Mint Butterfield, a 16-year-old teenager and child of tech founders who established Slack and Flickr, was reported missing over the weekend after being last seen in Bolinas, California, north of San Francisco on Sunday evening. The Marin County Sheriff’s Office issued a missing-juvenile alert seeking information about Butterfield the following Tuesday. Butterfield had been reportedly last seen at 10 p.m. on Sunday and was discovered missing the next morning. Deputies sought the public’s help and encouraged anyone with information to reach out to the Sheriff’s Office.
Reports stated that Butterfield’s mother, Caterina Fake, who is the cofounder of Flickr, reported them as missing on Monday. Butterfield’s father, Stewart Butterfield, who cofounded Flickr alongside Fake in 2004 and later Slack, also joined in the search effort. The San Francisco Standard noted that Butterfield possibly took a suitcase and may have headed for San Francisco, a city they visited often, particularly the Tenderloin district, known for its challenges with homelessness, crime, and drugs.
Recent reports suggested that Butterfield might have been spotted in Larkspur Landing, a location north of San Francisco. The Marin County Sheriff’s Office described Butterfield as 5 feet tall with brown/reddish curly hair, pierced eyebrows, and last seen wearing a black sweatshirt, flannel pajama pants, and black boots. While investigations continued, representatives for the Sheriff’s Office, Stewart Butterfield, and Caterina Fake did not immediately respond to media requests for comment.
Stewart Butterfield had cofounded Slack in 2013, leaving the company in December 2022 and is estimated to have a net worth of $1.6 billion. His divorce from Caterina Fake reportedly took place in 2007, the same year Mint Butterfield was born. The couple previously sold Flickr to Yahoo in 2005 for an estimated $30 million. The search for Mint Butterfield continued as authorities worked to gather more information and potential sightings on their whereabouts.