About 100 friends and family members of a Bay Area coffee shop owner missing from Oakland since Wednesday gathered in solidarity Sunday evening as they held out hope for her safe return.
A candlelight vigil at the Lakeside Park pergola on the east side of Oakland’s Lake Merritt provided a sense of community for the loved ones of Amy Hillyard, 52, who was last seen around 2 p.m. Wednesday on the 500 block of Radnor Road in the Cleveland Heights neighborhood.
“The mood was grounded in care, connection and hope,” Sarah Wachs, a longtime friend of Hillyard’s, told the Chronicle after the vigil. “It was a space for people to come together, support one another, and show up for Amy and her family with love and strength.”…