The Santa Cruz County Sheriff’s Office on Wednesday announced a $200,000 reward — the largest reward in county history — for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the suspect or suspects involved in the abduction and killing of tech executive Tushar Atre.
Atre, 50, was kidnapped from his Pleasure Point home around 3 a.m. on Oct 1, and was last seen leaving the area in a BMW SUV. The vehicle and Atre’s body were found in a remote area of the Santa Cruz mountains later that day.
“The thought of a group of people entering somebody’s home, kidnapping them and killing them right here in our community is hard to imagine, but it occurred,” Santa Cruz County Sheriff Jim Hart said.
Deputies previously released video footage depicting three individuals thought to be the suspects walking out of an alley from East Cliff Drive onto Pleasure Point Drive, near Atre’s home.
Investigators have been asking members of the community to take a close look at the clothing, mannerisms and “walk” of the individuals in the video to see if they recognize someone.
Authorities on Wednesday shared a new video depicting what they are calling a “person of interest.” The video, which was captured at 12:18 a.m. on Oct. 1, showed a person on a bicycle ride up to Atre’s home, stop and focus on the home for several seconds before riding off toward East Cliff Drive.
The sheriff’s office also laid out the path of travel that the white BMW took after it left Atre’s home, saying it drove on East Cliff Drive toward 41st Avenue, turned onto 41st Avenue and continued on that roadway before heading southbound on Soquel Drive. The BMW then turned onto Porter Street and continued on Soquel San Jose Road. It was eventually found in the 24000 block of Soquel San Jose Road.
Anyone who happened to see the BMW at the time or anyone who has any other information pertaining to the case is encouraged to reach out to the sheriff’s office.
The $200,000 reward being offered in the case is set to expire on July 22, 2020, according to the sheriff’s office.
“What we’re hoping is that somebody in the public, somebody that watches this, will see this and provide us with some information that could lead to the arrest and conviction of the people responsible for this murder,” Lt. Brian Cleveland said.