Worried family and friends wonder where missing San Francisco man is

SAN FRANCISCO - A San Francisco family is wracked with worry over their son, missing for two weeks. 

Amir Alkhraisat, 20, hasn't been seen since January 8, in the Mission District. Friends are circulating posters with his photo on them, as his parents wait helplessly. 

"It's hell," said Joan Holsten, Amir's mother, in her Corona Heights living room. 

Tuesday evening, Holsten and her husband Sultan Alkhraisat, were surrounded by supporters: friends from the neighborhood and Amir's friends from childhood. He attended Sacred Heart Cathedral Preparatory and played soccer, a big kid, described as loyal and likeable.

"I fear that something terrible has happened to him, and we need to find him," said family friend Nhu Bui.

On the morning of January 8, Amir facetimed his mother from San Francisco City College, where he was enrolling. He had some questions about financial aid, and was in good spirits, looking forward to taking real estate classes. 

"That was it and then that night at 10 o clock, I'm texting him, okay come home now," said Holsten. 

Amir's parents say they knew something was wrong because their son doesn't have a car, and is a homebody who habitually keeps in touch when out with friends.  

"He doesn't spend the night out, and if he is, he will tell us," said Holsten. "He might come home at 3 o'clock in the morning but he comes home." 

A close friend was with Amir, and also registering for classes that day.

"It's just weird when you're literally with someone, and now I feel sort of guilty" said Nalasha Johns. 

Johns says when they parted, Amir indicated he was going to an Oakland restaurant with a young man he didn't know very well. But he didn't indicate anything was wrong. 

"Amir said, come over to my house later, just call me, so I did, twice that night and he didn't answer."

The young man's cell phone has been dead since the day he went missing. He lives with his parents, but has only been back in their home since mid-summer, after spending 8 months in the county jail in San Bruno.

His parents say he got involved with the wrong people after high school, and took part in a home burglary. 

Because Amir acted only as the lookout, he was able to enter a diversion program for young, first offenders.

Neighbors who have been helping take him to weekly court appointments and counseling say he had turned himself around. 

"He was happy to be home and he wanted to do a lot better," said friend Celine Acuras, who has known Amir since grade school. "We talked about how 2020 is going to be our year, we're going to go to school, and he was going to start playing soccer again." 

Now Amir's parents wait, and wonder about the companion Amir was last with, someone they have never met.   

"In my mind, something happened to him because one of Amir's friends told me, this guy is a bad guy, and he carries a gun," said Sultan Alkhraisat.
The couple doesn't know what to believe, but hope by getting the word out, a tip may reunite them with their son. 

"There's no reason for him to be gone this long and for us to not have any clues, anything," said Holsten. 

A missing person's report was filed immediately with SFPD.

So far, Amir's parents say they are being told very little: only that it's an ongoing investigation and leads are being pursued.  

Frustrated, they may hire a private investigator. 

Anyone with information about Amir Alkhraisat is asked to call (415) 860-4898.