Karina Vetrano's Father Petitions State To Allow For Familial DNA Testing
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- The family of a Howard Beach, Queens woman who was strangled while jogging is hoping a special kind of DNA testing will help find her killer.
As CBS2's Andrea Grymes reported, Katrina Vetrano's father has led a petition drive to get the state to make changes.
A special state commission would need to approve familial DNA testing. The practice is controversial, but Vetrano's family has gotten thousands of petition signatures – believing it may help police lead to her killer.
Vetrano's face smiles at passersby on posters plastered on Howard Beach windows and petitions placed on store counters, such as that of Ace Hardware manager Ralph Scalera.
"Trying to help the family out the best we can," Scalera said.
It is all part of an effort to solve the nearly 6-month-old case of the murder of Karina Vetrano, 30.
"Unless you've been in a similar situation, no, you cannot imagine," said her father, Phil Vetrano. "There is no words that can describe it."
Karina Vetrano went for a run alone in Spring Creek Park on Aug. 2. Later that night, her father found her abused and bloodied body in the weeds.
The heartbroken father is now pushing the state to allow familial DNA testing to help find her killer. He put petitions in local businesses and online to help drum up support.
"I've gotten probably 100,000 signatures so far," Phil Vetrano said.
Investigators did find DNA on Karina Vetrano's body, but it did not match anyone in the DNA databanks.
Familial DNA testing would allow investigators to see if a suspect's relative is in the DNA system – potentially leading them to the suspect and a DNA match.
"Familial DNA is the ability to use special software, computer software, to search DNA profiles looking for relatives," Deputy Chief Emanuel Katranakis, who runs the NYPD Forensics Investigations Division, told WCBS 880's Myles Miller.
Katranakis said the tool could be used to help solve some of the 30 unsolved murders committed in New York last year.
"We've pretty much exhausted every other lead, so it's a very good possibility that this murderer has a relative that's also a criminal and their DNA is in the database," Phil Vetrano said.
The Queens District Attorney's office and the NYPD have joined Vetrano in urging the New York State Commission on Forensic Science to allow the testing. But there are opponents, including the New York Civil Liberties Union.
"We empathize with the family's grief, but a policy that implicates New Yorkers in a criminal investigation solely because they are related to someone with DNA in the state's databank would lead to miscarriages of justice," NYCLU Executive Director Donna Lieberman said.
But Phil Vetrano does not see it that way. The state commission is holding a public meeting next month and he will be there – and he won't be alone.
"It won't be able to handle the amount of people who come -- I can guarantee you that," he said.
The meeting is set for Feb. 10 in Lower Manhattan. The DNA Subcommittee will then make a recommendation to the entire state Commission on Forensic Science.
At this point, there is no timetable for a final decision.
