Parents speak out for justice in killing of NYC runner

“11 was her favorite number”, said Mr. Vetrano. The medical examiner’s office performed an autopsy Wednesday and ruled her death a homicide, saying she was strangled. Vetrano’s father began by thanking the NYPD for their work in finding the suspect who sexually assaulted and strangled his daughter.

Police are using a special drone from the Federal Bureau of Investigation to do aerial surveying of the marshland where jogger Karina Vetrano was found slain, said a law enforcement official.

Phil Vetrano led officers along the pair’s usual route, where police said other joggers often pass and young people sometimes hang out.

On Friday afternoon, investigators found Vetrano’s missing sneaker and earbud in the weeds near a running path, sources said, alongside a secluded, overgrown marsh at the edge of Jamaica Bay.

She was found only about 15 feet off of the trail, having reportedly been dragged into some tall weeds while she fought desperately against her attacker.

Police are still searching the thick grass for additional clues, and detectives continue to comb through the marshlands at Gateway National Park in Howard Beach, looking for any evidence that can help them identify Vetrano’s killer.

“She was beaten quite severely which suggests she put up a good fight”, he said.

A $10,000 reward is being offered for any information leading to an arrest of her killer.

Father Francis Colamaria also spoke at the funeral, borrowing from Vetrano’s own published poems and essays, as well as words she posted on her bedroom wall as inspiration.

“She was my life”, the father told mourners. According to reports, Vetrano nearly always completed her nightly jogging route alongside her dad, but he had suffered an injury and stayed home on Tuesday. Normally, the victim ran with her father, but he stayed home because of a bad back, they said.

Funeral services for Vetrano will be held at noon Saturday in Queens. Both items where recovered within 100 feet of where her body was discovered, a police official said.

“If you’re a runner, you understand that you run every night as part of your routine, so she went, and she said she’d be alright”, Boyce said.

In the aftermath of the unthinkable crime, Karina Vetrano’s neighbors have come together to support the murdered jogger and her surviving family as they struggle to come to terms with their grief and what has happened. She recently traveled to France. Her father found her face down, with her shorts and sports bra pulled down.