Found Deceased CA - Erin Valenti, 33, from Utah, en-route from Palo Alto to San Jose, 7 Oct 2019

[PommyMommy]

This is new. I could be very wrong about her not being able to find the airport. I hope they've checked Good Samaritan and Santa Teresa hospitals - maybe even Valley Medical Center.

I will search for her tomorrow morning if she is not found - have commitments today.

Per her husband's comment on the find page, they have a list of hospitals and have been checking to see if she has been admitted as well as any Jane Doe's that match her description. MOO

 

[Seattle1]

OCT 11, 2019
Utah CEO reported missing in San Jose, family speaks out
[...]

“She told me she was driving around because the GPS wasn’t working,” AV, Erin’s mother said.

Her mom was the last one to speak to her on the phone.

“There’s no phone activity and my daughter was very techy and always on the phone,” AV said. “And no credit card activity so we don’t know what’s happened and we can’t find her or the car.”

[...]

All the above is according to her mom and family, but until her phone and back records are subpoenaed and confirmed by LE, we really don't know who she last had contact with.

EV may also have bank account/credit card unknown to her husband. This is not unusual for a business owner to have credit cards in the name of the business, and not accessible to her husband.

Just another reason for LE to continue investigating behind the scenes and report when they need assistance from the public.

At this time, family needs to continue keeping her name in the news, and continue canvasing area she was last reported.

MOO

 

[curtfoo]

I wonder if once her phone died and she realized she had missed the airport, that maybe she went searching for a place to buy a phone charger.

Is it possible she was on 101, missed the turn off for the airport and then got funneled down to 87 which looks like it's headed towards where her last phone ping was.

It's been awhile since I was in San Jose.

 

[PommyMommy]

OCT 12, 2019
Utah CEO reported missing in San Jose, family speaks out
[...]

Valenti's family is now in the Bay Area, and told KRON4 they've been unable to find answers. Valenti's mother was the last person to speak with her before she went missing.

"She told me she was driving around because the GPS wasn't working," she told KRON4. "Trying to keep it together, but there's no phone activity, and my daughter was very [tech savvy] and always on the phone, and no credit card activity, so we don't know what's happened, they can't find her or the car."

[...]

Her family hopes flyers in stores, gas stations, along with neighbors, where they tracked her phone, passing out flyers hoping to find her.

[...]

“I think that they were missing that she was acting very vulnerable,” Valenti’s husband, Harrison Weinstein said. “Very out of sort, everything she said was she was planning on coming home, she was trying to get home.”

[...]

 

[afitzy]

Simple map from Nest Hotel (Palo Alto) to last known spot with final destination of San Jose Airport.

Wonder if she just took a wrong turn off of 280 while heading to the airport and couldn't figure out how to circle back OR perhaps took an exit to find gas if tank was low?

Google Maps

 

[SuziQ]

It seems in the past couple of years, every fall and winter, that there have been disappearances due to bad reactions to the flu shot. Had she had one recently? Or was it the shot you get after you have the flu? Seems in some people it causes mania and hallucinations.

 

[Seattle1]

This is what I have at this point and it is very rough but I'll work on it some more today. Input from any and all is appreciated. MOO

EV is the founder and CEO of Tinker Ventures. The company designs, develops and scales technology products for iOS, Android and the web, according to its website.

EV attended an Alpha Conference in Monterey last week, then was visiting friends and colleagues around SF (Stanford?) and Palo Alto over the weekend.

EV was set to fly home (SLC UT) from San Jose on Monday, October 7, but she missed her flight and did not return her rental car, described as a gray Nissan Murano with license plate No. 8LUD641.​

Mon Oct 7

• 3:15-3:30 p.m. – Last seen by a friend in the 2500 block of Sand Hill Rd, Palo Alto CA
• 6:40 p.m. – Flight (missed) back to Utah
• Time(s) Unknown - She was speaking on the phone with her husband, her mother and a friend throughout the evening, sounding very manic.
• Time Unknown – A welfare check was started
• Time Unknown – EV last spoke with her husband, she was trying to figure out where she was, still saying she was going to the airport, and she sounded confused, disjointed and was not acting like herself. Her car was low on gas. There are no gas station charges.
• Midnight – EV’s phone pinged in South San Jose until about midnight. Last location was near Almaden Expressway and Camden Avenue in San Jose. Her phone was off after this time.

Tue Oct 8

• A Missing Person Report was filed and EV categorized as Voluntary Missing

Wed Oct 9

• Evening - EV missed the Women Tech Awards where she was to receive an award for Entrepreneurial Excellence. She had guests waiting at her table and she won the award.

Google Maps

• 2500 Sand Hill Road, Menlo Park CA
• Almaden Expressway/Camden Avenue, San Jose CA
• Norman Y. Mineta San Jose International Airport

OCT 11, 2019
Utah tech CEO goes missing on way to San Jose airport

• Her panicked family flew to San Jose to revisit her last known locations.
• They passed out flyers in the area and filed a report with San Jose police, who is treating the case as a voluntary missing persons case.
• "I get that people have the right to disappear, but that's not this," her husband HW says. "Everything she said she was planning on coming home. She was trying to get to the airport. She's not thinking clearly.
• EV's husband & parents say they all spoke to her on Mon. - something wasn't right. She seemed manic, but has no history of mental illness.
• "She seemed confused. We said, 'Did you drink anything? Did anybody give you anything?' and she said, 'No,'" her mother said.
• There has been no phone contact or credit card use since Monday.

Thanks @PommyMommy -- we have something to build from; brilliant as ever.

