The DNA profile of the person who killed Howard Beach jogger Karina Vetrano has been fully developed, Chief of Detectives Robert Boyce told reporters on Tuesday.
That DNA was checked against a state and nationwide database, but investigators were not able to match it to anyone in the system, Boyce said, according to ABC7. The samples were collected from Vetrano’s cellphone, her neck, and other parts of her body.
The news comes as a so-called “mystery jogger” was ruled out as a suspect.
Now, Boyce said police are focusing on people who could have gone to prison before the database was created in 1998, or someone who has not done jail time.
“As you can imagine, that’s quite an undertaking,” Boyce said, according to ABC7.
Vetrano was raped and strangled to death on Aug. 2 after she went for a jog near her home in Howard Beach.
Vetrano’s father, Philip Vetrano, said on a radio show that both he and police wanted to talk to a man who jogs in the area but hadn’t been seen recently. That 48-year-old man walked into the 106th Precinct late Monday and was ruled out as a possible suspect, an NYPD official said.
The reward for information on her murder stands at $235,000 — $35,000 from police and the mayor’s office and $200,000 raised by Vetrano’s family through a GoFundMe page.
The remainder of the money raised through that donation page will be donated to charities, her family has said.
