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

I feel horrible that Sydney at the end of the 10th grade had to move across the country. If she had been able to stay with friends her last two years in CA maybe she would not have needed to be uprooted and could have had a social support network that could have helped her. Reading that she had 8 AP classes just made me so sad. Her reddit postings said she failed 3 AP exams including Calculus twice. That must have devastated her. She seemed so overworked with having to take so many AP and Honors courses.

Last I heard, I don't think the local high schools here even allow students to take 4 AP classes a year so I don't think she would have been able to take 4 AP classes her junior year and 4 AP classes her senior year. Just looking at the UNC youtube interview about perfection and from reading Sydney's postings on reddit about the college admission and family expectation stress and the internship pressure she was under, I know that if I was 18 or 19 I would not have been able to handle it whatsoever.
And even after all the stress of AP exams and associated failures because she was just stretched too thin, a picture was posted on the official Find Sydney West page a few days ago with the hashtag “APExams.” I just don’t get it. Why post something that’s likely to trigger panic or sadness or bring back bad memories for Syd? Recent posts, too, are about all the things she’s missing out on (come home before the puppy gets bigger or strawberry season ends) or lamentations that she isn’t around to be of assistance to her parents, rather than messages of unconditional support. It makes me want to cry.
 
And even after all the stress of AP exams and associated failures because she was just stretched too thin, a picture was posted on the official Find Sydney West page a few days ago with the hashtag “APExams.” I just don’t get it. Why post something that’s likely to trigger panic or sadness or bring back bad memories for Syd? Recent posts, too, are about all the things she’s missing out on (come home before the puppy gets bigger or strawberry season ends) or lamentations that she isn’t around to be of assistance to her parents, rather than messages of unconditional support. It makes me want to cry.
Hmmm This is off the wall, but do you think they have information that she is alive and simply does not want to come home.
 
I think it’s also because they don’t want people thinking too deeply about why she (may have) harmed herself. Imho
Sydney was under a lot of pressure at UC Berkeley including somehow, even though she had no rowing experience, to make it onto one of the two top boats by junior year so that her last two years at Berkeley would be free, which she calls "a full ride" meaning for junior and senior year, the parents would not have to pay anything for her to attend Berkeley. This is in spite of the fact that she never really saw herself going to Berkeley. Here is the excerpt from her comments on reddit:

"UC BERKELEY vs UMASS vs UNC Cal and Umass offered a walkon spot on d1 rowing team. So I’ll get the whole d1 spiel- priority Reg, housing, separates study spaces, tutoring, etc. and by junior year if I make the top two boats a full ride. AHHHHH. Umass- double legacy, chancellors scholarship (16k/yr). Coach knows my family cal- I grew up in Bay Area, more familiar. never really saw myself at Berkeley tho. NO AID BRUH unc- where I live now so basically free. However no spot on team as of now. I do not like North Carolina lmao."

I simply can't imagine the stress and pressure to: 1) not only succeed academically after having a one year gap of attending classes but also 2) somehow as a novice become one of the top performers in the two fastest boats so that she can get a full scholarship the last two years at Berkeley and 3) make her parents proud of her by exactly following in their exact footsteps by becoming a NCAA college rowing team member even though Syd's sport was volleyball.

If you look at this awkward "Sydney the Athlete" video posted on Find Sydney West by the parents you can see how the father can barely contain his enthusiasm about Syd racing on a college level rowing team...
 
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Your theory COULD be valid. If they thought she was alive, this weird combination of missing her while also releasing embarrassing anecdotes could be a misguided — VERY misguided — attempt to “smoke her out” into making contact of either coming home or simply telling them to knock it off. Never thought of it that way, but this theory at least explains the weird parental behavior.

IMO: she jumped.
 
Your theory COULD be valid. If they thought she was alive, this weird combination of missing her while also releasing embarrassing anecdotes could be a misguided — VERY misguided — attempt to “smoke her out” into making contact of either coming home or simply telling them to knock it off. Never thought of it that way, but this theory at least explains the weird parental behavior.

