A 26-year-old man appeared in a San Francisco court Wednesday to face kidnapping charges for allegedly abducting Mint Butterfield, the 16-year-old child of billionaire Slack co-founder Stewart Butterfield.
Wearing a yellow prison jumpsuit, valet parking attendant Christopher “Kio” Dizefalo — who sports a facial tattoo of a scythe, a tool most closely associated with the Grim Reaper — was shackled and stone faced as he talked with his attorney about the charges against him.
Mint, who is nonbinary and uses they/them pronouns, went missing from her family home last week after leaving a note.
Six days later, authorities found her in a white van with Dizefalo and an adult woman named Sarah Atkins in the city’s Tenderloin neighborhood, notorious for drugs and lawlessness. The teen was physically unharmed.
During Wednesday’s hearing a judge issued a warrant for Atkins’ arrest. Stewart Butterfield attended the hearing via zoom, but did not speak.
Dizefalo — who previously attended a private Christian school, according to an online profile — was described by the sheriff as an “adult friend.”
He was arrested and booked at Marin County Jail on suspicion of child abduction and other violations, according to arrest records obtained by the Post. He is being held on $50,000 bail.
The criminal complaint filed against the pair accused them of: “Willfully and unlawfully, not having a right to custody, maliciously take, entice away, keep, withhold, and conceal a child … with the intent to detain and conceal that child from a lawful custodian,” according to local outlet Kron4.
In an email to the media, Mint’s parents — Flickr co-founder Caterina Fake and Stewart Butterfield, as well as stepdad and fellow tech founder Jyri Engeström — previously thanked authorities for bringing Mint home.
“A heartfelt thanks to all the family, friends, volunteers and strangers who called in tips and made this recovery possible,” the family wrote. “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.”
