On August 7th, Vanessa Marcotte, 27, went jogging while visiting her mother in Princeton, MA. Later that day, her partially burned corpse was found in the wood. She had been raped, murdered, and set on fire. Police say there was evidence that she fought back hard, scratching the perp and collecting DNA evidence under her fingernails. Unfortunately the DNA did not turn up a match in any databases.

Marcotte was a beautiful and successful young woman, murdered in a safe, white, rural countryside. She lived in New York City and worked as a manager for Google. The case was similar to the “Queens Jogger” murder that occurred just a few days earlier.

Police just announced a physical description of a “person of interest.” A Hispanic or Latino man, about 30 years old, with light to medium-toned skin, average height, and an athletic build. What is particularly interesting is police say the description of the suspect is partially based off of DNA recovered from the crime scene. The description is also partially based on an eyewitness accounts possible suspects. Forensic investigators have started using DNA to construct physical descriptions of suspects.

Police believe the killer would have had scratches on his face, neck, and hands after the attack.

The case was very similar to the so-called “Queens Jogger” killing. Karino Vetrano was a beautiful white female, who was raped and murdered while jogging at a park in New York City. The gruesome murder took place in Howard Beach, considered one of the nicest and safest areas of Queens Borough. She was killed August 2nd, 2015 and police finally arrested a black male in early February 2017. The NYPD have disclosed evidence that the killing was racially motivated.

The arrest of a suspect in Vetrano’s murder renewed hope that Marcotte’s killer would also be caught.