Crime & Safety

Missing Piedmont Woman Found Dead in SF Hotel

Jill Reese, a member of several civic organizations, was reported missing on Tuesday after she failed to keep an appointment. Her body was found the next day at a San Francisco hotel, apparently the luxury Four Seasons.

By Dixie Jordan

Jill Reese, a 72-year-old Piedmont resident reported missing on Tuesday, was found dead in a San Francisco hotel room Wednesday, according to San Francisco police and the San Francisco Medical Examiner's office

Reese was found dead about 10 a.m. Wednesday at a hotel in the 700 block of Market Street, according to Officer Gordon Shyy of the San Francisco Police Department.

The luxury Four Seasons Hotel is located at 757 Market St.

San Francisco police are not investigating the death as a homicide, Shyy said today, Thursday.

Reese, who taught for 39 years at local schools, including the selective Head Royce School in Oakland, served on a state commission and belonged to several civic organizations, including the Piedmont Garden Club.

Shyy said that Piedmont police asked the SFPD to check whether Reese was at the Market Street hotel. 

Piedmont Police Department Capt. Scott Wyatt confirmed today that Piedmont police made the request, based on information provided by a member of Reese's family.

Christopher Wirowek, San Francisco's acting medical examiner administrator, said today that his office is actively investigating the case. The medical examiner's office has not yet released a cause of death.

Wyatt said Wednesday afternoon that a missing person alert for Reese had been cancelled, but would not comment at that time on whether she was safe or even alive.

According to the department's original alert, Reese was last seen leaving her home at about 11 a.m. Tuesday, Jan. 14. 

She was expected go to an appointment in Orinda and then return home by 5 p.m., but she never made it to the appointment and has not come home.

According to her LinkedIn profile, where she is listed as Jill Fritschi-Reese, she taught for nearly 39 years in local schools, including Kaiser Elementary School in Oakland, Havens Elementary School in Piedmont and the Head Royce School in Oakland.

She served on the state's California Commission on the Teaching Profession in the 1980s and was a member of several civic organizations, including the Piedmont Garden Club, the profile says.

Related article:

"Piedmont Woman 'No Longer Missing' but Police Won't Comment on Outcome"


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