FOUND SAFE! Slack Co-founder’s Daughter Rescued After Tense Week

The 16-year-old daughter of Slack co-founder Stewart Butterfield was discovered safe in San Francisco after going missing for a week, while the man she was with was arrested on abduction and other charges.

Mint Butterfield left their house about an hour north of San Francisco voluntarily on Sunday and was reported missing the next morning. Authorities spent a week searching San Francisco, focusing their efforts on the Tenderloin district, which is renowned for drug usage and homelessness.

Police discovered Mint late Saturday in a white van with Christopher “Kio” Dizefalo, 26, whom they described as “an adult friend.” He was being jailed in Marin County on $50,000 bond after being accused of child abduction, among other felonies, and one misdemeanor charge of contributing to a minor’s delinquency, according to Marin County police.

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“Mint Butterfield has been safely located and reunited with family,” the San Francisco Police Department announced on X. “Thank you to those who spread the message and assisted with the search.” Stewart Butterfield co-founded Flickr in 2004 and sold it to Yahoo the following year for $30 million. Butterfield then founded Slack, a workplace chat system that he sold to Salesforce for $28 billion in July 2021.

Butterfield and Mint’s stepfather, tech founder Jyri Engeström, expressed appreciation after the teen was located.

“A heartfelt thanks to all the family, friends, volunteers, and strangers who called in tips and made this recovery possible,” they said in an email to the press received by The San Francisco Standard. “We especially want to thank the seasoned law enforcement officers who understand the very real threat of predators who use the allure of drugs to groom teenagers.”