Lavita D'Cruz was looking forward to a series of meetings with her partner Sandeep Ramanathan over the week at their high-tech company, IrisLogic, headquartered in the Silicon Valley.

Instead, she is making funeral arrangements for Ramanathan (35), his wife Sita (31) and parents Subbaiah Ramanathan (65) and Pushpa Ramanathan (61). They died in a car crash while returning home on June 22 from a camping trip to the Yosemite National Park.

D'Cruz, who had known Ramanathan for over 15 years, told rediff.com that cremations could take place on Friday in San Jose.

Ramanathan was the president and CEO of IrisLogic.

Anushka (3), their only child, is in a critical condition in a hospital in the Sonora region, where the accident took place.

According to K Bruce, an investigating officer for the California Highway Patrol, Ramanathan was driving a BMW at about 50 miles per hour when the vehicle veered towards the right.

"The reason is unknown," he said. Other officials suspect that Ramanathan might have overreacted and panicked when the car veered.

He lost control of the vehicle and it hit a raised asphalt curb.

"The vehicle became airborne in seconds," Bruce continued, "and its roof struck a large tree."

The child had to be extricated from the car and admitted to a hospital. She broke her legs and fractured her skull.

IrisLogic, which offers software solutions and services, has about 500 employees including software engineers and consultants in several countries, according to company information.