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Rebecca Parker Mankey of Palo Alto, who made national headlines when she verbally assaulted a man wearing a Make America Great Again hat in a Palo Alto Starbucks on April 1, has been reported missing.
The Lake County Sheriff’s Office issued a bulletin Friday saying that Mankey, 46, had been reported missing and that she was believed to be the area of Aberdeen, Washington, as of 9 a.m. Friday.
The Aberdeen Police Department also issued a missing-person bulletin seeking help from the public in finding Mankey. A dispatcher for the Aberdeen Police Department said Saturday morning that Mankey had not been located.
According to news reports from local outlets, Mankey had been visiting a friend in Lake County; she reportedly left Lake County on Thursday but didn’t return home. The Sheriff’s Office has not returned a call requesting confirmation of that information.
Mankey lost her job at Gryphon Stringed Instruments in Palo Alto soon after news went viral about her confrontation of a 74-year-old man in the California Avenue Starbucks. The man was wearing a Make America Great Again cap associated with support for Donald Trump.
On April 3, Mankey resigned as co-chair, officer and a member of the Bayshore Progressive Democrats.
Friends of Mankey have put out alerts on Facebook about her disappearance. “I last saw her when she was leaving Lake County to head home yesterday,” Melissa Demyan wrote Friday. She said that it had been over 24 hours “since anyone has seen or heard from her.”
Mark Van Landuyt wrote on Facebook that Mankey “is a dear friend and a special human being — she is important to many people’s lives.”
Related content:
• Political polarization sparks confrontation at Starbucks, triggering online fury
• Cellphone video captures heated MAGA confrontation that went viral
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YouTube 'auditor' provoked, pepper-sprayed shopper at Mountain View Costco, police sayApril 8, 2026 12:23 pm
Hope this gal is OK. We all put our foot in our mouth once in a while, heck Trump does it everyday. A simple apology to the target of her aggression should suffice, then lets move on & leave this gal alone.
Those who indirectly told her to off herself (see the other thread) are probably doing a little victory dance now.
Hope you are happy with your work, “friends and neighbors”!