Found Deceased CA - Erin Valenti, 33, from Utah, en-route from Palo Alto to San Jose, 7 Oct 2019

[kittythehare]

Re -mania
If the word 'delirium' was substituted maybe the discussion would lean towards medical cause, medical physical in the absence of any evidence of mental instability?

 

[TristanP]

I agree with the tox results might being withheld yet it could go either way depending on the husband and parents.

They’re public record as part of the autopsy, so they can be requested under FOIA.

 

[Occam's Zebra]

One of the locals posted on the Memorial page that SJ has a 72 hr parking rule AND there is a neighbourhood watch.

Perhaps parking rules were disbanded due to the electrical grid issues? IDK. I searched for any notice of street parking rules over the past week and couldn't find anything.

It will be curious to see how long EV was in the location where she was found and what the dash cam footage reveals that was turned over to the SJPD.

I think the disconcerting post was the hearsay that a resident reported the Nissan to police and they said they couldn't do anything until it had been there 72 hours. NVM that it was part of a missing persons case...?

 

[MsMiniSleuth]

I think the disconcerting post was the hearsay that a resident reported the Nissan to police and they said they couldn't do anything until it had been there 72 hours. NVM that it was part of a missing persons case...?

Where was that said, that someone had actually SEEN the car there and reported it?

Edited: oh, I see, on the memorial page.

I would be very surprised at that, given that this was the very vehicle that had been reported and they had been looking for with a distressed driver. If that person posted directly with facts of their reporting, I might believe, but things in these cases do have a habit of getting twisted.

 

[Satchie]

There's no evidence a third party or foul play was involved, all the evidence indicates she was driving the car.

She seems to have given a fair amount of care and attention to hiding herself, by selecting a residential neighbourhood where her car would blend in, and parallel parking well enough that no one thought anything was wrong with the car or tried to investigate.

To me, this behaviour isn't consistent with psychosis, in those situations the person is unlikely to be able to drive at all. It's not to say she wasn't in extreme emotional distress.

I also note she didn't call 911 or allow the police to find her. People who are experiencing a severe medical event, including confusing, racing thoughts, will usually be anxious to find help, and I'm sure her parents urged her to get some.

I believe her husband when he says she had no previous symptoms: she was a very successful, hard driving executive, apparently since age 18: that kind of person can't be showing overt signs of bipolar disorder.

She seems to have been incredibly ambitious and driven, to have done what she'd done by age 33. Whether that all caught up with her, or she had some kind of meltdown from more recent pressures, IDK. But my speculation is that her death was deliberate.

 

[MsArk]

DBM

 

[Charlie4U]

There's no evidence a third party or foul play was involved, all the evidence indicates she was driving the car.

She seems to have given a fair amount of care and attention to hiding herself, by selecting a residential neighbourhood where her car would blend in, and parallel parking well enough that no one thought anything was wrong with the car or tried to investigate.

To me, this behaviour isn't consistent with psychosis, in those situations the person is unlikely to be able to drive at all. It's not to say she wasn't in extreme emotional distress.

I also note she didn't call 911 or allow the police to find her. People who are experiencing a severe medical event, including confusing, racing thoughts, will usually be anxious to find help, and I'm sure her parents urged her to get some.

I believe her husband when he says she had no previous symptoms: she was a very successful, hard driving executive, apparently since age 18: that kind of person can't be showing overt signs of bipolar disorder.

She seems to have been incredibly ambitious and driven, to have done what she'd done by age 33. Whether that all caught up with her, or she had some kind of meltdown from more recent pressures, IDK. But my speculation is that her death was deliberate.

where I agree with you it may have been suicide, what I don’t agree with is a person experiencing psychosis can’t drive. I think many associate psychosis with someone completely out of their mind standing on a street corner talking to air.
Not always the case, some people have psychosis and go about their everyday activities.

 

[otto]

Re -mania
If the word 'delirium' was substituted maybe the discussion would lean towards medical cause, medical physical in the absence of any evidence of mental instability?

Mental instability does not cause death. It appears that she drove around disoriented for hours and then crawled into the back seat to sleep and died. Since mental illness does not cause someone to spontaneously stop making sense and die, something else is at play. Bump on the head, or intoxication?

