Body found in Santa Cruz, California identified as kidnapped Indian-American IT millionaire

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On the afternoon of Oct. 2, the Santa Cruz County Sheriff’s Department sent out a Facebook message identifying a body found Oct. 1, as being that of 50-year old Tushar Atre, founder of AtreNet, a web design, development and strategy company.

While the investigation is still ongoing, the police say they found the car associated with the Silicon Valley millionaire’s disappearance and his body was inside it.

According to police, Atre was kidnapped in the early morning hours of Oct. 1, around 3 am, from his ocean-front home in the 3000 block of Pleasure Point Drive, and was last seen getting into a white BMW.

“This is still an ongoing investigation, but we have reason to believe the motive was robbery,” the Sheriff’s office said.

Atre’s LinkedIn profile shows he was founder of AtreNet, Inc. from Jan. 1996 to the present. A 1992 graduate in Literature from New York University, Atre appears to have founded his company a mere four years later.

The eponymously named company AtreNet lists as its clients numerous well-known companies (atre.net/clients), numbering more than 260.

A post from a neighbor on Atre’s Instagram account, says, “Walked my dog by there the morning of and saw the crime tape. My friend taught him how to surf years ago. Very sorry to hear this. May he be at peace and those who knew/loved him too.”

Atre’s Instagram account shows a nature lover, with striking photos of the ocean horizon and flowers and plants, as well as photos of Atre and his dog in his home and in his truck/van.