Kidnap Victim Tushar Atre Confirmed Dead In Santa Cruz County

SANTA CRUZ COUNTY, CA — The identity of a deceased person found during the search for a Santa Cruz kidnap victim has been released.

The Santa Cruz County Sheriff's Office confirmed Wednesday the body was that of Tushar Atre, 50, who went missing Tuesday around 3 a.m. after he was abducted from his home in the 3000 block of Pleasure Point Drive.

"The investigation is still ongoing, but we have reason to believe the motive was robbery," the sheriff's office said in a released statement.

The agency did not announce any arrests yet in the case, which is being treated as a homicide. Officials did not say how Atre was killed.

Atre was last seen getting into his white 2008 BMW SUV with California license plate 7CUG581 around 3 a.m. Tuesday, according to the sheriff's office.

The office put out a public alert, asking residents to be on the lookout for the vehicle and Atre. Then, around 10 a.m. Tuesday, deputies responded to the 24000 block of Soquel San Jose Road and found the BMW — along with a body, which has now been confirmed as Atre.

According to his LinkedIn account, Atre was the owner of Atrenet, a corporate website development company that 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.”

If you have any information about the case, call SCCSO Detective Ainsworth at (831) 454-7635.