Body of missing Netflix engineer found floating in San Francisco Bay near Golden Gate Bridge
A 22-year-old Netflix engineer who vanished after being seen getting into an Uber last month has been found dead in the water near Golden Gate bridge.
Yohanes Kidane was last seen on 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.
A search was launched, with his desperate family urging anyone with any information to come forward.
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Sadly, the search came to a tragic end after his unresponsive body was found in the waters of San Francisco Bay on 29 August.
Initially his remains were ‘unidentifiable and unknown at the time of his death pronouncement without any identification located upon his person’.
Kidane, who was originally from Webster, New York, was ‘scientifically identified’ on 31 August and his next of kin were informed.
An autopsy took place and the coroner said his cause of death was ‘blunt impact injuries’ and ‘drowning’.
According to a press release from Marin County Sheriff’s Office, Kidane’s death has been ruled as suicide.
The release reads: “A forensic postmortem examination was completed to the extent lawfully required to establish the truthful and accurate cause of death.
“The cause of death was determined to be from blunt impact injuries with drowning as a significant contributing condition.
“The mode of death was determined to be suicide.
“The cause and manner of death was concluded by the Marin County Sheriff’s Office, Coroner Division based upon the totality of the death investigation to date in addition to the information provided by the California Highway Patrol - Marin Office and the San Jose Police Department.”
The statement concluded: “The Marin County Sheriff’s Office and personnel of the Coroner Division offers our sincerest condolences to the family and friends of Mr. Kidane.”
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.
Kidane’s brother, Yosief, told Dateline: “[She] figured he could have been meeting a friend or, like, checking it out with maybe work people or something.”
However, when the location remained unchanged the following morning, Kidane's sister started to panic as her calls went unanswered.
The next morning, a passerby found his phone and wallet near the Golden Gate Bridge Welcome Center and turned them into cops.
Kidane's family described him as 'very intelligent, high achieving individual with lofty expectations for himself’ and that he was 'top of his class at Cornell'.
If you’ve been affected by any of these issues and want to speak to someone in confidence, please don’t suffer alone. Call Samaritans for free on their anonymous 24-hour phone line on 116 123.
For US readers, you can dial the 24/7 National Suicide Prevention hotline at 1-800-273-8255 or go to SuicidePreventionLifeline.org.
Claire Reid