Photo: Facebook
Was it a suicide ...or something more sinister?
By Bernadette Giacomazzo — Written on Oct 16, 2019
She disappeared a few days ago and her family was heartbroken. She was last seen on October 7 after she missed her flight home to Utah from San Jose. An investigation was immediately launched and investigators were hoping that the end result would be something a bit less distressing. Unfortunately, a few days ago, she was found dead in her car. But her death raises more questions than answers. Who is Erin Valenti? How did Erin Valenti die?
When Erin Valenti was found dead in her car, she'd been missing for more than a week. The general rule of thumb is, if someone is missing for more than 72 hours, they either don't want to be found or they've met an unfortunate fate. And almost immediately, people began believing that the latter was true in the case of the Utah tech entrepreneur. Erin's father, Joseph, told The Mercury News that he was disappointed with how the police handled his daughter's death. "The beginning of it was a charade,” Joseph Valenti said of the police department’s search for his daughter. “And I am totally frustrated and pissed off with how that was conducted," reported the outlet.
Let's look at what else we know about Erin Valenti.
1. Her body was found in San Jose, CA.
According to Deseret News, Erin Valenti's body was found in a rented car (that was in her name) in San Jose, California. The outlet reports that she was found on the 6500 block of Bose Lane and that when her body was found, investigators launched what they called a "death investigation," which doesn't necessarily mean "murder," but it does mean "suspicious death."
2. Initial reports suggested that Erin Valenti went voluntarily missing.
KSL initially reported that when Erin Valenti went missing, she was voluntarily doing so. The theory, of course, was that if an adult wanted to be found, she would have made herself be found. And in this day and age, with all the technology that exists to track people, if she went missing, it's because she wanted to be gone.
3. The police initially thought that Erin Valenti went voluntarily missing, too.
In a different report for The Mercury News, it was revealed that the police initially thought that Erin Valenti went voluntarily missing, and because they felt that way, the Valenti family feels they didn't take her disappearance seriously. The outlet also reports that the Valenti family was willing to go so far as to hire private investigators and drones to find Erin Valenti.
4. She was a very accomplished woman, in her real life.
"Valenti, 33, was the founder of Tinker Ventures, a Utah company that designs and develops apps and websites," said The Salt Lake Tribune, who added that she was also married and her husband, Harrison Weinstein, first posted about her disappearance on Facebook.
5. Her last call home was bizarre
Erin Valenti visited Southern California and the Bay Area on business as well as to see old friends and colleagues. Her last Facebook post on September 25th read: "Heading to SF and LA soon...whose (sic) around? DM me!!" Valenti met with former colleagues on Silicon Valley's famous Sand Hill Road and called her parents in New York on October 7. She was talking a mile a minute and not making sense. Then she missed her flight home that night.
7. Her husband was destroyed when her body was found.
In addition to leaving an absolutely heartbreaking Facebook post, which you can see here, Harrison Weinstein told KTVU that he couldn't understand how something like this had happened. "I get that people have the right to disappear, but that's not this. Everything she said she was planning on coming home. She was trying to get to the airport. She's not thinking clearly," he said to the outlet.
8. A cause of death has not yet been revealed.
To date, a cause of death has not yet been revealed for Erin Valenti. An investigation is still pending.
Our thoughts are with Erin Valenti's family during this difficult time.
Bernadette Giacomazzo is an editor, writer, and photographer whose work has appeared in People, Teen Vogue, Us Weekly, The Source, XXL, HipHopDX, The Los Angeles Times, The New York Post, and more. She is also the author of The Uprising series. For more information about Bernadette Giacomazzo, click here.