The father of a missing jogger was the one who first discovered her dead body in a marshy Queens park. Police officers were homing in on pings from Katrina Vetrano's cellphone, and Philip Vetrano joined them, showing them the route they usually jogged together in Spring Creek Park. NYPD Chief of Detectives Robert Boyce told reporters yesterday: "Father then went into the woods, and then found the body with our detectives after him. You can imagine his angst at that point."

Authorities have classified the death of Karina Vetrano, 30, as a homicide. The medical examiner says she was strangled, and investigators believe she was sexually assaulted. The Daily News reports, "Police believe an attacker tore at the victim’s clothes during the killing, with the jogger suffering scratches on the lower part of her body and scrapes on both legs. Police sources said there was bruising to her buttocks and the backs of her upper thighs. There were signs of vaginal and anal trauma, the sources said. Her panties were pulled down below her buttocks, the sources said."

We are looking for info about the murder of Karina Vetrano in #Queens. Please call #800577TIPS if you have info. pic.twitter.com/mSfOoq4oVO — Chief Robert Boyce (@NYPDDetectives) August 3, 2016

Vetrano and her father usually ran together at 5 p.m., but her father didn't join her because of a bad back. He had apparently also warned her not to run by the desolate Howard Beach park along Jamaica Bay.

Chief Boyce said, "If you’re a runner you understand that you run every night. That’s your routine, so she went and said she’d be all right." The running path is, NBC New York notes, "part of a much longer network of paths ringing the bay that get a lot of use from cyclists and runners."

By 7 p.m., Philip Vetrano, a former city firefighter, grew worried; the NY Post reports: "her distraught dad called an NYPD police chief neighbor, who called 911... At about 9 p.m., police pinged Vetrano’s cellphone in a marshy area off of a path, finally zeroing in on it at 10:30 p.m. Roughly 20 minutes later, a helicopter circling overhead shined a light onto a patch of tall weeds about 20 feet off the path [near 161 Avenue and 78 Street]— and Vetrano’s father ran to the spot, sources said."

"He's traumatized," a friend said of Philip Vetrano. Another neighbor said, "The father was here and he walked out and looked destroyed."

Police are looking at various home surveillance cameras for signs of Vetrano's last minutes: According to the Post, she "was caught on camera jogging past a home around 5:46 p.m., and she also exchanged several texts with a gal pal."

Local residents have mentioned there are shanties in the park, though it's unclear if activity there is connected to the murder. WCBS 2 reports that "trash found near the scene is being tested for evidence. Residents say the area is a haven for the homeless and illegal activities." In an interview with the Post, a woman said, "That area has been a problem for years before. I’ve called 311 to complain."

The community is on high alert. "After this they should be," Chief Boyce said, "but there hasn't been any stranger rapes here [in Howard Beach] at all so I would ask everyone to be cautious."

Vetrano worked as a caterer at RV Rooftop and as a speech pathologist. She was also an avid traveler and a writer.

Family friend Joseph DiPierro told WABC 7, "There was nothing bad you could say about her. She was a sweetheart. She lit up the room when she walked in. She was a beautiful girl."