The tragic story of Feather Lynn, a.k.a. Bryan Higgins, the Radical Faerie who was killed in an altercation on Church Street near Duboce on the morning of August 10, still has no closure as the police continue to seek the suspect in the case. Blogger Michael Petrelis recently followed up with the SFPD on the case this week, and they say that while the investigation remains open, they're short on leads.
And despite the suspect being somewhat identifiable in both a dashboard-mounted taxi camera video and some surveillance footage from a nearby convenience store, they say the images aren't good enough to have led to a positive ID.
"The individual whose image has been released in both a short video and still photographs has not been identified. The distortion present in both forms of [video and screengrab] media has made this task challenging," the department said in a statement.
As earlier reported, Feather Lynn may have been under the influence of some unidentified substances and showing symptoms of some unspecified mental illness the night before and morning of his death, and friends and neighbors say he was acting very erratically at the time. Neighbor Brian Busta described him to the Bay Area Reporter as "running around like a cat in a cage" that previous night. And witnesses say he had been confronting homeless people in line for a free breakfast on Church Street that morning when the unidentified male in a dark hooded jacket began yelling back at him and roughing him. The altercation moved up the street and was captured on the taxi's camera.
After Feather Lynn was knocked to the ground in a blow that caused a fatal injury, the suspect reportedly returned to the breakfast line and said, "Well, we won't hear any more of that for one morning." He subsequently disappeared before police arrived, and others who frequent the free breakfast at St. Francis Lutheran Church have not reported seeing him again.
If you or anyone you know has seen anyone fitting this guy's profile, or knows of his whereabouts, the SFPD is eager for tips. You can call 415-575-4444 or text a tip to TIP411 with 'SFPD' at the start of the message.