Bay Area mother disappears after missing flight to SFO

A Bay Area mother was reported missing after not boarding her flight to San Francisco from Houston shortly before Thanksgiving, according to multiple outlets. 

Danielle Becker Friedland, 36, was receiving mental health treatment at a clinic in Houston  for six weeks, several outlets, including the Houston Chronicle, reported. She was set to board a flight that would arrive at San Francisco International Airport on Wednesday night.

Friedland, a Piedmont resident, was last seen at the George Bush Intercontinental Airport, wearing a blue and orange jacket, dark pants, a black backpack and a beaded bracelet, the San Francisco Chronicle reported, citing police. (The Chronicle and SFGATE are both owned by Hearst but have separate newsrooms.)

Friedland is 5 feet, 1 inch tall and weighs 100 pounds, according to KHOU-11, a local CBS affiliate in Houston.

Friedland checked in her luggage but didn’t board her plane or contact her husband, police told KHOU-11. Authorities told the outlet they believe she left her phone at the airport on purpose, and that she boarded a taxi with only a debit card and approximately $160 in cash.

The woman’s husband, Jordan Friedland, told KHOU-11 the family has been looking for her in Houston ever since she missed her plane on Nov. 22.
“One of the scariest things for me is that Dani doesn’t know Houston. She doesn’t have friends or family here. She doesn’t have her luggage, her credit cards, her phone and I just can’t imagine how scary that must be,” Jordan told the outlet. He said there were a couple “apparent sightings” of his wife over the weekend, “but nothing has turned up yet.”

Anyone with information about Friedland’s location should email Piedmont Police Department detectives at detectives@piedmont.ca.gov, or call the Houston Police Department Missing Persons Division at 832-394-1840.