Black transwoman reported missing in SF is found in Berkeley

  • by Eric Burkett, Assistant Editor
  • Thursday March 10, 2022
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A Black transwoman reported missing earlier this week in San Francisco has been found.<br>
A Black transwoman reported missing earlier this week in San Francisco has been found.

Isa Dessalines, the 20-year-old Black transwoman reportedly abducted March 7 from near Fisherman's Wharf in San Francisco has been found, police said. According to Twitter posts, she is safe with friends.

Dessalines was reportedly abducted around 11:30 p.m., near her last known address at a hotel near San Francisco's Fisherman's Wharf. She was last heard from almost 16 hours later in what friends described in a news release as "multiple calls, each lasting under 30 seconds..." Eventually, Dessalines was found in Berkeley, according to a statement from the San Francisco Police Department. Friends posted news about her return in a tweet posted at 3:25 a.m. March 10.

Officers had responded to multiple locations and conducted a missing person investigation but had found neither evidence nor witnesses, SFPD said in a statement.

Confusing reports about her whereabouts appeared throughout the day following her alleged abduction, with the release from friends stating her bloodied cellphone had been located behind a Planned Parenthood clinic in Oakland, along with a trail of blood leading to and from the clinic to the street where it disappeared. Oakland police previously told the Bay Area Reporter they were not involved in the search for Dessalines and SFPD stated they were unable "to provide any additional information" at the time.

Friends launched a Twitter campaign, #FindIsa, and reached out to local media in a desperate effort to locate the missing woman. In the release her friends stated that she was being stalked by a man while staying in the Tenderloin district in San Francisco during the week of February 27. There had been an apparent physical altercation between Dessalines and the man the night of March 1 or the early morning hours of March 2, according to the release. It is still unknown whether this is connected to her alleged abduction.

As of press time, neither Dessalines nor the SFPD have released any additional information about the case.

A tweet from a friend, identified only as Ihla, stated Dessalines "is recovering from a really traumatizing event so make sure not to overwhelm her in this moment."

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