Netflix software engineer vanishes after he’s last seen getting into Uber
The family of a 22-year-old software engineer who worked at Netflix are looking for answers after he vanished shortly after getting into a car marked as an Uber.
Yohanes Kidane was last seen on Monday, 14 August in San Jose, California, just two weeks after he started working at Netflix.
He had moved into the Bay Area in July after graduating from Cornell University, and was captured on security camera leaving his apartment at around 7:15pm, before getting into a car which displayed an Uber sticker.
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Kidane’s brother, Yosief, told KTVU Kidane had spoken to two of his colleagues before leaving, telling them he was heading to San Francisco to maybe meet a friend.
On the night of his disappearance, Kidane's sister noticed his location had changed on his phone to place him at the Golden Gate Bridge.
“[She] figured he could have been meeting a friend or, like, checking it out with maybe work people or something," Yosief told Dateline.
However, when the location remained unchanged the following morning, Kidane's sister started to panic as her calls went unanswered.
The location started moving later in the day, but when they called Kidane's phone, a stranger picked up and said he'd found the phone, along with Kidane's wallet, card and ID, at the Golden Gate Bridge Welcome Center.
"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," Yosief said. "Thirty bucks in cash was in his wallet, IDs cards, phone untouched."
The family asked police to conduct a wellness check at Kidane's apartment, but he wasn't there. Officers learned he hadn't showed up to work, and determined he was last seen getting into the Uber.
"The last footage I’ve seen of him was leaving his apartment building and getting into a black Toyota Camry," Yosief said.
The brother told Dateline that as far as he knows the Uber driver has not yet been identified. It's now been a week since anyone last heard from Kidane.
The day after Kidane vanished, his family learned his backpack with his laptop and personal documents had been found, Yosief said. He added that police did not say where exactly they had been discovered.
Kidane's family have filed a missing persons report, with Yosief insisting that they're 'not going to stop' until he's home.
Kidane is described as being is 5’8” and 150 lbs. He was last seen wearing gray sweatpants, a black hoodie, and black shoes.
Anyone with information about Yohanes’s disappearance is asked to call the San Jose Police Department at 408-277-0531.
Emily Brown