{"id":477103,"date":"2026-09-27T04:14:33","date_gmt":"2026-09-27T04:14:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/477103\/"},"modified":"2026-09-27T04:14:33","modified_gmt":"2026-09-27T04:14:33","slug":"new-clues-in-search-for-missing-california-coffee-shop-owner-amy-hillyard-6-months-after-her-disappearance","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/477103\/","title":{"rendered":"New clues in search for missing California coffee shop owner Amy Hillyard 6 months after her disappearance"},"content":{"rendered":"

A missing California coffee shop owner<\/a>\u2019s husband is revealing new details in the six-month search for his wife<\/a> \u2014 including using drones to hunt for clues as the desperate efforts continue.<\/p>\n

Chris Hillyard said investigators and supporters are zeroing in on areas where Amy Hillyard liked to hike and walk, using aerial imagery to search for any shred of evidence.<\/p>\n

Amy, 52, co-owner of Farley\u2019s Coffee in San Francisco<\/a>, was last seen on March 25 walking her dog near the 500 block of Radnor Road in Oakland. <\/p>\n

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Amy Hillyard and her husband, Chris Hillyard, pose for a photo prior to her disappearance on March 25. Instagram\/@farleyseast<\/p>\n

Now, after six months without answers, her family is still clinging to a \u201cglimmer of hope.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe private investigator who\u2019s worked on missing persons cases across the country called Amy\u2019s disappearance one of the most perplexing cases he\u2019s ever worked on,\u201d Chris Hillyard said in a video<\/a> marking the six-month anniversary of her disappearance.<\/p>\n

Hillyard spent about 30 minutes using Chrome to look at eight different hiking routes. YouTube\/@BringAmyHome<\/p>\n

Chris Hillyard speaks in a video about the ongoing search for his missing wife, Amy Hillyard. YouTube\/@BringAmyHome<\/p>\n

That investigator, Steve Fischer, recently led a \u201cdeep forensics dive\u201d into Amy\u2019s devices and apps<\/a>, uncovering five hiking routes that investigators didn\u2019t previously know about.<\/p>\n

Fischer, who was hired by Amy\u2019s family, told SFGate<\/a> that investigators spent two days combing through her devices.<\/p>\n

They discovered that the day before she vanished, Amy spent about 30 minutes using Chrome to look at eight different hiking routes running from the Reinhardt Redwood Regional Park area in Oakland toward Berkeley.<\/p>\n

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Fischer told the outlet she had hiked all but one of them before. YouTube\/@BringAmyHome<\/p>\n

Investigators had previously identified three of those routes and searched them.<\/p>\n

The digital discovery revealed five more \u2014 and a small team planned to begin searching the newly identified routes Sunday.<\/p>\n

The trails are all about 5 miles from Amy\u2019s home, and Fischer told SFGate she had hiked all but one of them before.<\/p>\n

A $25,000 reward remains in effect for information about Hillyard\u2019s disappearance. YouTube\/@BringAmyHome<\/p>\n

Fischer also told the organization entries in Hillyard\u2019s journal indicated that hiking was one of the ways she managed her anxiety. GoFundMe<\/p>\n

\u201cThese are areas that were quite frankly not on our radar,\u201d Fischer told the outlet.<\/p>\n

Some of the routes are lengthy, he said, stretching roughly 6 1\/2 to 7 miles.<\/p>\n

Fischer also said that entries in Amy\u2019s journal indicated hiking was one of the ways she managed her anxiety.<\/p>\n

Chris Hillyard has said Amy left her cellphone at home. GoFundMe<\/p>\n

Now, investigators are concentrating on specific areas and using drones to search places Amy knew and enjoyed, according to her husband.<\/p>\n

\u201cStill we all keep trying and every day we wake up with a glimmer of hope that today will the day that brings some piece of information that offers an answer to Amy\u2019s whereabouts,\u201d Chris Hillyard said.<\/p>\n

Amy is described as standing 5-foot-4 and weighing about 120 pounds, with blonde hair and hazel eyes. She is considered at risk because of a medical condition<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Amy Hillyard is pictured in this undated photo prior to her disappearance on March 25, 2026.<\/p>\n

Her husband has said Amy left her cellphone at home before vanishing, and the dog was found safe inside the house.<\/p>\n

A $25,000 reward remains in effect for information about her disappearance.<\/p>\n

Her friends and family have also launched Bringamyhome.com<\/a>, where supporters can follow the search and learn how to help.<\/p>\n

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