IMO: she jumped.
It seems two ways to me, they somehow seem too laid back and unworrisome because they know she is alive, (from a known source) and just won't come home or she did jump and they won't accept it.
 
Hmmm This is off the wall, but do you think they have information that she is alive and simply does not want to come home.
I don't know. But it sounds like as the SFPD has information in addition to Sydney suffering from depression as to why they consider her "At Risk." In Sydney West: Former teammates hope for Berkeley student’s safe return | KRON4 the SFPD is quoted as: "The SFPD said West is considered an at-risk missing person, partially because she suffers from depression."

Because they use the word "partially" I am assuming the SFPD also has some knowledge of history or recent events prior to her becoming missing or background concerning Sydney, in addition to her suffering from depression, which is the reason they classified her "At Risk."

On the other missing person Sydney West Facebook page, when people bring up the depression factor or ask questions, often times people are accused of being 'disrespectful' for bringing this up. It sounds like they deny that Sydney had any sort of depression. Or if she did run away, there is no reason that she ran away. Family members bring up abductions and trafficking sometimes as if implying she was abducted from the bridge, which at that time had plenty of other pedestrians, bicyclists, and motorists on it.

Also if you look at the posts, the mother blames the pandemic and a controversial presidential election as the reason that they, the media, have not publicized their missing daughter more. At one time the father posted on the Find Sydney West page that they had a couple of viable tips that Sydney was alive, but this was months ago. There was never anything else said about this. It was a strange comment at the time, and the parents have not at all expanded on what they meant.

The PI did a Nancy Grace podcast in which the theme was that the SFPD was not doing enough to find Sydney. It was not just one or two comments, but a set of criticisms concerning the SFPD. Recently the mother and a relative were also complaining that the SFPD was not returning phone calls from them about the status of the case for days. They still have not actually provided any updates concerning what the SFPD has said recently to them. However, given there was a delay until Oct 2nd at 2 PM until the family reported Sydney missing in the first place (the last conversation was Sept. 29), by the time Sydney was reported missing to the SFPD, over 2 1/2 days had passed.

But a reporter from the Independent, a Livermore based newspaper, in an article published just last week, was able to email questions to the SFPD and get some response from Sgt. Michael Andraychak which they relayed in their article here published May 13. You might note that the Find Sydney West webpage never displayed this article at all recently. This might be perhaps because it indicates the SFPD responded to the reporter's inquiry, which differs from what Sydney's mother said about the SFPD not returning her phone calls.
Family Raises Reward While Searching for Their Daughter
 
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It may vary state by state, but it is not that uncommon for NC high school students to take AP classes. Students who wish to get into colleges and universities which are more competitive typically take 2-3 AP classes per semester. The school pays for them. Certain NC universities require a GPA that would not be possible without those classes. I know it is far more competitive in CA, especially after all of those scandals, with people paying all of that money to get their kids into those universities. I really don’t think the AP classes would have been a major stressor on Sydney, she wouldn’t have been allowed to take them if she didn’t have a certain GPA or prerequisite. I really do wonder about her access to money, how did she pay for that hotel, her burner cell. She disappeared and no one suspects she was abducted. What was paid towards her tuition and room and board, was it refunded? And to who? She had a passport, but with covid, travel would have been limited. Just looking at her parents, and I think they just wanted the best for her, to encourage her to be the best she could be, and then that concussion changed it all. I have heard that they can be so mind altering. I do hope the PI can turn up something soon and is not just in it for a check.
 
I don't know. But it sounds like as the SFPD has information in addition to Sydney suffering from depression as to why they consider her "At Risk." In Sydney West: Former teammates hope for Berkeley student’s safe return | KRON4 the SFPD is quoted as: "The SFPD said West is considered an at-risk missing person, partially because she suffers from depression."

Because they use the word "partially" I am assuming the SFPD also has some knowledge of history or recent events prior to her becoming missing or background concerning Sydney, in addition to her suffering from depression, which is the reason they classified her "At Risk."

