The family of a missing 33-year-old tech CEO called off its search after police found a body inside a parked car in the San Francisco Bay Area

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The family of a missing 33-year-old tech CEO called off its search after police found a body inside a parked car in the San Francisco Bay Area

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erin valenti

Harrison Weinstein

  • A body that may be Erin Valenti, the CEO of a Utah-based app development company, was found this weekend near San Francisco, her family said.
  • Valenti's family reported the 33-year-old missing last week after she missed her flight back to Utah after a business trip and her phone had been turned off.
  • Authorities said they discovered a body Saturday near the location where Valenti's family was searching for her, but did not confirm the body's identity. Valenti's family has since called off its search.
  • Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

SAN JOSE, Calif. (AP) - The family of a missing Utah tech executive has called off a search for her after police reported that a body was found inside a parked car in the San Francisco Bay Area.

Police in San Jose said a body was discovered Saturday in an area where the family of Erin Valenti, 33, had been searching. Authorities said they were working to confirm the identity of the person and the cause of death.

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"While we were praying for a different outcome, we are so appreciative for the help and support you have given," the search group Help Find Erin Valenti said in a Facebook post. "Please remember Erin as the beautiful, smart, funny woman that she was."

Valenti heads Tinker Ventures, an app development company based in Salt Lake City.

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Valenti's family grew worried after she missed her flight home last week following a business trip in California. She was last seen in Palo Alto on Oct. 7 driving a rental car to San Jose for her flight, according to a Facebook post from her family. Her phone was turned off Monday night, the family said.

Valenti's father, Joseph Valenti, called the investigation into his daughter's death a "charade" in a conversation with the San Jose Mercury News. He told the newspaper that police didn't file a missing person report until Thursday - days after the family reported her missing - and that authorities described her as "voluntarily missing." Valenti said that the department didn't make the search for the 33-year-old a priority.

"I am totally frustrated and pissed off with how that was conducted," Joseph Valenti told the Mercury News.

Erin Valenti's parents told The East Bay Times last week they feared she may have suffered a manic episode.

"We talked to her for hours on and off" on Monday night, her mother Whitey Valenti told the newspaper. "Her thoughts were disconnected. She talked a mile a minute. She'd say I'm coming home for Thanksgiving, then in the next she was saying she's in the Matrix," a reference to the science fiction movie.

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However, Erin Valenti's husband told the East Bay Times she had no history of mental illness.

"There's never any history of anything like this, no mental health diagnosis, no hospitalization, no substance use, no arrests - as clear of a record as you can get. This is incredibly unlike her," Harrison Weinstein said in a Facebook post last week. "She is an extremely high achievement, successful person."

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