Former coach and teammates hope for safe return of missing California student

The family and former volleyball teammates and coaches of a San Francisco-area college freshman missing since last month are hoping for her safe return, a former coach said. 

Sydney West, 19, a student from North Carolina who attends the University of California, Berkeley campus, was last seen Sept. 30 near Crissy Field, located near the Golden Gate Bridge, the San Francisco Police Department said.

The teen moved to Chapel Hill, N.C., from Pleasanton, Calif., during her junior year of high school. Before the move, West played volleyball at Foothill High School, her former coach Dusty Collins told KRON-TV. 

Sydney West, 19, was last seen near San Francisco’s Golden Gate Bridge last month. She moved to the area from North Carolina to attended college.
(Orange County Sheriff’s Office, North Carolina)

“We’ve all just been sick over this,” he told the news station. “I’ve been in contact with several former players where we have been posting Syd’s missing info on any social media we can.” 

“When somebody’s played for us and been a part of our program, they’re a part of our extended family,” he added. 

Messages and calls to the teen’s family and Collins were not immediately returned. 

West became co-captain of the varsity squad at her new high school in North Carolina after the move. She took a year off after graduation to spend time with her family. She enrolled at Berkeley and moved back to the area in August. 

San Francisco authorities said West, or “Syd,” as she likes to be called, is considered at-risk because of depression. In a video released by the Orange County Sheriff’s Office in North Carolina this week, West’s parents, Kimberly and Jay West, pleaded for her safe return.

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“We love Sydney. We miss Sydney. And we want more than anything to have her found safe and brought back to out home,” her father said. “This is every parent’s nightmare.”

Her family plans to hold a vigil Thursday in Chapel Hill. Anyone with information on the whereabouts of West is asked to contact the San Francisco Police Department at 415-575-4444.