Family Describe Events Before Netflix Employee Disappeared in California

The brother of Yohanes Kidane, the 22-year-old Netflix engineer who went missing after boarding an Uber in San Jose on Monday, has spoken out on the events leading up to his disappearance.

Kidane, a recent Cornell graduate, had only started working for Netflix two weeks before his disappearance, according to his family. He was last seen in surveillance footage taken from his flat, in which Kidane is recorded boarding a black Toyota Sedan, bearing an Uber sticker, on San Jose's 28th North Fourth Street at around 7:15 p.m. PDT on Monday.

Kidane's phone and wallet were handed in to police on Tuesday, whilst the officers found two of his laptops and personal documents near San Francisco's Golden Gate Bridge. In an interview with local network Fox KTVU, Yosief Kidane, Kidane's older brother, said the items recovered on Wednesday were "seemingly untouched." Yosief Kidane said he'd spoken to two of his brother's colleagues who said he was "heading to San Francisco to maybe meet a friend" prior to his disappearance.

Yusief Kidane described how he learned of his brother's disappearance and ongoing search efforts during an appearance on NBC's Dateline on Friday.

He said he last spoke to Kidane, who "was super excited to start working at Netflix," on August 13, when they spoke for an hour. The following day, the two brothers' sister, Sara, saw his phone location was "at the Golden Gate Bridge, which wasn't anything out of the ordinary." However, she became concerned when this hadn't moved on Tuesday, August 15, and tried calling Kidane unsuccessfully.

When the phone's location started to move later that day, Yusief and Sara tried calling again, only for a stranger to answer saying he'd found the abandoned phone and a wallet at the Golden Gate Bridge Welcome Center and promised to return them.

At this point, the San Jose Police Department was called, but they found Kidane's apartment was empty and learned he hadn't turned up for work on Tuesday. Police also discovered Kidane's laptops and personal documents, with Yusief saying "we're not exactly sure where but we assume some proximity to the bridge."

Kidane has been officially designated a missing person by police. Flyers distributed around Golden Gate Bridge describe him as a 5 feet, 8 inches tall Black man of medium build, weighing around 150 pounds. The last time he was seen, he was wearing grey sweatpants, a black hoodie and black shoes. Anyone with information is urged to contact the San Jose police on 408 277 4786.

Newsweek has contacted the San Jose Police Department press team for comment by email.

Speaking to Dateline, Yusief said his family is determined to find Kidane and return him home.

He said: "We're going to find him and we're going to bring him home. We're not going to stop. We know our friends and family and the community is not going to stop."

In a separate case, 17-year-old Katherine Schneider went missing from Skyline Boulevard, just southwest of San Jose, on July 5. She was last seen driving in a white 2019 Honda Accord with the CA license plate 8KLK251.

Her remains were later found near her car on August 12. In a statement posted on social media, Katie's mother, Nola Schneider, said her daughter had "passed away in a car accident."