California authorities are continuing their search for missing nonbinary teenager Mint Butterfield.
Butterfield, who is 16, is the child of Slack co-founder Stewart Butterfield and Flickr co-founder Caterina Fake, the latter of whom reported them as a missing person on Monday, April 22. According to a Marin County Sheriff’s Office news release released on April 25, Fake last saw the child at approximately 10 p.m. on Sunday, April 21, inside their home in Bolinas, California, a city about 30 miles from San Francisco.
Fake says that on April 22, she realized that Butterfield was not at home and discovered a note indicating that they had left with a suitcase at some point during the night or early on Monday morning, despite not having access to a phone or vehicle.
“For the most part, my classmates don’t know what I’m going through.”
The sheriff’s office noted that police currently have “no information to believe” that Butterfield was taken against their will. They are currently listed as a “voluntary-missing” juvenile who is considered “at-risk” because of a previous threat of suicide. The release added that Fake and Butterfield also share a home in San Francisco, with Fake suggesting that Butterfield may have left for the city’s Tenderloin District.
As NBC News reported, Butterfield was last seen wearing a black sweatshirt, flannel pajama pants, and black boots, and may be carrying a gray suitcase, according to the sheriff’s office. They are about five feet tall, have brown and red curly hair, weigh about 100 pounds, and have pierced eyebrows.
Fake and Butterfield co-founded Flickr, in 2004. They were married in 2001 but divorced in 2007. Butterfield went on to release the workplace messaging software Slack in 2013.
“Unfortunately, there has been misinformation disseminated through social media and other outlets regarding potential associates or persons who may know of Mint’s whereabouts,” the sheriff’s office said in their news release. “Additionally, various phone numbers have been posted to call asking for information.”
Authorities requested that anyone with information about Butterfield’s whereabouts to call the Marin County Sheriff’s Office at 415-479-2311 or email tips@marinsheriff.org.
Get the best of what’s queer. Sign up for Them’s weekly newsletter here.