This is what the DSM-5 has to say about it:



Table 11, DSM-IV to DSM-5 Manic Episode Criteria Comparison - DSM-5 Changes - NCBI Bookshelf

 

[otto]

There's no evidence a third party or foul play was involved, all the evidence indicates she was driving the car.

She seems to have given a fair amount of care and attention to hiding herself, by selecting a residential neighbourhood where her car would blend in, and parallel parking well enough that no one thought anything was wrong with the car or tried to investigate.

To me, this behaviour isn't consistent with psychosis, in those situations the person is unlikely to be able to drive at all. It's not to say she wasn't in extreme emotional distress.

I also note she didn't call 911 or allow the police to find her. People who are experiencing a severe medical event, including confusing, racing thoughts, will usually be anxious to find help, and I'm sure her parents urged her to get some.

I believe her husband when he says she had no previous symptoms: she was a very successful, hard driving executive, apparently since age 18: that kind of person can't be showing overt signs of bipolar disorder.

She seems to have been incredibly ambitious and driven, to have done what she'd done by age 33. Whether that all caught up with her, or she had some kind of meltdown from more recent pressures, IDK. But my speculation is that her death was deliberate.

Interesting. I hadn't considered suicide. I did wonder how she managed to drive so far in a disconnected state of mind and not be pulled over. I also wondered why a call was not placed to 911 as soon as her mom realized that she needed to stay on the phone after Erin located her car at 3:30PM.

It has been reported both that her mother spoke to her, and that an officer spoke to her, around midnight near the location where her car was found. Later, it was reported that her husband and mother only spoke to her in the afternoon.

How long did it take between the husband requesting police contact with Erin, and police acting on that? He said that when he last spoke to her, she was running out of gas. Wouldn't that be later in the evening?

 

[kittythehare]

Mental instability does not cause death. It appears that she drove around disoriented for hours and then crawled into the back seat to sleep and died. Since mental illness does not cause someone to spontaneously stop making sense and die, something else is at play. Bump on the head, or intoxication?

This is what the DSM-5 has to say about it:

View attachment 209296

Table 11, DSM-IV to DSM-5 Manic Episode Criteria Comparison - DSM-5 Changes - NCBI Bookshelf

That refers to manic depression, there is no evidence to suggest she suffered from this or any other ailment.
Her parents/mother? described her speech as manic
MANIC | meaning in the Cambridge English Dictionary
very excited or anxious (= worried and nervous) in a way that causes you to be very physically active:
He's kind of manic - I wish he'd calm down

They have stated that she did not suffer from mental illnes.
I'm speculating that the word manic/frenzied can be substituted with delirious.
Delirium can be brought about by hyperpyrexia- thus medical in origin...
among many other states, as you describe, intoxication, head injury etc etc.

 

[otto]

What happened between 3:30PM and Midnight, when she spoke to police?

 

[otto]

That refers to manic depression, there is no evidence to suggest she suffered from this or any other ailment.
Her parents/mother? described her speech as manic
MANIC | meaning in the Cambridge English Dictionary
very excited or anxious (= worried and nervous) in a way that causes you to be very physically active:
He's kind of manic - I wish he'd calm down

They have stated that she did not suffer from mental illnes.
I'm speculating that the word manic/frenzied can be substituted with delirious.
Delirium can be brought about by hyperpyrexia- thus medical in origin...
among many other states, as you describe, intoxication, head injury etc etc.

Her husband, a psychologist, said that she "seemed manic" and that she does not have mental illness. He was not giving a diagnosis, merely using clinical terms to describe her random ramblings about Matrix and Turkeys.

She died after losing her mind in a period of 8 hours (no more contact) or more depending on decomposition date. That must be a bump on the head or an intoxication. It can't be sudden onset of mental illness that results in instant death.

 

[PixieStix]

Her husband, a psychologist, said that she "seemed manic" and that she does not have mental illness. He was not giving a diagnosis, merely using clinical terms to describe her random ramblings about Matrix and Turkeys.

She died after losing her mind in a period of 8 hours (no more contact) or more depending on decomposition date. That must be a bump on the head or an intoxication. It can't be sudden onset of mental illness that results in instant death.

You and @kittythehare are saying the exact same thing!

 

[kittythehare]

What happened between 3:30PM and Midnight, when she spoke to police?

