The billionaire parents of 16-year-old Mint Butterfield have lashed out at the ‘predator’ who allegedly convinced their daughter to disappear in San Francisco last week.
Butterfield, who was found by police on Saturday night, is the only child of two Silicon Valley entrepreneurs, Slack co-founder Stewart Butterfield and Flickr founder Caterina Fake.
In an email to the press, Butterfield and Fake condemned Christopher ‘Kio’ Dizefalo, 26, accused of kidnapping their daughter.
The parents wrote, “We want to especially thank the experienced law enforcement officers who understand the very real threat of predators who use the lure of drugs to groom teens.”
Mint, who uses they/them pronouns, has reportedly struggled with addiction issues in the past.
Mint Butterfield, the 16-year-old daughter of billionaire technology CEO Stewart Butterfield, was found Saturday night.
Christopher ‘Kio’ Dizefalo, seen here, was arrested and booked into the Marin County Jail, with bail set at $50,000.
The 16-year-old disappeared from his mother’s home in wealthy Bolinas on April 21, before Fake reported him missing the next day.
On Saturday night, the Marin County Sheriff’s Office said they had located Butterfield safe in California City after she was found with an adult friend of hers.
Detectives say they learned Butterfield was associating with Christopher ‘Kio’ Dizefalo, 26, known for driving a white van. After tracking the vehicle, officers found Butterfield inside.
In a statement, the Marin County Sheriff’s Office said Butterfield was found unharmed and had run away from her home voluntarily.
After detectives interviewed Dizefalo, he was arrested and booked into the Marin County Jail, with bail set at $50,000.
Police said earlier in the week that Mint was “at risk” due to a previous suicide threat.
They said he had left his mother’s house with a suitcase and left a note indicating that he had left the residence. Police believed she was in the Tenderloin area.
The troubled teen, who is said to have struggled with addiction issues in the past, attends a private boarding school in the Napa Valley.
The Tenderloin is the center of the fentanyl crisis in San Francisco and is known for its squalid conditions, homelessness, crime, drug trafficking, and prostitution.
Mint’s father, Stewart Butterfield, is currently worth $1.6 billion. Slack was acquired by Salesforce in 2021 for $28 billion, and Butterfield left the company in 2022.
His mother is Caterina Fake, who started and created the Flickr image service with her then partner, Butterfield. They sold the image hosting website to Yahoo in 2005.