On the other missing person Sydney West Facebook page, when people bring up the depression factor or ask questions, often times people are accused of being 'disrespectful' for bringing this up. It sounds like they deny that Sydney had any sort of depression. Or if she did run away, there is no reason that she ran away. Family members bring up abductions and trafficking sometimes as if implying she was abducted from the bridge, which at that time had plenty of other pedestrians, bicyclists, and motorists on it.

Also if you look at the posts, the mother blames the pandemic and a controversial presidential election as the reason that they, the media, have not publicized their missing daughter more. At one time the father posted on the Find Sydney West page that they had a couple of viable tips that Sydney was alive, but this was months ago. There was never anything else said about this. It was a strange comment at the time, and the parents have not at all expanded on what they meant.

The PI did a Nancy Grace podcast in which the theme was that the SFPD was not doing enough to find Sydney. It was not just one or two comments, but a set of criticisms concerning the SFPD. Recently the mother and a relative were also complaining that the SFPD was not returning phone calls from them about the status of the case for days. They still have not actually provided any updates concerning what the SFPD has said recently to them. However, given there was a delay until Oct 2nd at 2 PM until the family reported Sydney missing in the first place (the last conversation was Sept. 29), by the time Sydney was reported missing to the SFPD, over 2 1/2 days had passed.

But a reporter from the Independent, a Livermore based newspaper, in an article published just last week, was able to email questions to the SFPD and get some response from Sgt. Michael Andraychak which they relayed in their article here published May 13. You might note that the Find Sydney West webpage never displayed this article at all recently. This might be perhaps because it indicates the SFPD responded to the reporter's inquiry, which differs from what Sydney's mother said about the SFPD not returning her phone calls.
Family Raises Reward While Searching for Their Daughter
From your last link… has anyone found/listened to the lyrics of her music for more clues to her thinking? I haven’t been able to access the links. Especially interested in “Walk Away”.

Sydney’s songs included the titles “Underdog”; “Leave Your Lover”; “Don’t Call Me Weak”; “I’ll Never Love Again”; “Finding Beautiful;” and “Walk Away.” (Hope For Syd - EP by DrJay)
 
Your theory COULD be valid. If they thought she was alive, this weird combination of missing her while also releasing embarrassing anecdotes could be a misguided — VERY misguided — attempt to “smoke her out” into making contact of either coming home or simply telling them to knock it off. Never thought of it that way, but this theory at least explains the weird parental behavior.

IMO: she jumped.
I agree. I believe that she jumped off the GGB. For a while I hoped she had somehow managed to go off the grid with the help of a friend or two, but given the length of time plus the Tik Tok mid-July "I'm dying deep down" video, I don't think this is the case.

If she was out there, I would think that over time the parents would by now have agreed to do in-person interviews with reporters. Instead they have these set of strange videos that they periodically post on-line. The mother has blamed the pandemic and the controversial presidential election for the media not getting the word out about Sydney missing. BUT, for example, the television media in general in order to get the word out typically requests to have an on camera appearance of someone they can interview. And the television media is not generally going to accept a PI substitute as a proxy for real family members.

The controversial presidential election is over and the pandemic at least in most of the U.S. is becoming less of an all encompassing day to day news story. Even though the mother blamed these two events for lack of media coverage, they have not stepped up and made themselves available to the media in any meaningful way, done any joint press conferences with any law enforcement agency that I can find, and instead seem to have hidden behind a PR firm. The PR firm they are working with seems to have no experience that I can find in finding or bringing home missing children and adults.
 
Your theory COULD be valid. If they thought she was alive, this weird combination of missing her while also releasing embarrassing anecdotes could be a misguided — VERY misguided — attempt to “smoke her out” into making contact of either coming home or simply telling them to knock it off. Never thought of it that way, but this theory at least explains the weird parental behavior.

IMO: she jumped.
They’ve done some things that she could likely sue them for, if alive (selling her original music, and altering, adding to, and deleting her social media), but my take from that, sadly, is that they know she is not going to be around to call them out (on the embarrassing stories or questionable activity re: her accounts and intellectual property).
 
