More than two weeks after Amy Hillyard, the 52-year-old co-owner of popular Farley’s Coffee shops in Oakland and San Francisco, vanished during what was intended to be a short afternoon walk on March 25, 2026, a puzzling new detail has emerged: her car was found parked just three blocks from her Cleveland Heights home.

The discovery has intensified the investigation, with Oakland Police Department (OPD) detectives now poring over hours of doorbell and home surveillance camera footage from the surrounding residential streets. They are searching for any frame where Amy’s tan-clad figure simply stops appearing on screen — the moment she seems to vanish from view in her own quiet neighborhood.

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A Routine Day Turns Into a Riddle

Amy was last seen around 2:00 p.m. on the 500 block of Radnor Road, a peaceful, tree-lined street in Oakland’s Cleveland Heights neighborhood near Lake Merritt. She left her cell phone, wallet, and other belongings at home, including her car keys — yet her vehicle was later located parked only three blocks away. This proximity raises questions: Did she return briefly, move the car herself, or did someone else drive it there? No note was left behind, and there were no immediate signs of struggle.

Her husband, Chris Hillyard, returned home to find the back door open but no other obvious clues. Surveillance from later that afternoon captured Amy near Dimond Park around 4:30 p.m., walking alone in what appeared to be a normal moment before her movements become unaccounted for. Police have reviewed dozens of cameras, but the “empty sidewalk” effect in one clip — where she passes a lens and then seems to disappear from subsequent views — continues to haunt the case.

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563 Radnor Rd, Oakland, CA 94606 | Redfin

The Cleveland Heights area features quiet residential blocks with homes, driveways, and front porches equipped with modern doorbell cameras — the very technology now central to the probe.

The Car Discovery and Doorbell Camera Focus

The fact that Amy’s car was found so close to home adds a layer of intrigue to what was initially described as a simple walk. Investigators are now conducting a detailed video canvass of nearby houses, hoping doorbell footage from Ring-style cameras or other security systems will reveal her movements in the critical minutes or hours after she left Radnor Road.

Residents in Cleveland Heights, Lake Merritt, Lakeshore, and Crocker Highlands have been urged to review their own footage from March 25 afternoon and evening. Friends and volunteers have joined in, combing through hours of tapes in search of any sighting — on streets, at BART stations, or in the vicinity of the parked car.

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