Yohanes Kidane Netflix engineer from Rochester, NY goes missing after getting into Uber last week, after recently moving to California after landing dream job. Had similar unusual experience with another Uber days before. Missing man’s cellphone, wallet and backpack found.
A recent New York college graduate who was hired by Netflix in California disappeared after he was last seen getting into an Uber just over a week ago. The man’s disappearance comes less two weeks after moving to the Bay area for his ‘dream job.’
Yohanes Kidane, 22, a computer scientist and recent graduate of NY’s Cornell University was seen on security camera leaving his apartment building in downtown San Jose around 7:15 p.m. Monday before he stepped into a vehicle that bore an Uber sticker, his family told KTVU.
‘Two young colleagues of his saw him and were able to talk to him,’ said Kidane’s brother, Yosief. ‘He said he was heading to San Francisco to maybe meet a friend. The last footage I’ve seen of him was leaving his apartment building and getting into a black Toyota Camry.’
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Missing Netflix engineer was at the Golden Gate Bridge the majority of the night he went missing
Kidane had just moved to the Bay Area in July and was in his second week at the streaming giant, where he worked as a software engineer.
His cellphone, wallet and backpack were found near the Golden Gate Bridge Welcome Center in San Francisco, according to a missing persons poster shared by Yosief Kidane.
Kidane’s phone’s location showed he was at the Golden Gate Bridge the majority of Monday night.
‘Someone who was in San Rafael, who was on a commute, saw a phone and wallet sitting on this small grassy hill right between the Welcome Center and coffee shop,’ Kidane’s brother told KTVU. ‘Thirty bucks in cash was in his wallet, ID cards, phone untouched.’
The backpack was found the next day closer to the bridge and it contained two of his laptops and personal documents.
Kidane, who graduated from Cornell University in May, is described as 5 feet 8, 150 pounds, and was last seen wearing gray sweatpants, a black hoodie and black shoes.
No leads – but deja-vu similar Uber experience days before
The graduate’s mother pleaded for her son’s return.
‘We want to take him home. I need my son. I need my son,’ Mehret Hana Beyene told KTVU. ‘He’s a good man who has a bright future, very loving to his family.’
A group of Kidane’s friends and relatives created a task force to search for him, contacted San Jose police and created a GoFundMe.
‘Yohanes has gone missing in San Francisco. This fundraiser is for covering travel expenses for his family as they search for him,’ the crowdfunding page said.
Kidane’s former college roommate says the Rochester native told a story about another suspicious Uber ride that took place just days before he disappeared.
‘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,” Austin Farmer told Fox News.
‘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.’
Kidane had allegedly texted Farmer during that trip saying he ‘might be in trouble’ and the driver told him to cancel the extra pay.
‘I got a sense he’s taking me there for no good reason,’ Kidane said.
When he got back to San Jose, Kidane said he was, ‘Never going in Uber solo again in SF.’
San Jose police, who are leading a multi-agency investigation into Kidane’s disappearance say the investigation is ongoing.
Anyone with information is asked to call police at 408-277-8900.
