Found Deceased CA - Yohanes Kidane, 22, Netflix software engineer, entered Uber in San Jose, pers items found near Golden Gate Bridge, 15 Aug 2023

[makeadifference]

You would think as a society we could prioritize building or retro-fixing these bridges so this can't keep happening. I believe it must be possible.

On the other hand, we have to stop babysitting people and they have to be responsible for their own actions.

 

[threesevenninefour]

As someone in healthcare, I believe when you’re severely depressed to the point of being actively suicidal (not saying that is the case here but for other known GG Bridge jumpers) you can’t really be 100% responsible for your own actions. Suicidal ideation in itself is proof that an individual is not thinking rationally or clearly, due to either their mental health conditions or other major life stressors.

Unfortunately, many react in the heat of the moment to the pain that they are feeling and make a permanent decision that can’t be undone. That’s why it’s important as a society to create safeguards for vulnerable individuals.

JMO.

 

[SophieRose]

This report from Fox News (MSN) shares that YK had a bad experience with a previous Uber ride just days prior to disappearance per a friend. I've extracted a portion below (bbm):

Austin Farmer, Kidane's former roommate at Cornell, said that days before the disappearance, the missing software engineer had told friends about another suspicious rideshare encounter.

"The Uber driver insisted, if it was an actual Uber driver, that instead of taking him to the location that he needed to be, he's like, 'Oh, I'm going to take you to Oakland. It's much safer there,'" Farmer said. "And he just wouldn't let Yohanes go where he needed to go. So they took him to downtown Oakland. I guess he eventually got back to his apartment or wherever he lives, but that was pretty suspicious."

It's odd that this experience happened and then he's last seen getting into a car with an Uber sticker just days later. Coincidence?

News Report Link:

MSN

Not same Uber driver as first one was SF to SJ. Uber can check this out too. Here's more from the account:

On Saturday, August 12, he had a strange encounter with an Uber driver when trying to get home to San Jose from San Francisco. The driver was insistent on taking him through Oakland, and Yohanes, suspicious of his intentions, was finally able to cancel his ride after crossing the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge. After this ordeal, he expressed his hesitancy in ridesharing alone.

 

[wendybtn]

As someone in healthcare, I believe when you’re severely depressed to the point of being actively suicidal (not saying that is the case here but for other known GG Bridge jumpers) you can’t really be 100% responsible for your own actions. Suicidal ideation in itself is proof that an individual is not thinking rationally or clearly, due to either their mental health conditions or other major life stressors.

Unfortunately, many react in the heat of the moment to the pain that they are feeling and make a permanent decision that can’t be undone. That’s why it’s important as a society to create safeguards for vulnerable individuals.

JMO.

But as someone also in health care and someone whose first husband committed suicide at age 44 after fighting his demons for years, if someone is really determined, you can't stop them. He had the typical reaction to not wanting to take his medication and we spared no expense with MDs and medication. He did it anyway. Not saying this is what happened to this young man.
Didn't I read his best friend and college roommate was also in the area?

 

[SimplyCass]

But as someone also in health care and someone whose first husband committed suicide at age 44 after fighting his demons for years, if someone is really determined, you can't stop them. He had the typical reaction to not wanting to take his medication and we spared no expense with MDs and medication. He did it anyway. Not saying this is what happened to this young man.
Didn't I read his best friend and college roommate was also in the area?

First, my condolences for your husband.

Second, I agree that very determined people can still self-harm. However, many suicides - in particular jumping off a bridge - are very impulsive and their desire can dissipate/ease off. This has been extensively studied. on the Brooklyn Bridge, believe it or not, people who said they wanted to jump had recovered/urge had subsided by the time they reached the bridge, because they were stuck in traffic. NEIGHBORHOOD REPORT: BROOKLYN BRIDGE; A Stately Span, a Fatal Lure (Published 2003)

29/29 people interviewed after surviving the jump from the GGB have said they regretted it as soon as they jumped. A Lesson from 29 Golden Gate Suicide Attempts Jump survivor Kevin Hines wrote a memoir about it. ‘It was instant regret’: Golden Gate Bridge suicide survivor to share story in virtual event in Wilmington

Sadly, if Yohanes's brother stated that he saw CCTV footage that looks like Yohanes, that may be the only proof they will ever have. The family of Syd West, also last seen at the GGB, has seen similar CCTV footage. she is still missing/not found.

