The 16-year-old missing child of Slack co-founder Stewart Butterfield and Flickr founder Caterina Fake was discovered Saturday inside a van in San Francisco with a “family friend,” police said.
Mint Butterfield, who reportedly uses “they/them pronouns,” was located at around 11:30 p.m. in a white van after going missing April 22, the Marin County Sheriff’s Office (MCSO) said Sunday in a news release.
Mint Butterfield, the missing teenage child of Slack’s co-founder, was found in San Francisco Saturday night with an adult man a decade older who is now facing kidnapping charges. https://t.co/1lC1EGg8vn pic.twitter.com/DHuWYr1TK6
— New York Post (@nypost) April 29, 2024
Butterfield was found safe with Christopher “Kio” Dizefalo, her 26-year-old “adult friend,” according to the sheriff’s office. The teenager told authorities that she ran away from home voluntarily.
MCSO said they arrested Dizefalo “for multiple criminal violations” after interviewing him. He was booked in the Marin County Jail, where his bail was set at $50,000.
Butterfield has since returned to her family, police confirmed. Fake first reported her daughter missing after the mother found a note Tuesday morning that led her to believe her daughter had run away at night with a suitcase, USA Today reported. (RELATED: Students Take Boat To School As Bridge Damage Isolates Town: REPORT)
Please help find Mint Butterfield, who might be in the Tenderloin, and who went missing on 4/21 🙏🏼 ❤️ pic.twitter.com/yXv2Q1Z317
— @jason (@Jason) April 24, 2024
“The Marin County Sheriff’s Office is thankful for the assistance of the San Francisco Police Department, the Oakland Police Department and the FBI for their continuous efforts in helping us locate Mint. We would like to also thank the other governmental and non-governmental agencies who reached out and offered additional resources. Additionally, we appreciate the help from the public in trying to locate Mint and providing tips that ultimately led to their safe return,” the news release reads.