The family of 41-year-old Ray Whidden, who hasn’t been seen since last Thursday, fear an altercation occurred before he went missing because he left his shirt and broken glasses at home, without which he’s almost clinically blind.
The family of 41-year-old Ray Whidden, a transgender man with severe vision impairment, is searching for answers after he disappeared from his San Francisco home last Thursday night without his glasses, shirt, phone, or wallet, as KRON4 reports.
Whidden's wife Sarah said she last saw her husband Thursday night before the couple went to bed and filed a missing persons report Saturday after realizing he was gone. Whidden and Sarah were previously featured in a 2023 Chronicle story about trans fashion, where they said they met at Trans Thrive in San Francisco's Polk Gulch neighborhood.
Sarah Whidden told KRON4 she had taken sleeping medication before bed and woke up to find Whidden missing. Whidden’s phone, wallet, and broken eyeglasses were found inside the apartment. Sarah said her husband had recently been experiencing mental health issues and had broken his own glasses “so he can't see,” adding that it was the first time he had ever behaved that way.
Whidden’s family has questioned the circumstances surrounding his disappearance. His mother, Leticia Molina Romero, said she spoke with her son frequently and had not noticed any signs of a mental health crisis. She questioned whether there may have been an altercation before he left, noting that he was found on surveillance video leaving without a shirt.
“Last time they were here there was no notice of anything like that at all,” Molina Romero said, speaking to KRON4. “Unless they did get into a fight and he lost his shirt? Maybe that’s why he didn’t have a shirt when he left.”
Whidden’s sister, Moriah Mitchell, said Whidden is “essentially clinically blind” without his glasses and his disappearance was completely out of character. She’s been contacting hospitals in the area while urging police to investigate the possibility that something happened to him.
“The fact that his glasses were found in pieces is very concerning to me,” Mitchell said.
Romero also expressed concern for her son’s safety, telling KRON4 she fears for him being alone in San Francisco without a shirt and noting that he is transgender amid ongoing anti-LGBTQ hostility.
Friends and family have been posting missing person flyers throughout the South of Market neighborhood as the search continues. Mitchell plans to travel to San Francisco this week to help look for her brother, including going door-to-door and reviewing surveillance footage.
Whidden is described as 5 feet 3 inches tall, 160 pounds, with short black hair and two dove tattoos on his upper right back.
The San Francisco Police Department has not yet released a statement about the case. Anyone with information is urged to contact Mitchell at (707) 660-3862.
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Image: Family of Ray Whidden
