Investigators return to search for Amy Hillyard after new clue emerges

Six months after Amy Hillyard disappeared from her Oakland home, investigators are preparing to launch a new search next week for the missing cafe owner as new clues emerge.

Amy Hillyard, co-owner of Farley’s Coffee Shops in Oakland and San Francisco, was last seen on March 25 around 2 p.m. near the 500 block of Radnor Road. Authorities believe Hillyard, 52, left her home alone, without her phone and other belongings, the day she disappeared.

Steve Fischer, a private investigator hired by the Hillyard family, told SFGATE that over the past two days, investigators have conducted a “thorough forensic analysis” of Amy’s devices and apps. Investigators found that the day before Amy disappeared, Chrome browser data showed she spent about 30 minutes hiking eight different hiking routes stretching from the Reinhardt Redwood Regional Park area in Oakland to Berkeley, Fischer said.

Investigators previously only knew of three routes that were searched, leaving five more to search, according to Fischer. A small team will search these hiking routes starting Sunday, he said. The routes are all within about 5 miles of Amy’s home, and she had already ridden all but one of them, according to Fischer.

“These are areas that, frankly, were not on our radar,” Fischer said. “…Some of them are long trails. Some of them go up to six and a half to seven miles.”

Fischer said the discovery “makes sense” because Amy is an “avid hiker.” Chris Hillyard, Amy’s husband and co-owner of Farley’s, also told the San Francisco Chronicle that his wife was recovering from depression and anxiety when she went missing. Fischer said some of Amy’s journal entries indicated that hiking was a way for her to deal with her anxiety.

According to Bring Amy Home, a website created by the Hillyard family, search teams and their loved ones have visited dozens of hiking trails and combed through hours of surveillance footage over the past few months, but have yet to find any answers.

Fischer said Amy’s disappearance is one of the most confusing cases he has worked on, largely because she has not appeared on any video footage since her disappearance. The only confirmed image of Amy shows her leaving her house.

Authorities were able to view videos from places with long-term security camera footage, such as banks and temples, but no one was able to spot her, he added. Investigators also determined that video of a person previously believed to be Amy at Diamond Canyon Park was not her, Fischer said.

“This is a woman who walked away from a very populated area of ​​Oakland and most likely headed toward the hiking trails. Even as an investigator, it’s very difficult for me to wrap my head around this one,” he said. “…This is not a case where she started at a nature trailhead, this is where she had to go through a very populated area.”

Although investigators believe one of the most likely scenarios is that Amy disappeared while hiking, there is no guarantee she took one of the eight routes she researched online the day before, Fischer said.

“I think we’ll find out she was walking to clear her head and is out in the wild somewhere,” he said. “I really hope this is a case where she decided to leave her life and start a new one. But at six (months), it’s so hard for someone to not leave a digital footprint, whether they like it or not.”

Still, Fischer said it’s unclear where Amy went after leaving her home on March 25, and he asked anyone with information to come forward.

“Other than that, we can’t say that any of these theories are wrong, because we just don’t know what happened here,” Fischer said.

Her husband released a video statement on Friday, saying family and investigators would continue to search for his wife “by any means available.” He said teams have even recently used drones to survey some of Amy’s favorite hiking spots.

“We all keep trying and every day we wake up with a glimmer of hope that today will be the day that brings information that will offer an answer to Amy’s whereabouts,” Chris said.

The family is offering $25,000 to anyone with information leading to their safe return. She is 120 pounds and 5 feet 4 inches tall with blonde hair and hazel eyes. She was last seen wearing a white short-sleeved shirt, light jeans and white sneakers.

Amy is considered at risk due to a medical condition, and anyone with information is asked to call the Oakland Police Department’s Missing Persons Unit at 510-238-3641.

(The Chronicle and SFGATE are both owned by Hearst but have separate newsrooms.)