The last known image of 35 year-old friends Krislyn Gibson (left) and Sidney Taylor (right), taken on April 1st, 2016.
Krislyn and Sidney had been friends since high school. Their lives went in separate directions after graduating, but they stayed in touch and had a tradition of meeting up each year to attend the Urban Music Festival together in Austin, Texas. The two planned to keep that tradition alive in 2016, and on April 1st, they met up in Houston and drove in Sidney’s car to Austin. They arranged to stay with another high school friend, Jared Hemphill. Jared had to work on the evening that Krislyn and Sidney arrived in Austin, so he called his cousin Harvey Cyphers and asked him to take them out. Harvey agreed, and took the pair out to a strip club downtown.
Jared later grew worried when he returned from work and realized Krislyn and Sidney had not returned. He called Sidney around 3am to ask if they were okay. According to Jared, Sidney brushed him off during the phone call. This is the last time Sidney or Krislyn have been heard from. They never returned to Jared’s house and they never showed up at the music festival the following day. After Krislyn and Sidney did not return to their respective families in Houston by the end of the weekend, they were reported missing.
Two days later, Sidney’s car was found abandoned in Houston—over 150 miles away from where he and Krislyn were last seen. This initially lead investigators to question if Krislyn and Sidney had run away together, as there were numerous transportation hubs in the area where the car was found. However, a forensic analysis of the car later determined that the runaway theory was unlikely—as there was evidence of a violent encounter. Large blood stains were found on the rear passenger floorboard, and a plastic sheeting covered with dried blood and hair was found in the trunk. Since this discovery, police have suspected that foul play is responsible for the pair’s disappearance.
Harvey Cyphers was the last known person to see Krislyn and Sidney. Police inevitably questioned him, and he insisted that he parted ways with the duo in the parking lot of the strip club. Detectives were skeptical of Harvey’s statement, and their suspicions against him continued to grow once they took a look at their phone records. Sidney’s phone pinged off a tower near Harvey’s home in Austin around 3am—around the time Jared last called him. Then, by 7:30am, all three of their phones began traveling east towards Houston. Krislyn and Sidney’s phones were shut off after that. Harvey’s phone later pinged off a tower near the location Sidney’s car was abandoned. Then, he reportedly called a local bus company numerous times. By 5pm on April 2nd, Harvey’s phone travelled the route back from Houston to Austin.
After looking over the cell phone records, police obtained a warrant to search Harvey’s home. They reportedly find even more forensic evidence and blood stains. At this point, investigators have a large amount of DNA that could potentially incriminate Harvey, but they are unable to get any forensic testing. The police department shut down the DNA lab before any evidence could be analyzed. This leaves Krislyn and Sidney’s case—along with dozens of others—in limbo as they await the lab’s reopening. In the meantime, Harvey is not talking. He is currently behind bars on unrelated charges but has not been charged with anything related to the pair’s disappearance.
Krislyn and Sidney remain missing today. If you have any information that could help the investigation, please contact the Austin Police Department at 512-974-5250.