Police suspect runner found dead in New York was assaulted

Police suspect a 30-year-old runner whose body was found in a New York City marsh was strangled and possibly sexually assaulted.

Vetrano’s father, who neighbours say retired from the FDNY on disability, was called to the crime scene as sobbing neighbours gathered outside his home on 84th Street.

Her body was found lying face down, her trousers had been pulled down and police believe she was strangled.

Karina Vetrano, 30, of Queens, left her home for a jog around 5 p.m. Tuesday.

“Her father then ran. and then found the body”, said Boyce. It is part of a much longer network of paths ringing the bay that get a lot of use from cyclists and runners.

An investigator searching a grassy area around 161st Avenue and 78th Street in Howard Beach later found Vetrano’s body near the path.

The medical examiner will examine the exact cause of death.

There were no arrests.

Neighbors said the killing left them anxious, especially in an area not known for being high in crime.

“He asked her, ‘Don’t go in there, ‘ ” John said, referring to the weeded area. He added that “all girls know not to walk along these weeds”.

Vetrano’s trousers had been moved in the attack and there was evidence of sexual assault, according to police sources. “I hear there’s a couple of shanty houses out there”, a neighbor told the New York Daily News. The Daily News quotes a police source saying the victim’s trousers were “not in the same position as when she left”.

Neighbors told of Karina Vetrano having earned a master’s degree from St. John’s University in 2015, and working as a caterer at the Vetro Lounge in Howard Beach.

She had been texting a friend during her run when she suddenly stopped responding to messages from her friend and several phone calls from her father, Boyce said. An autopsy is scheduled for Wednesday morning.