Startling new information has come to light in the death of 28-year-old Autumn Radtke, the CEO of First Meta, a Singapore-based virtual currency exchange.
The former Silicon Valley whiz-kid jumped from a nearby 25-story apartment building about 7 a.m. last Wednesday, according to a neighbor.
Police reported that Radtke was found lying motionless outside the building and was declared dead by paramedics. Her death has now been classified as a case of unnatural death.
Initial reports had Radtke’s body being found in her apartment. Singapore officials try to downplay suicides since the city-state hit an all-time high of 487 deaths in 2012.
The Cantonment Close apartment buildings, near where the body was found, are a two-minute walk from Radtke’s apartment, according to the neighbor.
“We had a wake at her house on Friday,” said the neighbor, who wished to remain anonymous.
“She was one of those ‘up and down’ types, by all accounts. She was often on her front step until 4 to 5 a.m. talking to California most nights of the week,” the neighbor added.
Radtke joined First Meta in 2012. First Meta is an exchange for digital currencies used in games and virtual worlds, such as Linden dollars from the Second Life online world. It accepts bitcoins as payment for other virtual currencies.
As law-enforcement officials await toxicology reports, friends said they should have seen the signs of stress and realized that she was reaching out for help.
“Everything has its price,” Radtke said in commenting on an Inc. magazine essay she posted online titled “The Psychological Price of Entrepreneurship.”
