Amy Hillyard’s family and friends continue their search for the 53-year-old mother of two and co-owner of Farley’s Coffee. Hillyard disappeared from her Oakland home more than five months ago, on Wednesday, March 25th.
According to her husband Chris, the day started with them having breakfast together, after which his wife went to a therapy appointment. Charges on her credit card show she used BART to travel from Oakland to Walnut Creek and back to their Radnor Road home in Cleveland Heights.
She confirmed her return with a text to her husband at 1:40 p.m.; twenty minutes later, a security camera at a nearby residence showed her stopping to chat with a neighbor while walking one of the family’s dogs.
When Chris arrived at 3:15 p.m., he found the back door open. Her cell phone, car keys, wallet, and handbag were on the kitchen counter.
The last known Hillyard sighting was discovered in a review of surveillance video by the Oakland Police Department, which showed her at 4:30 p.m. in the area of Dimond Park, near Lake Merritt, about two miles from their home. Volunteers and law enforcement agencies searched hiking trails around Dimond Canyon, along with other locations she frequented, but have been unable to find any sign of her.
Early reports about her disappearance indicated that she suffered from an undisclosed medical condition. Chris Hillyard later clarified that Amy had been prescribed medication for depression and anxiety following the deaths of a close friend and one of their dogs. In an interview with the San Francisco Chronicle, he described her therapy appointment as part of work she was doing to recover and heal.
At a vigil held four days after her disappearance, Jen Bushman, a close friend of Hillyard’s, praised her as “a light in the community” who has “given so much to Oakland and to all of us who love her.”
Besides co-owning Farley’s Coffee shops, with locations on Grand Avenue near Broadway in Oakland and 18th Street in Potrero Hill, Hillyard was active in numerous community efforts, including serving as board president of the Piedmont East Bay Children’s Choir. She also ran Hillyard Consulting, which offered leadership and organizational development services, working with such clients as Gap, Salesforce, Walmart, and Yelp. Testimonials on the company website praise Hillyard’s skill and compassion.
Through a statement provided to KRON4, Oakland police said they have no evidence that foul play is involved. The case is classified as a “Missing Person At Risk.”
Last April, the family created a website, Bring Amy Home (www.bringamyhome.com), to provide updates on developments in the case and information about how to help. A post dated April 23rd noted that Hillyard is one of 80 open missing persons cases being investigated by the Oakland police, which represents about five percent of the 1,500 people reported lost annually in Oakland.
“With so many searches underway,” the post continued, “it often falls on the shoulders of family, friends, and volunteers to stay engaged and continue to push for answers.”
In May, the family increased the original $10,000 reward to $25,000 for information leading to Hillyard’s return. With the assistance of a GoFundMe campaign, they retained Steve Fischer of Search Investigations, LLC, to aid in the time-consuming process of evaluating leads, reviewing surveillance camera footage, and conducting extensive door-to-door interviews in the hopes of finding new clues.
Hillyard is white, five feet, four inches tall, and weighs 120 pounds, with blond hair and hazel eyes. At the time of her disappearance, she was wearing white sneakers with black stripes, a white short-sleeved shirt, and light jeans.
Anyone with helpful information should call the Oakland Police Department’s missing persons division: (510) 238-3641.
Moumita Chakraborty 
Jessica Zimmer 
Dana Pearlman 