Jogger's Death 'an Extraordinary Case of Murder'

Karina Vetrano was found with a clump of grass in her hand
By Arden Dier,  Newser Staff
Posted Aug 5, 2016 10:02 AM CDT
Jogger's Death 'an Extraordinary Case of Murder'
Karina Vetrano   (Instagram)

The 30-year-old jogger murdered in Queens "put up a ferocious fight right to the end," NYPD Chief of Detectives Robert Boyce said Thursday. Karina Vetrano's strangled body was found just before 9pm Tuesday about 15 feet from a jogging path she often frequented with her father, who had skipped the 5pm run due to an injury. Philip Vetrano and a group of police officers found Vetrano "face down in the ground" about 50 to 60 feet away from her phone, which she'd been using to text a friend during the run, Boyce said, per CBS News and WWAY. In one hand, she held a clump of grass, suggesting she was dragged. Her teeth were broken, she had cuts on her legs, and her clothing was partially removed. Boyce said Vetrano was also sexually assaulted, per AM New York.

Police have little to go on—they've received only three "generic" tips to a tip line—but believe the killer acted at random and didn't know Vetrano. They've swabbed her cell phone for DNA and are studying video footage from the area. A camera shows Vetrano jogging past a house at 5:46pm, per the New York Times, but there was no sign of "anybody lingering," said Boyce. "We plan to chop down just about every weed in that location till we're satisfied that we've got all the evidence," he continued. "Stranger rapes are down in this city" making the daylight crime against "a jogger in a park ... an extraordinary case of murder." A $10,000 reward is offered for leads in the case. Read more on the case here. (More murder stories.)

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