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

[cvaldez1975]

Well I just felt like maybe I could help in some small way and even if not I could at least try.

That’s exactly the path I took- 280 to 85 and then south on Almaden to her last ping. It is SO easy to get turned around at the Almaden intersection there at 85. I got in the wrong lane myself yesterday and had to swerve over at the last minute.

I’m glad she was found, for the sake of her poor family and friends who were searching essentially on their own. But it’s such a sad outcome.

I’m super familiar with that area because one of my kids graduated Gunderson High ans two of my kids play for their youth league. I’m literally there all week and most of the weekend lol (to those not local Gunderson is literally underneath the 85/87 junction and hard as hell to find if you aren’t from here) so if you arent familiar with the area, the Almaden exit is confusing. You basically exit to a side street then merge either north or south into Almaden when you exit sb 85. Weird for such a large road.

 

[CSIDreamer]

I have to laugh at this because it's so true. I can be grocery shopping just a regular woman grabbing eggs and bread, but as soon as I have to leave a store and it's after dark, I turn into a highly trained navy seal op!

I literally look under my car in parking garages, lol. I probably look like a paranoid idiot to other people.

 

[Andreee]

I'm very careful when I travel alone. For instance if pulling into the motel I park as close to a door as possible but under a light. My room key is in my hand before I ever exit my car. The room is immediately locked and deadbolt engaged. Etc. Ironically, my first solo business trip was to Long Island 30 days after 9/11. Either my cautious nature has paid off or I'm just lucky. I've never felt threatened.

I'm super careful too. One time I did feel threatened, when a rough looking glaring man at my hotel came into the elevator with me to go up and followed me out the elevator. We were only ones. I try to avoid that type of situation now. In fact, I would even get off and wait for next one if necessary.

 

[Andreee]

I literally look under my car in parking garages, lol. I probably look like a paranoid idiot to other people.

Gosh, i have never thought of doing that and I'm very careful too! And I don't care anymore if I look paranoid or weird lol.

 

[Babylon Sister]

All very good points! I suffer from hypoglycemia (non-diabetic) and I can’t function at those times. Can a healthy body hypothetically compensate for so long that the onset isn’t typical?

Honestly, anything is possible. I've seen nondiabetic hypoglycemia resolve (my boyfriend has it- gets a little slurry, slow, uncoordinated), but when it resolves, it's back to business as usual with some fatigue. MOO, to not get in an accident or get pulled over in hours of driving, would be really difficult with blood sugar low enough to have a poor outcome.

 

[PixieStix]

That's what I'm wondering as well. By the time she contacted her mom - when she could not find her car, something was very wrong. That suggests that she was deteriorating during the visit with the colleague and maybe as early as checking out of the hotel.

I'm curious what happened the night before - maybe she bumped her head and didn't think anything of it at the time.

I hadn't thought of a bump to the head, but typically even with inflammation and the circus of chemicals in the brain, you wouldn't see mania type symptoms. Anything worse than a bump, you would think she would have told someone whether it be her husband or friend she was visiting, etc.

I know we will most likely (hopefully) find out more info after the autopsy and toxicology reports, but it's just so strange I can't stop thinking about it.

 

[crhedBngr]

I literally look under my car in parking garages, lol. I probably look like a paranoid idiot to other people.

You are absolutely not a paranoid idiot.

One year at Christmas, when people were shopping at our local mall, males were hiding under people's cars and cutting people's ankles with knives. A bit scary.

 

[MJPeony]

I would be interested to know what her gas gauge read when they found her. That 76 gas station was just around the corner and she would have surely driven past it. It apparently is only open until 10pm on Mondays.

I doubt we will ever know what the gas level was, but it could potentially shed some light for LE in terms of her activities between saying she was out of gas on the phone and ending up where she was. If she still needed gas, maybe she’d pulled over to sleep and wait for the station to open again in the morning.

MOO.

 

[katydid23]

Agree with all that you wrote. Despite all our technology and her being in a populated area, no one was able to intervene and prevent this outcome.

I am on the fence as to whether she had a mental break, or ingested/took something that caused that reaction.

Praying that her family gets the answers they need, soon.

I read something last night, upthread---about her recent 100 lb weight loss.