I don't know. But it sounds like as the SFPD has information in addition to Sydney suffering from depression as to why they consider her "At Risk." In Sydney West: Former teammates hope for Berkeley student’s safe return | KRON4 the SFPD is quoted as: "The SFPD said West is considered an at-risk missing person, partially because she suffers from depression."

Because they use the word "partially" I am assuming the SFPD also has some knowledge of history or recent events prior to her becoming missing or background concerning Sydney, in addition to her suffering from depression, which is the reason they classified her "At Risk."

On the other missing person Sydney West Facebook page, when people bring up the depression factor or ask questions, often times people are accused of being 'disrespectful' for bringing this up. It sounds like they deny that Sydney had any sort of depression. Or if she did run away, there is no reason that she ran away. Family members bring up abductions and trafficking sometimes as if implying she was abducted from the bridge, which at that time had plenty of other pedestrians, bicyclists, and motorists on it.

Also if you look at the posts, the mother blames the pandemic and a controversial presidential election as the reason that they, the media, have not publicized their missing daughter more. At one time the father posted on the Find Sydney West page that they had a couple of viable tips that Sydney was alive, but this was months ago. There was never anything else said about this. It was a strange comment at the time, and the parents have not at all expanded on what they meant.

The PI did a Nancy Grace podcast in which the theme was that the SFPD was not doing enough to find Sydney. It was not just one or two comments, but a set of criticisms concerning the SFPD. Recently the mother and a relative were also complaining that the SFPD was not returning phone calls from them about the status of the case for days. They still have not actually provided any updates concerning what the SFPD has said recently to them. However, given there was a delay until Oct 2nd at 2 PM until the family reported Sydney missing in the first place (the last conversation was Sept. 29), by the time Sydney was reported missing to the SFPD, over 2 1/2 days had passed.

But a reporter from the Independent, a Livermore based newspaper, in an article published just last week, was able to email questions to the SFPD and get some response from Sgt. Michael Andraychak which they relayed in their article here published May 13. You might note that the Find Sydney West webpage never displayed this article at all recently. This might be perhaps because it indicates the SFPD responded to the reporter's inquiry, which differs from what Sydney's mother said about the SFPD not returning her phone calls.
Family Raises Reward While Searching for Their Daughter
This is sad, but the two “credible tips” that the father mentioned coincided with attempts to sell his music. I don’t think they were genuine. They were clickbait to sell music. As anyone knows, if you suspect that someone is abducted you do not release information that you have “credible” tips, as that could prompt kidnappers to relocate the victim, or worse.
 
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From your last link… has anyone found/listened to the lyrics of her music for more clues to her thinking? I haven’t been able to access the links. Especially interested in “Walk Away”.

Sydney’s songs included the titles “Underdog”; “Leave Your Lover”; “Don’t Call Me Weak”; “I’ll Never Love Again”; “Finding Beautiful;” and “Walk Away.” (Hope For Syd - EP by DrJay)

"Walk Away" is a Christina Aguilera cover with lyrics that remind me of some of Sydney's poems on Medium.

If you Google Christina Aguilera"walk away" the lyrics come up. Or here are the lyrics on Song Meanings Christina Aguilera - Walk Away Lyrics | SongMeanings

One of the on-line posters describes it as a song that is "definitely about being involved with someone you can't tear yourself away from, even though they're treating you horribly..."

I won't put a link up that has Sydney's songs for downloading for a fee. They started selling her music along with tracks from her father which I find not only odd, but disturbing. DrJay is her father.

Here is Sydney's version on SoundCloud but the lyrics are difficult to understand in parts - Syd Cover Christina Aguilera Walk Away
 
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"Walk Away" is a Christina Aguilera cover with lyrics that remind me of some of Sydney's poems on Medium.

