Cops appear to have caught a suspect Saturday in the murder of Karina Vetrano, the beautiful jogger whose brutal strangulation last summer — in the weeds of Spring Creek Park in Queens, New York City.
Officials did not immediately release the name of the suspect, but sources told The New York Post that he is around 25 years and lives in a housing project in East New York, Brooklyn, a neighborhood not too far from her home in Howard Beach.
“The suspect had been on police radar for a while” as reported by the The New York Post.
An off-duty cop saw him acting suspiciously somewhere in Howard Beach, and called a nearby NYPD precinct.
The suspect was initially questioned, however, police found no reason to hold him and he was released.
Earlier this past week, NYPD investigators approached the same man again.
This time they asked him for a DNA sample, which he gave voluntarily — thereby potentially sealing his own fate, sources at the New York Post reported
At the time the suspect had no prior police record, so until he agreed to a cheek swab, his DNA profile had been unknown to law enforcement, sources told The Post.
Investigators had found the DNA of Vetrano’s suspected attacker on her phone, neck and fingernails, sources told The Post.
He was taken into custody and questioned Saturday night in a precinct outside Howard Beach, sources also said.
This past Thursday marked six month anniversary of Karina’s unsolved murder.
Her father, Philip, a retired firefighter, had been tireless in asking police and the media to keep his daughter’s investigation alive during months of little progress.
Police believe Karina was ambushed and dragged into the marshes.
She fought back bravely as her killer overpowered her, punching her in the mouth hard enough to dislodge a tooth.
“She had stems of weeds in her hands,” NYPD Chief of Detectives Robert Boyce had told reporters.
“She fought not to go into those weeds,” he said.
Photo Source: Instagram
New Source: NY Post
