Family ends search for missing CEO after a body is found in San Jose

SAN JOSE - 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 the body was discovered Saturday in an area where Erin Valenti's family had been searching.

Authorities said they were working to confirm the identity of the person and the cause of death.

"While we were praying for a different outcome, we are so appreciative for the help and support you have given," according to a Facebook post by the group Help Find Erin Valenti.

"Please remember Erin as the beautiful, smart, funny woman that she was," it said.

Valenti heads Tinker Ventures, an app development company based in Salt Lake City. Her family grew worried after she missed her flight home on Monday following a business trip.

Her parents told the San Jose Mercury News 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.

However, Erin Valenti's husband said 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 during the search. "She is an extremely high achievement, successful person."