View attachment 209297

View attachment 209298

View attachment 209299

No idea.
I did read on the memorial page that the person she met, prior to the 3.30pm finding of her car had been in contact with her family.
We do not know when they parted.
Also the phrase 'WE are in the Matrix', plural is different to her instagram post which stated 'I am in the Matrix', the blue one.
We are in the Matrix could possibly have referred to the large casino caled the Matrix.
I'm not sure what time in the convo with her mother she made that comment.
Did she meet somebody else she knew?
But, what time would she need to have left her final location to get to the airport on time?
GPS broken? Really or imaginary?
(I recall my learner driver days , getting stuck on a very busy roundabout in Dublin and driving round and round for what seemed hours, with the urge to just leave the car in the middle of it and walk somewhere, anywhere.. high temp and confused driving route? Park up safe and forget about the plan?

 

[kittythehare]

Her husband, a psychologist, said that she "seemed manic" and that she does not have mental illness. He was not giving a diagnosis, merely using clinical terms to describe her random ramblings about Matrix and Turkeys.

She died after losing her mind in a period of 8 hours (no more contact) or more depending on decomposition date. That must be a bump on the head or an intoxication. It can't be sudden onset of mental illness that results in instant death.

I have never suggested a sudden mental illness causing instant death.
I have described an escalation in physical symptoms that in the end proved fatal.
My theory is that it was either an undiagnosed vascular condition, aneurysmal, possibly or a viral condition becoming more progresive until death ensued.

 

[kittythehare]

You and @kittythehare are saying the exact same thing!

We are not..
I'm going with the infective/vascular theory.. a progressive illness.. physical in origin, organic.

 

[otto]

Suppose someone else was using her phone from the beginning, asking mom to help her locate her car in an intoxicated condition, and making no sense afterwards

I have never suggested a sudden mental illness causing instant death.
I have described an escalation in physical symptoms that in the end proved fatal.
My theory is that it was either an undiagnosed vascular condition, aneurysmal, possibly or a viral condition becoming more progresive until death ensued.

Of course not, just trying to make sense of an entrepreneur woman who suddenly goes off the rails and dies in less than a day or so.

I agree. Some sort of undiagnosed sudden and fatal illness, bump on the head, or intoxication.

 

[ElementalLaura]

I suspect she wasn’t able to get the GPS to work due to her mania / delirium. I doubt she could read or recognize directional or street signs to find her way to the airport or give anyone her location. It sounds as though she were delusional (I think “the Matrix” refers conceptually to the movie). I wish she hadn’t been able to locate her car; she may have had a better chance at getting help. Even given the tremendously sad ending, it’s fortunate that she was able to drive well enough to avoid a major accident.

The COD will be telling. I tend to think she may have been trying to hide in the back seat of her vehicle due to paranoia. She may have been afraid to approach anyone for help. Someone upthread mentioned the possibility of positional asphyxia, which also makes sense to me, as does drug interactions / intoxication. I’d be surprised to learn that her death was intentional, even given her mania and possible delusions. MOO.

 

[kittythehare]

meningitis, slow bleed subarachnoid, subdural, mini stroke followed by massive stroke.. so many possibilities...all of which would have rendered her powerless, paralysed...
I got a stroke following surgery to clip a subarachnoid aneurysm which burst.
I was a RGN but I never kne what the sensation was like...
I was being wheeled past former colleagues en route to yet another C/t scan and I told them, slurrily but cheerfully, I thought, that strokes don't hurt!
It as the weirdest sensation... my left side wouldn't move, I could lift my limbs with my right limbs and they would flop.
It was preceded by a period of agitation, I remember...I was annoyed at what I perceived as inappropriate comments in the course of a phone call I had just received, because I could not make the other person understand why their comments were so inappropriate)
(mostly self induced as I used to adjust my own IV feed, being quite cracked in the head, as well, as a result of it all)
I wouldn't have noticed it had happened at all except that my visitors were all paramedics and they spotted it immediately..

 

[PixieStix]

We are not..
I'm going with the infective/vascular theory.. a progressive illness.. physical in origin, organic.

What I meant was you were both agreeing that this was not just a mental illness type situation but rather and medical issue.

I agree. Some sort of undiagnosed sudden and fatal illness, bump on the head, or intoxication.