Police are increasing the reward to$20,000 for information leading to an arrest in the strangulation of a Queens woman who was beaten and raped before being killed while out jogging on the evening of Aug. 2. The reward increased after DNA— possibly from the killer — was recovered on Karina Vetrano’s body, The New York Daily News reported. “We really need the public’s help with this one,” Mayor Bill de Blasio said at a news conference on Thursday. “This is a situation where anybody who has information,even the possibility that it might help police … All of us have to help this family.”
We are looking for info about the murder of Karina Vetrano in #Queens. Please call #800577TIPS if you have info. pic.twitter.com/mSfOoq4oVO
— Chief Robert Boyce (@NYPDDetectives) August 3, 2016
Vetrano’sbodywas found by her father and detectives face down inSpring Creek Park about 11 p.m. after she went missing during her solo run. Police have confirmed that Vetrano was beaten and raped. “Her teeth were broken,” a high-ranking police source told theThe YorkDaily News. “She was black and blue.” A policesource toldThe New York PostVetrano “was strangled with such ferocity by the killer that there were obvious signs of trauma to her neck.” Vetrano and her boyfriend had broken up two days before her death, but police said he has been ruled out after providing an alibi.
“He thought their relationship was more than casual, but she disagreed,” the source for The Daily Newssaid.
Investigators scoured the area for clues, questioning some homeless people who live in the park and collecting surveillance video. A condom was found, but police have yet to tie it to Vetrano or her killer. “That area has been a problem for years before,” awoman told The Post. “I’ve called 311 to complain.”
A tractor and professional-grade lawn mower were moved into the area. The Daily News surmised that they would be used to clear out the weeds that provided cover toVetrano’s attacker.
RELATED:Google manager from NYC killed in Massachusetts woods: Police Vetrano and her father Philip Vetrano, a 60-year-oldretired firefighter, usually jogged together, but that night, the senior Vetranodid not go because of back pain.
“[Her father] asked her not to run that path,” NYPD Chief of Detectives Robert Boyce said Wednesday. “If you’re a runner, you understand that you run every night. That’s your routine, so she went and said she’d be all right.” “[Philip is] traumatized,” a family friend said.“This is too much for them.”
NYPD is comparing information with police in Massachusetts after a New York woman’s body was found in Princeton on Sunday, DNAInfo reported.Vanessa Marcotte, who also went missing while jogging, had been raped and set on fire, according to earlier reports. “We are comparing notes,” NYPD Deputy Chief MichaelKemper said at a community meeting on Monday, DNAInfo reported. “We don’t believe there is a connection. With that said we are going to continue to share notes and share evidence as both cases progress.”
