Editor's note: Redmond Police tell KING 5 News that the death is being investigated as a homicide. Jim Bove, Redmond police spokesman, said there was forced entry into the apartment. There are no suspects or persons of interest.

A woman who was found dead Monday in her Redmond apartment had moved to the Pacific Northwest about six months ago and was working for a software-development and data-storage company in Bellevue, her supervisor said today.

The woman's identity has not been released by Redmond police, but she was identified as Arpana Jinaga, 24, by her supervisor at the EMC Corp., where she had worked since about April.

Redmond police went to Jinaga's apartment Monday after they were contacted by a friend of the woman, said Jim Bove, Redmond police spokesman.

MUHAMMAD ALI

Arpana Jinaga

"She was a very outgoing person," said Muhammad Ali, software quality-assurance manager for EMC in Bellevue. Jinaga was from India and had shown highly developed computing skills, said Ali.

News reports indicate that in 2004 she had been a prizewinner in a competition sponsored by Microchip Technology Inc., of Chandler, Ariz., in which she designed a communications jammer using a digital signal controller.

Jinaga received a master's degree in electrical and computer engineering from Rutgers University in New Jersey in October 2007, according to the university. She was offered a job with EMC as a software quality-assurance engineer last spring, Ali said. Her first day on the job was about March 31.

"She thought this might be a challenging experience," said Ali.

Jinaga immediately established herself as a valuable employee and also became involved in a variety of interests, he said. She volunteered with a fire department and at an animal shelter and was active in a motorcycle club.

"[When] she came here, instead of getting a car, she rode a motorcycle," said Ali. "She loved to give very generously and loved to help people."

Ali said he became concerned about Jinaga when she hadn't come to work by about 11 a.m. Monday. He tried to reach her by cellphone, but got no response.

At the same time, Jinaga's family in India became concerned that they also couldn't contact her and called a friend to check on her.

The friend went to her apartment at the Valley View Apartments in the 8900 block of the Redmond-Woodinville Road Northeast Monday morning and then called 911.

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