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

[Blonde_AF]

I'm not sure. I nervous it was her family that went to the location of the last ping and found her in the car. I'm praying that's not the case!

They were going to be meeting people at a near by Starbucks. When people arrived they weren’t there so either someone in the family found the car and called the others or they were notified to go there.

 

[Steelslady]

I agree. It is too coincidental for me that her disorientation began the same time she left her former colleague. I am not accusing him/her of anything. MOO

I won't accuse them of anything, but if I am family or LE, you bet I want to talk to him/her! Hopefully they did the right thing and came forward on their own.

 

[Steelslady]

Not me. I'm going to be taking photos of the license plate within the first 15 minutes. MOO

Myself as well. Where I live, that would definitely be unusual and would warrant a look in the back seat, but not alone, of course. After the second day, the cops would be there....

 

[MassGuy]

Oh no! How heartbreaking! I am so sorry for Erin- rest in peace. My thoughts are with her family and friends.

I wonder if she could have had a stroke or hemorrhage?

We’d need some medical expert to chime in, but does that explain the apparent manic behavior being exhibited here?

This seems to have been a fairly prolonged event, one in which she was driving around and making phone calls.

Thats the reason I’m leaning towards some sort of drug, but I’m not a doctor.

 

[Knox]

Been out all day, just say the news

How could her car have been in the neighborhood for five days and no one called police? I'm shocked!! Also how did no one see her in the car?

 

[Steelslady]

We’d need some medical expert to chime in, but does that explain the apparent manic behavior being exhibited here?

This seems to have been a fairly prolonged event, one in which she was driving around and making phone calls.

Thats the reason I’m leaning towards some sort of drug, but I’m not a doctor.

Strokes can cause a variety of symptoms. When some folks have one, they literally go unconscious and lose their speech. Others can suffer from one slowly- they don't lose consciousness, but their eye sight gets blurry, sometimes heart starts racing, numbing and tingling in the extremities, confusion and loss of time (my poor sister has had mini strokes since childhood, just awful to witness, and she's had many), paralysis can and usually occurs on one side. Without hearing her phone call, it's hard to say which medical issue, if any, happened here.

I, too, was wondering about drugs- even a prescription drug can cause a bad reaction for some people. Someone else mentioned those edible thingies that can cause manic episodes in some people. I also mentioned my friend who had a bad reaction when the pot he smoked was laced with angel dust or whatever it's called (sorry, I don't smoke it and it's been over 40 years since that episode). This could be the case for sure.

I just feel bad that she was trying to get to the airport- that's what makes me wonder if she suffered a stroke- her confusion and panic.

Hopefully her family gets answers soon. So so sad that she drove around and didn't think to get medical attention. Poor lady.

 

[MsBetsy]

I think a sudden medical event also makes sense here. I'd be interested to know if Erin was having headaches as well. Really I think that's the best scenario. No drugs, no suicide, no homicide. Natural causes. At least I'd prefer that if it was my family. You'll always wish you could have saved her or if you missed signs, no matter the cause.

From the way her family and the officer described it it sounds like she was exhibiting something called "pressured speech." It includes rapid speech, jumping from one topic to the other, and speaking in a frenzied manner with no pauses.
It's most common in bipolar disorder and can escalate into a full blown manic episide, which can be very dangerous. It can be triggered by stress, anxiety, or sleep deprivation.
There are other disorders that can cause this too as well as certain drugs but it's most common in bipolar disorder during a manic episode. Pressured speech is usually the first sign.

It's too bad police did not take the family more seriously and recognize that she was in danger. Her family would know her best and they seemed to think there was an urgent need to find her. They were right. Such a tragedy. If only they had found her in time.

Imo

 

[Seattle1]

Been out all day, just say the news

How could her car have been in the neighborhood for five days and no one called police? I'm shocked!! Also how did no one see her in the car?

She was in the back -probably not readily visible .

San Jose police Sgt. Enrique Garcia said, via email, that police are conducting “a death investigation” after discovering a body Saturday in the back of a car in the 6500 block of Bose Lane in San Jose.

ETA: Add link

Body of missing Utah tech CEO found in San Jose, California

 

[afitzy]

Body of missing Utah tech CEO found in San Jose, California

 

[MJPeony]

According to a link in the prior posts it says Bose Lane which is Almaden and .8 miles from the cell phone tower ping.

Yes, I posted that before the exact address was confirmed. Her phone pinged around Vegas and Menlo, and she was found just a few blocks across Almaden. I drove down there today- was actually on Camden and Trinidad at one point.

 

[Jessthinkin]

We’d need some medical expert to chime in, but does that explain the apparent manic behavior being exhibited here?

This seems to have been a fairly prolonged event, one in which she was driving around and making phone calls.

Thats the reason I’m leaning towards some sort of drug, but I’m not a doctor.

Legalized/easily available marijuana/edibles in CA now, wonder if the colleague she met up with shared some and it was too strong/too much/induced a psychotic break, etc.

Whatever happened, very sad for her family...

