AUDIO: The mystery of how a startup founder went missing and died in Silicon Valley has left a family searching for answers

Courtesy of Erin Valenti's friends and family; Women Tech Council; Samantha Lee/Business Insider

Erin Valenti

• Erin Valenti, a seemingly successful and ambitious tech founder, was on her way home from a business trip to California when she called her mother. She became confused and rambling.
• After Valenti missed her flight, her family reported her missing. On October 12, she was found dead in the back seat of her rental car on a residential street in San Jose, California.
• Two months later, her family and friends still don't know how she died. A police investigation is pending the results of the medical examiner's report, which takes several months.
• She is remembered as a dogged chief executive and a gatherer who started a meetup for tech workers in her adopted home of Salt Lake City.
• This is the story of Erin Valenti's rise as an entrepreneur and untimely death, based on interviews with almost two dozen friends, family members, current and former colleagues, and the police.
• You can hear this story in audio format or read it in text below.
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A 33-year-old Utah startup founder went to Silicon Valley on business and was found dead in her car a week later. Erin Valenti's family searches for answers following her mysterious death.

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