If you Google Christina Aguilera"walk away" the lyrics come up. Or here are the lyrics on Song Meanings Christina Aguilera - Walk Away Lyrics | SongMeanings

I won't put a link up that has Sydney's songs for downloading for a fee. They started selling her music along with tracks from her father which I find not only odd, but disturbing. DrJay is her father.

Here is Sydney's version on SoundCloud but the lyrics are difficult to understand in parts - Syd Cover Christina Aguilera Walk Away
Thank you for posting. The fact that they sold her music and her father said he *had* to “add to it” to “fill in gaps” honestly sickens me. There were no gaps. She had real talent in so many areas.
 
This is sad, but the two “credible tips” that the father mentioned coincided with attempts to sell her music. I don’t think they were genuine. They were clickbait to sell music. As anyone knows, if you suspect that someone is abducted you do not release information that you have “credible” tips, as that could prompt kidnappers to relocate the victim, or worse.
I think you are right. He said: "We have had two creditable tips in the last week that you are out there" on Feb. 16th (yes he said creditable, not credible) and that was over three months ago. I can't find anything said about that since. And it did correspond to the same post that he announced he was releasing his own songs.
 
It seems two ways to me, they somehow seem too laid back and unworrisome because they know she is alive, (from a known source) and just won't come home or she did jump and they won't accept it.
In the Sydney the athlete video posted on the Youtube for Find Sydney West, while they are talking about the walk-on rowing spot, that fact that both the mother and father were on the rowing team in college, and the mother is blinking fast during that section while the father says:
"The thought of having our daughter charging down the race course for me was, my goodness! So exciting! And, uh, I want...to....see...that!!"

Seeing that means the father wants her to come back, get *back* on that college rowing team of that college she just dropped out of, so he can see her compete on the rowing team. In that section, you can see the very direct pressure that Sydney was under to take up rowing because that is what her parents did in college. (Note: Sydney was offered a walk-on spot and if she ended up on the fastest two boats by junior year, she would get a full scholarship her last two years at Berkeley. This was described in detail by Sydney in reddit. Her offer with Berkeley was with "NO AID BRUH" and only if she became a rowing superstar and became one of the fastest rowers on the two fastest boats would she get her tuition paid for her last two years).

You'd have to wonder given this video whether rowing was the #1 priority for Sydney to excel in once she got to college. Imagine having no experience in competitive rowing and having to claw your way to the top in order to somehow make it from novice to one of the fastest rowers of a 60 person team to land on two of the fastest boats by junior year. Then college would be free for her last two years. That is a tremendous amount of pressure.

Seeing that part of the video it seems to me that if the daughter was out there somewhere alive and they know she was alive, they would not be expecting her to get back on the rowing team particularly since in mid-July there is a Tik-Tok video of her singing "I'm dying deep down" to the tune Row Row Row Your Boat.

Then in the video next, after a pause, the father changes his tune a bit and says that Sydney does not have live their lives, but instead can come back and discover her own passions.

Given the video, I wonder whether when Sydney went to Berkeley, she decided to quit or tried out and did not get a seat on the rowing team or whether there was some other problem which caused her to be very upset regarding the entire rowing situation which caused her parents to be very upset upon hearing the news.
 
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Thank you for posting. The fact that they sold her music and her father said he *had* to “add to it” to “fill in gaps” honestly sickens me. There were no gaps. She had real talent in so many areas.
I also don't know what to make of the Tik-Tok video from 5/20 she posted with the line "I Know What I Have to Do But I Don't Know If I Have the Strength To Do It" repeated over and over with the line boo hoo I stabbed my dad ooga booga on the screen. Sydney is laying on the floor wearing a yellow sweatshirt with Berkeley written on it. She is saying something but I can't tell what it is. Apparently the line repeated over and over is from one of the Star Wars movies (not sure which one because I only saw the original three and never saw the others) but at least from the internet when I Googled it, it is spoken by Kylo Ren in regards to him knowing he needs to kill Han Solo, his father.

