case.
 
SFbaychild said:
Exactly and if she ran away which they consistently deny, why would they possibly tip her off, she would relocate or take extra measures to avoid being noticed. It seemed like an attempt to keep interest in the case.
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Also, 2 credible tips isn’t much. There are cases that are cold that get more credible tips a week than that.
 
Thread closed due to numerous TOS violations.

Check back later tonight or tomorrow morning.
 
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I’ve been watching this case and here are my thoughts. I believe her parents are very smart academically and raised Sydney very well. They do very well for themselves and had very high expectations for Sydney and the means to provide for her. A concussion can really mess with you, emotionally and physically. Since she lived in CA previously, that was a source of normalcy for her. When she was in NC, I am sure her parents were pushing her to excel, as most parents do. When she went out to Berkeley, it was a whole new playing field. To get into that school, you have to have the grades and the scores and no matter how high, many will be higher. I would be interested to know who she was hanging around with about a month before she disappeared. Did she meet a new group, are they travelers, traffickers, drug users? Did she just want to disappear and blend into the streets to avoid pressure? As for the shirt her parents are selling, they are trying to get the word out, it is not like parents are sitting around everyday thinking what they would put on a missing person shirt (ok this is websleuths, so maybe, but the average person isn’t thinking this). When they say a portion of the fees is going to find her, I would imagine that simply means the extra money off the original cost of the shirt. From what I have gathered from the internet, I don’t see her as a jumper, but with a concussion, anything is possible. I really hope they have closely examined her last contacts and I would also like to know how she was rented a hotel. Last I checked you had to be 21 to rent a room, so was she staying with someone? I hope she is found soon and able to get some help with whatever she is dealing with.
 
lowes123 said:
I’ve been watching this case and here are my thoughts. I believe her parents are very smart academically and raised Sydney very well. They do very well for themselves and had very high expectations for Sydney and the means to provide for her. A concussion can really mess with you, emotionally and physically. Since she lived in CA previously, that was a source of normalcy for her. When she was in NC, I am sure her parents were pushing her to excel, as most parents do. When she went out to Berkeley, it was a whole new playing field. To get into that school, you have to have the grades and the scores and no matter how high, many will be higher. I would be interested to know who she was hanging around with about a month before she disappeared. Did she meet a new group, are they travelers, traffickers, drug users? Did she just want to disappear and blend into the streets to avoid pressure? As for the shirt her parents are selling, they are trying to get the word out, it is not like parents are sitting around everyday thinking what they would put on a missing person shirt (ok this is websleuths, so maybe, but the average person isn’t thinking this). When they say a portion of the fees is going to find her, I would imagine that simply means the extra money off the original cost of the shirt. From what I have gathered from the internet, I don’t see her as a jumper, but with a concussion, anything is possible. I really hope they have closely examined her last contacts and I would also like to know how she was rented a hotel. Last I checked you had to be 21 to rent a room, so was she staying with someone? I hope she is found soon and able to get some help with whatever she is dealing with.
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I am under 21 and I know some hotels allow people 18 and over to check in them.

I also don’t know how important this concussion is. It’s not like she suddenly became depressed and anxious after the concussion. The concussion also happened in July. Most young healthy people do not suffer from long term symptoms, and if she did, I doubt she would have been sent to the west coast. A concussion can “mess with you” but I think depression and mental illness can as well.
 
lowes123 said:
I’ve been watching this case and here are my thoughts. I believe her parents are very smart academically and raised Sydney very well. They do very well for themselves and had very high expectations for Sydney and the means to provide for her. A concussion can really mess with you, emotionally and physically. Since she lived in CA previously, that was a source of normalcy for her. When she was in NC, I am sure her parents were pushing her to excel, as most parents do. When she went out to Berkeley, it was a whole new playing field. To get into that school, you have to have the grades and the scores and no matter how high, many will be higher. I would be interested to know who she was hanging around with about a month before she disappeared. Did she meet a new group, are they travelers, traffickers, drug users? Did she just want to disappear and blend into the streets to avoid pressure? As for the shirt her parents are selling, they are trying to get the word out, it is not like parents are sitting around everyday thinking what they would put on a missing person shirt (ok this is websleuths, so maybe, but the average person isn’t thinking this). When they say a portion of the fees is going to find her, I would imagine that simply means the extra money off the original cost of the shirt. From what I have gathered from the internet, I don’t see her as a jumper, but with a concussion, anything is possible. I really hope they have closely examined her last contacts and I would also like to know how she was rented a hotel. Last I checked you had to be 21 to rent a room, so was she staying with someone? I hope she is found soon and able to get some help with whatever she is dealing with.
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The thing is, Syd actually unfortunately fits the typically GGB jumper "profile", the only descriptor that doesn't match up is that she is female. Most GGB jumpers are Bay Area residents (Sydney lived there until she was 16 and had recently moved back at 19), intelligent, high achieving, male(the only one on this list Sydney is not), white, single and a student. Not saying this means Sydney jumped but she certainly checks off many of the boxes of a typically GGB jumper. You can read more about the GGB jumper profile here, A View to a Jump: Working As a Painter at the Golden Gate Bridge - Marin Magazine
 