 

[MassGuy]

Legalized/easily available marijuana/edibles in CA now, wonder if the colleague she met up with shared some and it was too strong/too much/induced a psychotic break, etc.

Whatever happened, very sad for her family...

I don’t think there’s been a documented case of death from something like that, so her cause of death would have to be something she did because of it.

I’m not seeing that as a possibility here, but we know so little that I guess it can’t be ruled out.

This is an odd one.

 

[Jessthinkin]

I don’t think there’s been a documented case of death from something like that, so her cause of death would have to be something she did because of it.

I’m not seeing that as a possibility here, but we know so little that I guess it can’t be ruled out.

This is an odd one.

I completely agree, not direct death from that, but due to something she did because of it.

I live in CA and know (anecdotally) of folks who've been caught unawares by how potent some of the new/commercial products are.

If there were a pre-existing medical or emotional fragility, it could've contributed...

 

[chi123]

This is such a fascinating case because usually when we see a rapid onset of mental illness where a person ends up deceased it’s in water, or they have a bad accident, or they wander off into woods or the elements.. but here she was in the backseat of her rental car in a residential area.

I agree with most that a homicide would be unlikely but not impossible. She was vulnerable in her reported state of mind, especially if she had been drugged.

I think we’re gonna have to wait for tox on this one. I just wish LE could have gotten to her Monday night and had a chance to save her life. It was very apparent to family she was not voluntarily missing and she was having a mental health crisis

 

[PaulR]

The "we're in the Matrix" talk was almost certainly in reference to the film, it's a very old concept (very old = Plato) and gets talked about a lot in tech/Silicon Valley philosophy circles.

 

[MsBetsy]

Strokes can cause a variety of symptoms. When some folks have one, they literally go unconscious and lose their speech. Others can suffer from one slowly- they don't lose consciousness, but their eye sight gets blurry, sometimes heart starts racing, numbing and tingling in the extremities, confusion and loss of time (my poor sister has had mini strokes since childhood, just awful to witness, and she's had many), paralysis can and usually occurs on one side. Without hearing her phone call, it's hard to say which medical issue, if any, happened here.

I, too, was wondering about drugs- even a prescription drug can cause a bad reaction for some people. Someone else mentioned those edible thingies that can cause manic episodes in some people. I also mentioned my friend who had a bad reaction when the pot he smoked was laced with angel dust or whatever it's called (sorry, I don't smoke it and it's been over 40 years since that episode). This could be the case for sure.

I just feel bad that she was trying to get to the airport- that's what makes me wonder if she suffered a stroke- her confusion and panic.

Hopefully her family gets answers soon. So so sad that she drove around and didn't think to get medical attention. Poor lady.

The way her mother described her "talking a mile a minute," and jumping from one topic to the other in a series of phone calls doesn't sound like a stroke to me. It sounds like a manic episode or a symptom of a mental health disorder.

Also her mention of the matrix makes me think she was experiencing some kind of psychosis or hallucinations.
It's possible that it was brought on by drugs, but didn't she have an event to go to and a reward she was about to receive?

It's hard to say because we don't know anything about her history or if she used drugs, but it sounds like it was a long drawn out episode for drug effects to last that long.

I'm sure LE will be questioning the last person she was with and hopefully will get some answers. Imo

 

[Andreee]

This hasn’t been mentioned, but her behavior could also be a response to some traumatic incidence that took place.

Amateur opinion and speculation

As an aside, on that missing page for Erin that was mentioned earlier it suggests commenting on the SJ police page that Erin is NOT voluntarily missing so I did. (

I may be doing something wrong- is anyone else getting a blurred out image on Google street view of the 6582 Bose area?

Or is this what Google does to protect privacy of address when a crime address is reported?

Its blurred out for me too!

 

[Seattle1]

https://ksltv.com/423374/body-of-missing-utah-tech-ceo-found-in-san-jose/

[...]

Her friends and family from Utah flew to California to help in the search and to raise awareness about her disappearance. KSL heard from several friends who said that search is now over with the discovery of her body in a car near a library and community center in San Jose.

[...]

“Erin was a such a force for good,” Clint Betts, executive director of Silicon Slopes and the Utah Tech Council, said. “It’s hard to imagine the Silicon Slopes community without her in it. Our hearts go out to her husband and family during this unimaginable time. We are devastated.”

There are still a lot of unanswered questions in this case and we will continue working this story and bring you updates as we get them.

 

[Steelslady]

I have to tell you all, if I were a member of her family, I'd be livid with the SJ police department right now. I am not saying that they could have prevented her death, but darn it, they could have at least tried to look for the woman!

 

[Seattle1]

I have to tell you all, if I were a member of her family, I'd be livid with the SJ police department right now. I am not saying that they could have prevented her death, but darn it, they could have at least tried to look for the woman!

I read a lot of news about Palo Alto area over the last 3 days, and to be honest -- similar, seemingly drug induced behavior is reported often. However -- Erin was not from PA - she was from Salt Lake! It seems that would have factored in on the SJPD decision how to allocate resources to search for her.

Shattering news. Peace to her family.