 

[SpicyFruit]

The last ping being at the Golden Gate worries me. They do have cameras, and to my knowledge someone in a booth that usually watches the live cameras. A lot of people are on that bridge at all times. So hopefully someone comes forward about seeing him if he was on the bridge. While there is the possibility that his remains will surface. They don't always. I am going to hope he needed to escape. There is plenty of places to do that in SF and not get noticed.

 

[ErinC]

Sadly, if Yohanes's brother stated that he saw CCTV footage that looks like Yohanes, that may be the only proof they will ever have. The family of Syd West, also last seen at the GGB, has seen similar CCTV footage. she is still missing/not found.

This case reminds me so so SO much of Sydney, who is one of my "pet" cases. I can only hope that they are peaceful now, wherever the two of them are.

 

[imstilla.grandma]

(KRON) -— The San Jose Police Department provided an update Monday on a Netflix employee who has been missing for nearly a week. Police say there is no evidence that a crime was committed against him.

Missing Netflix employee was last seen in SF, police say

Yohanes Kidane, 22, recently graduated from Cornell University and was hired by Netflix as a software engineer.

www.newsnationnow.com

 

[imstilla.grandma]

“A search effort by his family, friends, and peers is underway,” says the campaign, which has raised $74,000 as of Tuesday morning for travel, private investigators, attorneys and other resources for the search.

“We cannot express enough gratitude for any help you can provide.”

Kidane disappeared days after he expressed hesitancy about taking rideshares alone after having a “strange encounter” with an Uber driver.

While trying to get home the Saturday before he went missing, Kidane had an unusual and uncomfortable ride with an Uber driver who insisted on taking a less direct route to his San Jose apartment.

Over $70K raised for missing Netflix engineer Yohanes Kidane who vanished after stepping into a rideshare

More than $70,000 has been raised to bolster the search for a New York man who landed an engineering job at Netflix before mysteriously disappearing after taking a ride share to San Francisco.

nypost.com

 

[SophieRose]

Webster native goes missing in California; Brother speaks to Dateline

SAN JOSE, C.A. — A Webster native working as a software engineer at Netflix in California has been missing for more than a week. Yohanes Kidane was last seen on Monday, Aug. 14 in San Jose where he was using a ride share service to get to San Francisco. His brother, Yosief Kidane, spoke with […]

www.whec.com

According to Yosief, investigators learned that Yohanes got into an Uber, a black Toyota sedan, on Monday night around 7:15 p.m. outside of his apartment on N 4th Street in San Jose.

A spokesperson for Uber confirmed to NBC News that Yohanes had engaged their services and that his trip had “ended at the requested destination without any reported incidents.” They said the requested destination was the Golden Gate Bridge Welcome Center. The spokesperson said Uber has “been in touch with the driver and with law enforcement” to offer assistance.

 

[GMS]

Webster native goes missing in California; Brother speaks to Dateline

SAN JOSE, C.A. — A Webster native working as a software engineer at Netflix in California has been missing for more than a week. Yohanes Kidane was last seen on Monday, Aug. 14 in San Jose where he was using a ride share service to get to San Francisco. His brother, Yosief Kidane, spoke with […]

www.whec.com

According to Yosief, investigators learned that Yohanes got into an Uber, a black Toyota sedan, on Monday night around 7:15 p.m. outside of his apartment on N 4th Street in San Jose.

A spokesperson for Uber confirmed to NBC News that Yohanes had engaged their services and that his trip had “ended at the requested destination without any reported incidents.” They said the requested destination was the Golden Gate Bridge Welcome Center. The spokesperson said Uber has “been in touch with the driver and with law enforcement” to offer assistance.

With confirmation that YK's intended destination was the GGB Welcome Center and San Jose police stating there's no evidence at this time of a crime, I unfortunately believe self harm was the intention.
I'm curious if the trip mentioned YK took on the previous Saturday to SF was to the Welcome Center and perhaps a 'dry run' or 'contemplating' self harm?

