A California tech CEO was confirmed dead on Wednesday after being kidnapped the previous day during a suspected robbery.
Tushar Atre, 50, was found dead on Tuesday in his girlfriend’s white BMW about 14 miles inland from his coastal home in Santa Cruz, California. Witnesses described seeing Atre in the vehicle in the early hours of Tuesday morning but could not say for sure whether he was the driver or the passenger.
“It’s pretty bizarre that a serious crime like this would happen around here,” local resident Brandon Kiel said. “This neighborhood’s great, right here on the point where people surf … [it’s] a pretty busy area.” Homes in the area of Pleasure Point Drive, where Atre lived, are listed for around $2 million.
Law enforcement has indicated that they believe multiple suspects are involved in the crime but have not provided any further description. The course of their investigation on Tuesday morning led to the discovery of the BMW in a secluded area, where they also found a dead body around 10 a.m., hours after Atre’s disappearance.
Later in the day, they confirmed the body to be that of Atre’s. “Sadly, the body found yesterday has now been identified as 50-year-old Tushar Atre,” a Facebook post from the Santa Cruz County Sheriff’s Office said. “This is still an ongoing investigation, but we have reason to believe the motive was robbery.”
Messages of condolences and support poured into Atre’s various social media accounts after his death had been confirmed. “RIP sweet friend,” said one comment, “What the hell is happening to our lovely beach town???”
Atre, a graduate of New York University, was the founder of AtreNet, whose website states the company has “been serving the web design and development needs of many of the most innovative and successful high tech companies in Silicon Valley since 1996.”
One source, however, indicated that Atre may have made some “enemies over his business deals” and was not well reviewed by his former employees over the years.