Mother of Slain NYC Runner to Killer: ‘The Whole Entire World Is Against You'

"I’m here to remind you in case you don’t already know that now it’s the whole entire world against you," said Cathie Vetrano, mother of Karina Vetrano

The family of a runner whose body was found in a Queens marsh late Tuesday after she was reported missing had strong words for the 30-year-old's killer. 

"I’m here to remind you in case you don’t already know that now, it’s the whole entire world against you," said Cathie Vetrano, mother of Karina Vetrano. "The whole entire world knows what a pathetic, puny, weak, piece of filth that you are. The whole world knows that and soon I know they’re all going to know your face."

Cathie Vetrano said her daughter was a "force to be reckoned with," and that her killer "will be reckoning with that force not only for the rest of your pathetic life but for the rest of eternity as you f---ing burn in hell."

Phil Vetrano thanked the police for their work investigating the killing and sexual assault of his daughter.

"This press conference is all about thanks," Phil Vetrano said. "Myself and my family owe everything to the NYPD, and can only ever hope to bring justice for my daughter Karina through them and their hard work."

NYPD Chief of Detectives Robert Boyce said Thursday that the department believes there is a "severe community threat" after the killing of Vetrano, who left her Howard Beach home to run near Gateway National Park Tuesday afternoon and never came home. The department is offering a $10,000 reward for information leading to an arrest in the case.

Boyce, who previously said the circumstances of the killing were "extraordinarily rare," confirmed that Vetrano had been sexually assaulted in the attack, but that she "put up a ferocious fight right until the end."

"She was beaten quite severely which suggests she put up a good fight," he said. 

On Friday afternoon, investigators found Vetrano's missing sneaker and earbud in the weeds near a running path, sources said, alongside a secluded, overgrown marsh at the edge of Jamaica Bay. 

Law enforcement sources say nothing in Vetrano's personal life raised a red flag. Investigators are questioning local sex offenders, a routine step. A public sex offender registry shows nine level-three offenders in the neighborhood.

The young woman worked as a caterer for RV Rooftop at Vetro, which said in an Instagram post it would be closed Wednesday to hold a candlelight vigil in remembrance. She was a world traveler and aspiring writer, and on her blog, she wrote about her life: "It's chaotic and unpredictable, but I do believe that on some days, it's quite beautiful, in all its poetic little tragedies." 

No arrests have been made in the case, and authorities are reviewing digital evidence from the park.

Anyone with information about Vetrano's death should call Crime Stoppers at 1-800-577-TIPS.

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