Post date: Mar 06, 2014 1:50:33 PM
Singapore police are investigating the apparent suicide of 28-year-old Autumn Radtke, who ran a small exchange in the Asian city state trading virtual currencies.
SINGAPORE (MARCH 6, 2014) (REUTERS) - Singapore police are investigating what they have called the "unnatural" death of a 28-year-old American woman who ran a small exchange that traded virtual currencies, including bitcoins, from the Asian city state.
Autumn Radtke, chief executive of First Meta Pte Ltd, was found dead at herSingapore home on February 26.Police said they were investigating her "unnatural" death, and "preliminary investigations showed no foul play is suspected".
Neighbours said they thought Radtke jumped to her death from a residential apartment complex near her home.
Building Supervisor, K Lekshmanan Kaliapa, said he was the first on the scene that morning and called the authorities.
"Come here for routine check up and then I start seeing a lot of blood stains here, in this area here, I suspect why got blood stain and I go around, one round, couldn't see anything and then I walked further up, I saw something lying down on the top of it, the (central refuse system) there. I feel it looked like somebody jumped down or what. Then I called the police. So before the police arrived, ambulance arrived, then they went up. They confirmed that (it was a) dead body there," he said.
First Meta said in a statement on its website that its team was "shocked and saddened" by the tragic loss of its CEO, saying "Autumn was an inspiration to all of us".
Friends and colleagues said Radtke was wrestling with professional and personal pressures, not least running a start-up that was struggling to gain traction.
"So I can't know what Autumn was thinking or what affected, you know Autumn, so it's hard for me to say what she was thinking or feeling about what was going on in the bitcoin market. I know that Autumn believes strongly in bitcoin, she believed that bitcoin was an important virtual currency, she believed that it was going to continue to be important and grow in importance. So I think she, that's what she would say if you asked her her view on bitcoin," said Douglas Abrams, Acting CEO of First Meta.
Bitcoin is under scrutiny after Tokyo-based Mt. Gox, once the world's dominant exchange for the virtual currency, filed for bankruptcy in Japan last week, blaming hackers for the loss of 850,000 bitcoins - worth more than $550 million at today's rates. A smaller, Canada-based exchange also shut, saying hackers had stolen all its bitcoins.
But Abrams denied the company was struggling or up for sale, and said Radtke "did a great job as CEO". But he said selling the company always remained an option and there had been plans to save money by moving out of its current office space, a townhouse which doubled as Radtke's home.
Friends said Radtke was a huge fan of bitcoin and had invested in it personally. One said she had persuaded friends to invest as well. Her Facebook page includes several links to bitcoin stories, mostly celebrating last year's rise in value.
Radtke, who moved to Singapore in early 2012, previously worked at another start-up in Santa Monica, California.