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collegeisintense said:
I am under 21 and I know some hotels allow people 18 and over to check in them.

I also don’t know how important this concussion is. It’s not like she suddenly became depressed and anxious after the concussion. The concussion also happened in July. Most young healthy people do not suffer from long term symptoms, and if she did, I doubt she would have been sent to the west coast. A concussion can “mess with you” but I think depression and mental illness can as well.
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Yeah, I don't think her concussion played a role in her disappearance. I am sure if her behavior changed after the concussion they would have mentioned that. The SFPD labeled her at risk because of depression not because she may be disoriented because of a head injury/concussion.
 
lowes123 said:
I’ve been watching this case and here are my thoughts. I believe her parents are very smart academically and raised Sydney very well. They do very well for themselves and had very high expectations for Sydney and the means to provide for her. A concussion can really mess with you, emotionally and physically. Since she lived in CA previously, that was a source of normalcy for her. When she was in NC, I am sure her parents were pushing her to excel, as most parents do. When she went out to Berkeley, it was a whole new playing field. To get into that school, you have to have the grades and the scores and no matter how high, many will be higher. I would be interested to know who she was hanging around with about a month before she disappeared. Did she meet a new group, are they travelers, traffickers, drug users? Did she just want to disappear and blend into the streets to avoid pressure? As for the shirt her parents are selling, they are trying to get the word out, it is not like parents are sitting around everyday thinking what they would put on a missing person shirt (ok this is websleuths, so maybe, but the average person isn’t thinking this). When they say a portion of the fees is going to find her, I would imagine that simply means the extra money off the original cost of the shirt. From what I have gathered from the internet, I don’t see her as a jumper, but with a concussion, anything is possible. I really hope they have closely examined her last contacts and I would also like to know how she was rented a hotel. Last I checked you had to be 21 to rent a room, so was she staying with someone? I hope she is found soon and able to get some help with whatever she is dealing with.
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We know she was staying with family friends after dropping out of Cal for at least a bit of time, so she may have been hanging out with them. It doesn't seem like Syd had many close friends in the Bay Area (some were away at school or in NC). It was also mentioned in articles that she would see her uncle who lived near by because she was having a difficult time adjusting.
 
Sydney's posts about her family life make me wonder if she jumped impulsively without leaving a note to punish her parents irrationally because she was so intensely upset or angry with them. Like it has been pointed out before, Sydney showed symptoms of bipolar and may have been dealing with more severe mental health issues. I wonder if her choosing to leave cal sparked an argument or tension with her and her parents. I am very close with someone who attempted suicide and they described not leaving a note as a form of punishing her loved ones but that she was being irrational and impulsive in the moment, when she woke up in the hospital she said she didn't mean to do any of that, wonder if something similar happened to Sydney. This may explain why there was no note and her thinking if she did jump. I am hoping she ran away and is living happily but the more time goes on the worse it looks.
 
SFbaychild said:
This may explain why there was no note and her thinking if she did jump.
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We don't know if there was a note or not, or a personal journal of some kind. Maybe one day the parents will give a media interview, or the police will release their findings. At this point, the police seem like the best option. Is any police obtained information public record?
 
owleye said:
We don't know if there was a note or not, or a personal journal of some kind. Maybe one day the parents will give a media interview, or the police will release their findings. At this point, the police seem like the best option. Is any police obtained information public record?
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Her mother said “no evidence of suicide”(which is a weird thing to say considering all of the circumstantial evidence pointing towards suicide) I don’t know if she would say that if there was a note. Sydney’s poems that her parents deleted shortly after she went missing may have been her way of saying goodbye. Her poetry and writing painting a picture of a very depressed and at times suicidal teenager.

also if Sydney left a note it would be really wrong for her parents to be trying to raise money to help find her through their pop up store.
 
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