SF Man Seeks Missing Partner

A San Francisco man is looking for his partner, more than a month after the other man left their Civic Center apartment.

Samuel Williams, 51, said he last saw Greg Harding, 56, October 10, and there's been no trace of him since then. Harding had been depressed and struggling financially, Williams said. He took only his wallet and apartment keys with him, and left behind his HIV medications and other prescriptions. He also left his cellphone - Williams had borrowed it the day he disappeared and still has it.

"I don't even know how to grieve properly," Williams said. "I don't know if he's still living or if he's dead. Basically I'm just left standing, waiting, and wondering what's going on." The two men have been together for 14 years and are registered domestic partners.

Williams said he's thought of two possible scenarios.

"Either he's gone and jumped off a bridge somewhere, or he's just living with somebody, and I don't know who the person is," he said.

Williams said there hadn't been any trouble between the two.

He also said Harding hadn't expressed a desire to die.

"Maybe to other people, but not to me," he said.

Harding didn't leave a note.

None of Harding's friends or family has spoken with Harding, Williams said.

Harding is 6 feet tall and weighs about 180 pounds, and he has gray hair, with a beard and goatee, and "blue-greenish eyes," Williams said. He was likely wearing a black shirt and jacket, blue jeans, and brown shoes.

He didn't know how much cash Harding had on him. He had a credit card, but "he can't really use that much, he's already over the limit anyway." His bank account had been closed.

Harding, who smoked marijuana but wasn't "a big drinker," had never gone missing before, Williams said.

'He Was Gone'

Williams said when he left for work at 10:30 a.m. October 10, Harding, who had just been getting over the flu, was still at their apartment in the 1300 block of Market Street.

"I assumed he was just going to go find out about his disability check at one of the social service offices," he said.

When Williams returned at 7:30 that night, he said, "He was gone."

"I thought he was just gone to the store and he was coming back home, but he never came back," Williams said. He said he called police but was told that he had to wait 72 hours to file a report. After the time passed, he called again. This time, police took a report.

(The San Francisco Police Department website says, "Contrary to popular belief, law enforcement agencies in California do not require a person to wait a specific period of time before reporting a missing person.")

Williams said Harding has been depressed "for a long time." He said Harding had been diagnosed with depression "before we got together."

The couple had owned a large house in the Mission district for 10 years but sold it because it was going to be foreclosed.

"As soon as we moved," Williams said, Harding stopped showering and shaving regularly. He also stopped talking to friends on the phone, and he "pretty much" quit going out and would sleep through the weekends.

As part of the couple's dog walking business, Harding would still walk dogs in the morning. He'd then return home "and get on the laptop," Williams said. His partner "loved" talking to people on Facebook, including people from his hometown in Idaho.

"He just was unhappy we weren't making as much money in the dog walking business as he thought," Williams said, and "the last few clients he tried to sign, for some odd reason, they backed out."

Despite his reclusiveness, Harding was still active in some ways.

Harding would also go to Buena Vista Park to have sex with men he met on Craigslist, Williams said, but he didn't know how often he'd go or when he'd last been there.

He said he doesn't think Harding went to the park the day he went missing.

According to court records, Harding had recently been sued over debt, but Williams said Harding had been working with a lawyer to settle at least some of that debt.

The couple's income had been decreasing before Harding left, and after he disappeared, Williams faced an eviction lawsuit. But Brian Brophy, an attorney with the AIDS Legal Referral Panel representing Williams, said in an email Tuesday, "We just reached a deal in principal with the landlord. It is an amicable settlement that works for both parties."

Xavier Ayerdis, 43, a friend of Harding's, said he'd last spoken with Harding in late September.

"He had asked me if he could borrow $100," he said. "I was kind of surprised about that. I didn't know he needed money."

Ayerdis, of San Francisco, said Harding had "some depression maybe a few months ago," but "he'd never shown any signs of being suicidal."

He said he'd known of Harding meeting up with men in Buena Vista Park or Craigslist "10, maybe 12 years ago, but not in recent years."

"He's always been a great friend to me," Ayerdis said. "I hope he's okay."

Williams said he last spoke with police Friday, when a sergeant talked to him.

"He wasn't able to give me any new information at all," he said.

Albie Esparza, an SFPD spokesman, confirmed police are investigating Harding as a missing person. The flier isn't available.

Staff at the San Francisco Medical Examiner's office and the coroner's division of the Marin County Sheriff's office said Tuesday they didn't have any record of Harding. Williams said he'd checked local hospitals to no avail.

Anyone with information about Harding's whereabouts is asked to call the SFPD anonymously at 415-575-4444 or text a tip to TIP411. Type SFPD in the subject line. The case number is 140 861 936.