 

[SaucyWalker]

I cannot look for it now (on an old, barely functional mobile phone), but earlier today I read that the missing young man had sent a text to a friend while he was in one of those Ubers, which said, "I think I'm in trouble," or "I'm in trouble." Does anyone else remember reading this?

 

[PommyMommy]

AUG 22, 2023

Friends of Webster man missing in California plead for his safe return

No one has heard from Yohanes, Kidane, 22, sinceMonday August 14.The Webster native had moved to San Jose, Cali. earlier this month, to be a software engineer

13wham.com

[...]

The three boys graduated from Webster Schroeder High School together in 2019 and kept in touch as they went to different colleges and moved into adulthood.

They chatted with each other in a group text the Monday Kidane went missing, but said nothing seemed out of the ordinary. They said he was excited to go to California for his new job.

"That was one of the last things he told me in person," said Merkov. "We were trying to figure out plans to have me go out there to visit him. This was his dream job at Netflix and he was thrilled to go out there."

They were caught off guard when they came across his missing poster on social media.

[...]

 

[ChatteringBirds]

This case reminds me so so SO much of Sydney, who is one of my "pet" cases. I can only hope that they are peaceful now, wherever the two of them are.

It feels like a similar case. However she was said to be struggling, and there is nothing known in this case about past or current difficulties. Of course mental and emotional difficulties can begin at any time in someone's life...

 

[Bnic84]

With confirmation that YK's intended destination was the GGB Welcome Center and San Jose police stating there's no evidence at this time of a crime, I unfortunately believe self harm was the intention.
I'm curious if the trip mentioned YK took on the previous Saturday to SF was to the Welcome Center and perhaps a 'dry run' or 'contemplating' self harm?

I just had the same thought. I’d like to know who he supposedly was meeting at the welcome center both times? It’s strange. Why would his things be separated though? Phone and wallet on hill by welcome center then backpack by the bridge? Maybe sitting there contemplating then leaving that stuff there and walking over to the bridge and taking off his bag or were the items left there to make it seem that way? I’d be looking through his phone to see when was the last it was actually used and who he was speaking to.

 

[ChatteringBirds]

Why would his things be separated though?

Possibly to make sure at least one identifying item would be found/ turned in?

 

[GMS]

Possibly to make sure at least one identifying item would be found/ turned in?

It's definitely a puzzling case. From reports I've read, the wallet and phone were in plain site, spotted by a commuter. The backpack with the 2 laptops and other documents, were located by a police officer hidden in bushes. Maybe staged by YK in that manner to make it appear as an attack or someone discarding items as they ran or fled the scene (imo)?

If indeed self harm is determined to be result or cause of his disappearance, I'm not in the health or mental care field, but curious of the idea someone travelling that distance (SJ to SF) to commit the act. It's not been reported if he (YK) had visited SF in prior years as a youth, but after just a couple weeks living here, he seemingly focuses on the GGB.

 

[megs1477]

I cannot look for it now (on an old, barely functional mobile phone), but earlier today I read that the missing young man had sent a text to a friend while he was in one of those Ubers, which said, "I think I'm in trouble," or "I'm in trouble." Does anyone else remember reading this?

Are you thinking of Beau Mann? Who sent a garbled message through the Uber emergency text system?

If he was going to harm himself, taking his work laptops with him seems odd.IMO I thought I read he told someone he was going to meet a friend in SF, but I can’t find which article it was in now. Could he have been meeting someone and it went south? Authorities just haven’t found evidence of it? It is so frustrating when people seem to just vanish.

 

[LaborDayRN]

This case reminds me so so SO much of Sydney, who is one of my "pet" cases. I can only hope that they are peaceful now, wherever the two of them are.

It's been reminding me of Bryce Laspisa.

 

[cvaldez1975]

Not same Uber driver as first one was SF to SJ. Uber can check this out too. Here's more from the account:

On Saturday, August 12, he had a strange encounter with an Uber driver when trying to get home to San Jose from San Francisco. The driver was insistent on taking him through Oakland, and Yohanes, suspicious of his intentions, was finally able to cancel his ride after crossing the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge. After this ordeal, he expressed his hesitancy in ridesharing alone.

I feel like if this happened, it was a robbery set up ther he was luckily able to escape. Probably not related to this other ride.