The family of a Bay Area college football star have spoken out about his behavior before he mysteriously vanished a week ago.
The last reported siting of Berkeley resident and San Jose State University alum Hadari Darden, 28, was at the Skyline Plaza shopping center in Daly City, where he was spoken to by officers after he was reported for acting suspiciously.
“I don’t know how to feel right now,” Darden’s mother, Hanifea Click, told NBC. “I’m angry, I’m sad, I’m hurt. I just want to find my son.”
Click said her son appeared normal so officers allowed him to “walk off.”
“It’s a concern for me for him to even be in this area right now. He doesn’t know anyone.”
Darden’s mom said she had recently been very worried about her son’s behavior, but said he had never just completely disappeared before.
“I’ve been concerned about some things that I have noticed for some time now, and I’ve tried to talk to him and encourage therapy,” Click said.
Darden’s mom said the family last heard from her son on Saturday after he left home because he had made a hair appointment in Oakland that day. Hanifea said he never came back and missed a family get together on Sunday.
On Monday, her son, who works for Kaiser, also never showed up at his job.
Since that time, friends and loved ones have searched everywhere handing out flyers and checking out BART stations trying to find Darden who doesn’t have a car and doesn’t know anyone in the Daly City area.
Darden is described as a 6’3 African American male with black hair and brown eyes, weighing 200 lbs. He was last seen wearing green joggers and a black hoodie while carrying an army-colored backpack.
Steven Jefferson, Darden’s uncle, told the outlet: “He has love from the whole community, from his team members, college mates, teachers, coaches.”
“Just everybody is looking for Hadari right now. We all love him and we want him home.”
Police told CBS that there’s no evidence at this time of foul play and that detectives from neighboring jurisdictions are working together on the case.
In one Instagram post, a woman by the name of Tracy Moran, shared a missing person’s flyer about Darden.
“Please share far and wide. Hadari is the son of my friend. I can’t even imagine the depth of her pain right now,” the post read.
According to the San Jose State University website, Darden was a one heck of a linebacker for his team, and is credited with 25 total tackles with 19 solo stops, in his final year in 2020.
The California Post reached out to Daly City and Berkeley PD for further comment.
