Mint Butterfield found in van with man, 26, now facing kidnapping charges

US News

By Aneeta Bhole

Mint Butterfield, the missing child of the Slack co-founder, was found Saturday night in San Francisco with an adult man a decade older who now faces kidnapping charges.

The 16-year-old was found alongside Christopher “Kio” Dizefalo, 26, according to the Marin County Sheriff’s Office, after the teen, who is non-binary and uses both genders, went missing from their home in Bolinas last week.

Dizefalo, described by the sheriff as an “adult friend,” was arrested and booked into the Marin County Jail on suspicion of child kidnapping and other violations, according to arrest records obtained by the San Francisco Standard. He was being held on $50,000 bail.

The valet was found with Mint inside his white van on Eddy Street in the notoriously dangerous Tenderloin District neighborhood, according to booking records.

Mint – who was deemed “at risk” due to previous suicide threats – was not injured.

They told detectives they voluntarily ran away from their home in Bolinas and have since been reunited with their family.

Dizefalo, however, is suspected of persuading the teenager to run away, the Standard reported.

Mint’s parents, Stewart Butterfield – who co-founded the instant messaging app Slack before selling it to Salesforce in 2020 – and Caterina Fake – who co-founded the photo-sharing app Flickr, thanked investigators for brought their child home.

“A sincere thank you to all the family, friends, volunteers and strangers who gave advice and made this recovery possible,” said their parents and stepfather, Jyri Engeström, founder of the technology, in a email addressed to the Standard and other local media. “We especially want to thank the seasoned law enforcement officers who understand the very real threat posed by predators who use the lure of drugs to seduce teenagers. »

Mint was last seen the night of April 21 in Bolinas and was reported missing by his mother the next morning.

The teenager allegedly left a note telling his parents they had intended to run away before being found with Dizefalo this week.

Authorities believed Mint was in the Tenderloin neighborhood because they were known to frequent the area before running away from home, police confirmed.