Coroner: Kidnapped Tech CEO Tushar Atre Died Of Gunshot Wound
SANTA CRUZ (KPIX 5) -- A high tech CEO who was kidnapped in the middle of the night from his Santa Cruz home during a robbery attempt died of a gunshot wound, the Santa Cruz County Coroner revealed Monday.
The coroner's ruling officially makes Tushar Atre's death a homicide.
The Santa Cruz County Sheriff's Department said its investigation into the kidnap-murder has concluded that the crime was "an isolated incident." They have also determined that several people entered the home and took the 50-year-old away in his girlfriend's BMW, according to the Los Angeles Times.
However, investigators have yet to release a description of the suspects who remain at large.
Deputies found the BMW and Atre's body on Soquel San Jose Road seven hours after he was kidnapped from his Pleasure Point Drive on Oct. 1. Investigators said that the property where the discovery was made was also owned by Atre.
Atre founded and was the CEO of AtreNet, a web marketing and design company.
The long-time Santa Cruz resident also ran a cannabis manufacturing company called Interstitial Systems on Fern Street in Santa Cruz. His friend, Robert Blumberg, said Atre started the company about a year ago.
If you have any information you are asked to call the Santa Cruz Sheriff's Department tip line at (831)454-7631.