With wearing the yellow Berkeley sweatshirt is she communicating she knows what she has to do (go to Berkeley) but she doesn't have the strength to go to Berkeley or is she just fooling around to get some laughs? It is the one posted on 5/20 at TikTok
 
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I also don't know what to make of the Tik-Tok video from 5/20 she posted with the line "I Know What I Have to Do But I Don't Know If I Have the Strength To Do It" repeated over and over with the line boo hoo I stabbed my dad ooga booga on the screen. Sydney is laying on the floor wearing a yellow sweatshirt with Berkeley written on it. She is saying something but I can't tell what it is. Apparently the line repeated over and over is from one of the Star Wars movies (not sure which one because I only saw the original three and never saw the others) but at least from the internet when I Googled it, it is spoken by Kylo Ren in regards to him knowing he needs to kill Han Solo, his father.

With wearing the yellow Berkeley sweatshirt is she communicating she knows what she has to do (go to Berkeley) but she doesn't have the strength to go to Berkeley or is she just fooling around to get some laughs? It is the one posted on 5/20 at TikTok
I really think that TikTok bit is a reach. She’s replying to someone else’s video about having to post cringe content to get likes. Also, nearly every TikTok audio has nothing to do with it’s context and is used as a setup to a joke.

Especially when referencing Kylo Ren killing his father? Let’s not go there with Sydney. That’s really serious.
 
It may vary state by state, but it is not that uncommon for NC high school students to take AP classes. Students who wish to get into colleges and universities which are more competitive typically take 2-3 AP classes per semester. The school pays for them. Certain NC universities require a GPA that would not be possible without those classes. I know it is far more competitive in CA, especially after all of those scandals, with people paying all of that money to get their kids into those universities. I really don’t think the AP classes would have been a major stressor on Sydney, she wouldn’t have been allowed to take them if she didn’t have a certain GPA or prerequisite. I really do wonder about her access to money, how did she pay for that hotel, her burner cell. She disappeared and no one suspects she was abducted. What was paid towards her tuition and room and board, was it refunded? And to who? She had a passport, but with covid, travel would have been limited. Just looking at her parents, and I think they just wanted the best for her, to encourage her to be the best she could be, and then that concussion changed it all. I have heard that they can be so mind altering. I do hope the PI can turn up something soon and is not just in it for a check.

Early on (in first thread), I believe it was mentioned that she was within the time frame where she could have gotten a "Covid refund" on her room and board at Berkeley. I don't remember the amount, but it would have seemed significant to a young woman (a few thousand, IIRC).
 
Hmmm This is off the wall, but do you think they have information that she is alive and simply does not want to come home.
I think they have a lot of information that is being kept private, for whatever reason - such as whether or not she took her SS card and birth certificate with her. I have never heard anyone mention if Sydney has ever held down a real job, where she would report to a manager that is not family. Has anyone else? Any tuition refund would be gone by now, unless she was working, and if she doesn't have real life experience working, she would likely struggle in this department. But most 19 year old adults have years of real work experience, so maybe she does. I don't know.
 
I think they have a lot of information that is being kept private, for whatever reason - such as whether or not she took her SS card and birth certificate with her. I have never heard anyone mention if Sydney has ever held down a real job, where she would report to a manager that is not family. Has anyone else? Any tuition refund would be gone by now, unless she was working, and if she doesn't have real life experience working, she would likely struggle in this department. But most 19 year old adults have years of real work experience, so maybe she does. I don't know.

I don't think it's uncommon at all in California for previously unemployed 19-21 year olds to get a first job. Min. wage jobs are advertising all over the state. She wouldn't have needed her actual SS (no one has ever asked me for one, there's a line on job applications where you state what you've said is true).

So I think she could find work. She was an unpaid intern for her father - something she shared on her reddit posts, she actually wanted to work someplace else, IIRC.

The real question is whether she made new friends and has a place to live - one person earning minimum can't afford a rental in California (usually), they share an apartment with friends or rent a room (but even illegal garages are $800 or more in most livable parts of California).

What I don't know is what kind of ID one needs to open a new bank account (just a DL, right?)
 

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