(Newswire.net — August 5, 2016) —Karina Vetrano’s lifeless body was found by her father, retired firefighter Phil Vetrano, next to a popular jogging and bike path block, where she and her father often ran as they lived nearby at the Howard Beach section of Queens.
But Tuesday evening the 30 year-old was running alone and didn’t make it home.
The father of the murdered girl had reported her disappearance when she didn’t return from her regular evening run. He explained to the police that he warned his daughter several times not to go out running alone in the marsh lands while he was out with a back injury as it is full of vagrants, drug addicts and alcoholics.
According to the police report, the woman was found with her pants down. She was sexually assulted and then brutally suffocated to death. Her teeth were broken, and she was black and blue all over, a high-ranking police source told the Daily News.
The police first found her cell-phone near the crime scene. They then found Karina in Spring Creek Park. Her father was on the scene with the police when they found her body near the bike paths.
New York police are searching for the killer. The police announced a $10,000 reward for information regarding the investigation, although they believe a stranger was responsible for the rape and homicide.
Karina Vetrano was last seen alive Tuesday about 5pm when she slipped through a gate onto the bicycle path into Queen’s park in New York. Her lifeless body was found at about 11pm.
In comments posted on Facebook and Twitter, relating to Tuesday night’s attack, many blame Karina. Many people seem to think that Karina Vetrano should have been more careful, she shouldn’t have been out running at night, she shouldn’t have ran in the area that her father warned her about. Someone even mentioned that she was vulnerable as she was wearing tight clothing, reports News.com
However, the bottom line is – women should be able to run at night and feel safe.
Karina Vetrano had thousands of followers on Instagram, and was known for her selfies. She recently traveled to France, and after landing at New York she posted a selfie from the day before in Nice with the comment: “Grateful to be home”. She was on vacation near the time of the Nice terror attack when a terrorist stormed on the promenade with a truck and killed 85 people.
“This is an unusual circumstance,” said NYPD Chief Robert Boyce.