Heartbreaking final words of jogger to her father moments before she was raped and strangled to death in New York park
Karina Vetrano's family has said they will never forgive the person who murdered their daughter
THE 30-year-old woman murdered while running through a park near her family home told her father "I'll be all right" just before going missing.
The body of Karina Vetrano, a keen runner, was found by her own father who had called emergency services when his daughter did not return home from her evening jog in her native Queens, near Howard Beach, New York.
In , devastated father Phil said he had a premonition something wasn't right soon after his daughter left on the evening of August 2.
He said: "I said I don't think it's a good idea to go in there and she said 'it's okay daddy, I'll be all right'."
But the ex-fireman raised the alarm that his daughter had gone missing and was with cops when her body was discovered late on Tuesday evening.
He said: "I got a feeling. it came over me. She was talking to me then and I got off that couch and I went looking for her."
Police said the young woman had been strangled and that her trousers had been pulled down.
Her mother Cathy said: "I am a very forgiving person. I believe in the Lord. I believe in beautiful things. And I will never ever ever ever forgive."
to boost the $20,000 reward offered by police to $100,000.
The police have questioned two homeless people in the area and are looking at CCTV footage from nearby cameras, but are yet to make an arrest.
The family has been sharing photos of their beautiful daughter throughout their neighbourhood in an effort to find out what happened to their daughter.
In a statement on their fundraising appeal page, it says: "While we greatly appreciate the help of the police, Howard Beach is a community not known for sitting back while other people work on our behalf.
"Karina has become the 'daughter' of the entire community and we are committed to seeing justice served in her memory.
"We need your help in bringing this vicious animal to face the most sever punishment allowable by law."
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The page said the family was desperate to bring their daughter's killer to justice.
It said: "These funds are the only thing that we feel we can do to encourage anyone with information to come forward with something that will led to an arrest."
Karina, 30, was a caterer, avid runner and aspiring writer.
Social media users were slammed after news of the woman's murder broke, with those suggesting she should not have been wearing 'tight clothing' while on her run being criticised.
Her father reported her missing at 5pm - he was so worried when she didn't return - so called a police chief who lived nearby and then phoned 911.
Police sources have since said a used condom was found near where the jogger was attacked.
Her teeth were smashed before she was strangled to death.
Cops found her mobile phone near a bike path and her body nearby.
NYPD's Chief of Detectives Robert Boyce revealed on Wednesday Karina had been warned by her father not to run down the path.
It was he who took them to the spot where the cops found her body, thinking she may have headed for the beach.
Police have not yet ruled out a link between Karina Vetrano and Vanessa Marcotte's murders.
Vanessa Marcotte, 27, was murdered barely a week after Karina Vetrano's body was discovered.
The young woman had been out running while on a family visit in Massachusetts on Sunday with her body found seven hours after she was last seen.
The young woman, who worked as a Google executive, was found with burns on her hands and feet.
Both families of the murder victims are now desperately searching for answers.
NYPD chief spokesman, Stephen Davis, spoke out about the murder of Karina Vetrano, saying: "The [medical examiner] needs to confirm that, but there were marks on the body that were consistent with sexual assault."
A neighbour, called John told : "She used to go jogging with her father.
"If the weeds were not that tall, we would have seen the girl jogging on the path... You can grab that girl, and we wouldn't know it."
Karina was a keen poetry fan and writer and said of herself she had a "beautiful" but "chaotic" life.
After news of her death hit social media, tributes poured in for the fitness fanatic from friends as well as those who did not know her personally.
One tweeted: "RIP KARINA. I am heart broken, mortified.
"You were amazing and full of life."
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