 

[Kapua]

Per her husband's comment on the find page, they have a list of hospitals and have been checking to see if she has been admitted as well as any Jane Doe's that match her description. MOO

Next, they need to check all of the tow yards for that vehicle. MOO

 

[Seattle1]

She is described as a five foot four inches tall woman who weighs 150 pounds. Valenti has blue eyes and blonde hair, and was last seen wearing a white t-shirt and torn jeans.

The Utah native was last seen driving a gray 2020 Nissan Murano with the California license plate 8LUD641.

Utah woman failed to return home from California, reported missing

 

[PommyMommy]

I wonder if once her phone died and she realized she had missed the airport, that maybe she went searching for a place to buy a phone charger.

Is it possible she was on 101, missed the turn off for the airport and then got funneled down to 87 which looks like it's headed towards where her last phone ping was.

It's been awhile since I was in San Jose.

Welcome to Websleuths, curtfoo. Thank you for joining us.

 

[curtfoo]

Welcome to Websleuths, curtfoo. Thank you for joining us.

Thank you, happy to be here. Well not happy ‍ oh nevermind just trying to be polite.

Hopefully with family on the ground they can start to make some progress.

 

[otto]

I wonder if once her phone died and she realized she had missed the airport, that maybe she went searching for a place to buy a phone charger.

Is it possible she was on 101, missed the turn off for the airport and then got funneled down to 87 which looks like it's headed towards where her last phone ping was.

It's been awhile since I was in San Jose.

The Nissan Murano has ports to charge the phone, so her phone should have been fully charged while she was driving. It looks like vehicles after 2015 have the ports.

"There are also two USB ports (one Type-A, one Type-C) for the rear seats that allow for charging of devices"
​

2019 Nissan Murano Press Kit

 

[curtfoo]

The Nissan Murano has ports to charge the phone, so her phone should have been fully charged while she was driving. It looks like vehicles after 2015 have the ports.

"There are also two USB ports (one Type-A, one Type-C) for the rear seats that allow for charging of devices"
​

2019 Nissan Murano Press Kit

True, unless she left it at the hotel, or in a manic state she forgot it was in her luggage or something like that.

I know I've driven all the way back home before for my laptop and badge, and it was in my vehicle the whole time!

 

[PommyMommy]

The Nissan Murano has ports to charge the phone, so her phone should have been fully charged while she was driving. It looks like vehicles after 2015 have the ports.

"There are also two USB ports (one Type-A, one Type-C) for the rear seats that allow for charging of devices"
​

2019 Nissan Murano Press Kit

Although I'm sure that the same is probably true for the 2020 model, I just wanted to point out that that is what she was driving . MOO

Utah woman failed to return home from California, reported missing
The Utah native was last seen driving a gray 2020 Nissan Murano with the California license plate 8LUD641.

 

[PaulR]

The Nissan Murano has ports to charge the phone, so her phone should have been fully charged while she was driving. It looks like vehicles after 2015 have the ports.

"There are also two USB ports (one Type-A, one Type-C) for the rear seats that allow for charging of devices"
​

2019 Nissan Murano Press Kit

iPhone (which I assume she had from all the talk about iCloud) uses Lightning but it looks like the cables included with the phone adopt to either USB-A or USB-C depending on the model iPhone. Of course she might have lost her cable.

EDIT: FWIW USB-A is what most people think of as "USB", it's the larger port in nearly all computers and laptops. USB-C is a newer more compact version, used in some new cell phones like Samsung Galaxy and Google Pixels, and some laptops as well.

 

[afitzy]

East Bay Times (no new news) just putting into thread to follow publication:
Utah tech CEO goes missing in Bay Area – East Bay Times

 

[afitzy]

Cell phone coverage issues do exist in the area depending on carrier - perhaps EV was using phone to return to airport and cell drop situation happened? Do we know which carrier she had?:

San Jose Cell Phone Coverage Reviews

Who's the Best Carrier In San Jose? 400 People Agree It's This.

 

[curtfoo]

Yeah

iPhone (which I assume she had from all the talk about iCloud) uses Lightning but it looks like the cables included with the phone adopt to either USB-A or USB-C depending on the model iPhone. Of course she might have lost her cable.

EDIT: FWIW USB-A is what most people think of as "USB", it's the larger port in nearly all computers and laptops. USB-C is a newer more compact version, used in some new cell phones like Samsung Galaxy and Google Pixels, and some laptops as well.

, I understand, just trying to think what might cause me to veer way off course like that when traveling. If I knew the flight was a bust, in a strange city, and my phone was about to die and I had no way to charge it, that might be my first priority.

 

[Kapua]

iPhone (which I assume she had from all the talk about iCloud) uses Lightning but it looks like the cables included with the phone adopt to either USB-A or USB-C depending on the model iPhone. Of course she might have lost her cable.

EDIT: FWIW USB-A is what most people think of as "USB", it's the larger port in nearly all computers and laptops. USB-C is a newer more compact version, used in some new cell phones like Samsung Galaxy and Google Pixels, and some laptops as well.

She might indeed have lost, packed, or left the cable behind at her hotel. But she could easily have replaced it at any one of 1,000,000 places in the area, if she needed to.

I hope that SJPD is a lot more concerned about EV that they have publicly indicated. Nobody who is on their phone as frequently as Erin was said to be would voluntarily do without it for 5 days, IMHO. I am deeply concerned for her well-being.

 

[PommyMommy]

Cell phone coverage issues do exist in the area depending on carrier - perhaps EV was using phone to return to airport and cell drop situation happened? Do we know which carrier she had?:

San Jose Cell Phone Coverage Reviews

Who's the Best Carrier In San Jose? 400 People Agree It's This.

I don't think I've seen any mention of what carrier she used. I could have missed it. MOO