Original URL: https://www.theregister.com/2008/07/14/webroot_founder_dead/
Missing Webroot founder found dead
Tragic end in Hawaii
Posted in Security, 14th July 2008 17:45 GMT
Police have recovered the body of missing technology entrepreneur Steven Thomas, the founder of anti-spyware firm Webroot Software.
A body identified as Thomas was discovered by firefighters below the Pali Highway lookout near the Pali Tunnel in Hawaii, Nine News reports. The 36-year-old, who was diagnosed with manic depression in April but declined to take medication, met his mother and cousin in a hotel in Waikiki on 30 June before disappearing after claiming he needed to visit the bathroom.
Thomas and his wife Candis were in the process of relocating to Boulder, Colorado - where Webroot is based - around the time of his disappearance. Candis left Hawaii for Colorado ahead of her husband but returned after his disappearance to hand out flyers and help with the search, which reached a tragic end. Thomas was reportedly suffering from paranoid delusions running up to the time of his disappearance.
Thomas helped found Webroot in 1997. He had the foresight to steer it into the emerging antispyware market before he and business partner Kristen Talley cashed in with a $108m sale to venture capitalists in late 2004. He dabbled in real estate but had no involvement in the anti-spyware firm since. ®