“She’s able to bring out everyone’s superpowers," Chris Hillyard said. “Now, we need those powers to bring her home”
Credit: Bring Amy Home (2)
NEED TO KNOW
- In late March, Amy Hillyard, a missing coffee shop owner, was last seen near her California home
- Two weeks into the search, her husband described the pain of her disappearance as “unbearable”
- “She made me a better person,” Chris Hillyard said
Two weeks after a mom and coffee shop owner disappeared in California, her husband said the pain of her absence is “unbearable.” But the family has not given up hope that she’ll be found.
“Amy’s superpower is to bring out the best in people. She made me a better person,” Chris Hillyard said of his wife, Amy Hillyard, who was last seen on Wednesday, March 25.
“She’s able to bring out everyone’s superpowers,” he continued in a video posted on the website BringAmyHome.com, which is dedicated to search efforts. “Now, we need those powers to bring her home.”
On March 25, around 2 p.m. local time, the 52-year-old woman was last seen in the 500 block of Radnor Road in Oakland, the Oakland Police Department said in a statement shared with PEOPLE.
Hillyard was last seen wearing a white short-sleeved shirt, light-colored jeans and white sneakers with black stripes, a family spokesperson confirmed to PEOPLE. She is described as a White woman with blonde hair and hazel eyes, who is 5 feet, 4 inches tall and weighs 120 lbs. Police said that the missing woman is “at risk due to medical conditions.”
Amy is the co-owner of Farley's coffee shops in Oakland and San Francisco, and is involved in her daughter’s choir, ABC affiliate KABC previously reported.
Following the business owner’s disappearance, law enforcement and volunteers have repeatedly searched the surrounding area. On Tuesday, March 31, multiple agencies, as well as 60 friends, family and volunteers, searched Dimond Park after video footage showed Amy in the area at around 4:30 p.m. local time on the day she disappeared, police said in an update.
Credit: Google Maps
The search has grown to include about 400 volunteers, who have been diligently searching for new video footage that may provide clues to Amy’s whereabouts, according to the search website. They’ve also posted flyers throughout the area and searched on foot as law enforcement continues to investigate her disappearance.
The Oakland Police Department did not immediately respond to PEOPLE’s request for comment.
For Chris, the outpouring of support is a reflection of his wife’s impact on the community.
“Community is a big part of who Amy is. She loves to bring people together,” he said in the new video. “I know the community’s out there for her now.”
As the search continues, he said that he and their daughters are “suffering.”
Credit: Oakland Police Department
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“We just want her to come home,” Chris said. “People ask me how I’m managing to get through the day and, at times, the pain of not having her here by my side is unbearable.”
Despite their collective pain, the Hillyard family has been grateful for the efforts made by hundreds of volunteers.
“They haven’t given up on Amy,” Chris said, “and neither will we.”