Was she taking diet pills? I felt pretty manic when I was taking them many years ago. My husband politely told me he'd rather have a curvy wife than a manic, upset, non-stop talkative one....

 

[katydid23]

You are absolutely not a paranoid idiot.

One year at Christmas, when people were shopping at our local mall, males were hiding under people's cars and cutting people's ankles with knives. A bit scary.

 

[katydid23]

Because he works too??? I traveled frequently for my job all over the U.S. and didn't need to drag my husband along. Why would that be necessary? MOO

Dragging my husband around would give me one more thing to worry about...

 

[crhedBngr]

I read something last night, upthread---about her recent 100 lb weight loss.

Was she taking diet pills? I felt pretty manic when I was taking them many years ago. My husband politely told me he'd rather have a curvy wife than a manic, upset, non-stop talkative one....

That makes sense.

Don't some of those diet pills contain caffeine?

JMVHO.

 

[MsMiniSleuth]

Low on gas, car GPS not working, losing her bearings, plus some other health related issue possibly all contributed to the perfect storm.

 

[otto]

I read something last night, upthread---about her recent 100 lb weight loss.

Was she taking diet pills? I felt pretty manic when I was taking them many years ago. My husband politely told me he'd rather have a curvy wife than a manic, upset, non-stop talkative one....

I missed that! Was this a recent weight loss? If people take too many weight loss pills, can it effect their ability to thinking?

 

[MsMiniSleuth]

That makes sense.

Don't some of those diet pills contain caffeine?

JMVHO.

If she was taking something like that for weight loss, and perhaps overdoing them, they could have affected her heart and maybe exacerbated an unknown problem. Same if she had taken some illegal drug. All hypothethetical though at this stage.

 

[rosesfromangels]

That makes sense.

Don't some of those diet pills contain caffeine?

JMVHO.

IMHO, that behavior had nothing to do with diet pills. My gut tells me she (intentionally or unintentionally) took something that seemingly caused mania, and a break with reality. If she was that amped up, she might have had a heart attack. I wonder if we will ever know. Really sad.

100% amateur opinion and speculation. Prayers for her family. : (

 

[PixieStix]

I read something last night, upthread---about her recent 100 lb weight loss.

Was she taking diet pills? I felt pretty manic when I was taking them many years ago. My husband politely told me he'd rather have a curvy wife than a manic, upset, non-stop talkative one....

It was 25 lbs. She posted on her FB page on June 22,
"25lbs down. First dessert in 6 months. Loooook away."
I take that to mean she lost 25 lbs over a 6-month time frame. Posting FB link to her page for reference.
Erin Valenti

 

[Synergizer Bunny]

I wondered if she had been at a hotel bar or some place where she had a drink or two and someone put something in her drink (like GHB or something) that caused confusion.

There was another case a few years ago where a young, professional black woman was confused and contacted her mother. I believe that she had been picked up by the police. The mother asked the police to keep her at the station until she could come and pick her up. They released her, and she was later found dead. This girl was also acting confused and totally different than she normally would act.

 

[3blue1pink]

She left Utah for CA the week prior. She spoke to her husband every night and he said everything was normal.

She stayed at the Ritz Carlton in Laguna Beach for an executive leadership workshop and on Thursday flew to San Jose and rented the Nissan.

She drove to Monterey late in the week to attend an Alpha Conference then was visiting friends and colleagues around SF (Stanford?) and Palo Alto over the weekend.

MOO

If she drove to Monterey she had to have passed the airport twice to and from . So how did she get “lost”? It seems hard to believe you can’t be helped within minutes this day in age with cell phones , towers , cameras ... if she lunched with someone, becoming hypoglycemic by 330 is unlikely . I wonder if she took some kind of anti anxiety meds for her flight and they messed with her cognitive skills. Odd and sad case for sure .

 

[3blue1pink]

SJPD took 40 minutes to respond when my step daughter was violently assaulted. They are understaffed thanks to chuckie reed’s “pension reform” a few years back. They are building up but not to their former numbers.

The guy was eventually charged w assault w a deadly weapon so it was serious too bad

Odd they can have 200 PD officers for a 9ers game but none to help someone who actually needs it ...