Father of 2016 Brooklyn victim urges new jogger’s dad to make justice a life mission

Robert Vetrano, the retired FDNY firefighter who located the body of his missing daughter in 2016, issued a direct instruction to the father of a woman stabbed in the neck in Brooklyn last week. Speaking on Sunday, Vetrano told the man that he must not stop his search for justice, describing the pursuit as a life mission.

Vetrano, 70, drew a sharp parallel between the 2016 case and the attack on 28-year-old bank teller Katie Suarez. Suarez was left brain-dead after a stranger stabbed her in the neck while she jogged on a Brooklyn waterfront promenade on Friday evening. Preliminary findings from law enforcement sources indicate the suspect was a stranger and that Suarez was not robbed or sexually assaulted.

The two fathers followed a similar path when their daughters failed to return from runs. In August 2016, Vetrano became worried when his daughter, Karina, did not return from a run in Spring Creek Park. He had advised her against going alone due to back pain, but she assured him she would be fine. After waiting more than 30 minutes and receiving no answer to repeated phone calls, Vetrano went out to search for her. He eventually found her body, having been sexually abused and strangled.

Vetrano said he paused his entire life to find Karina’s killer, including halting his multimillion-dollar business. He described blanketing the community with reward posters every day until the suspect was caught. He advised Suarez’s father to replicate this strategy to keep the case in the public eye. Vetrano noted that Karina’s case gained widespread attention, a dynamic he believes will help fuel the search for Suarez’s attacker.

Vetrano offered to speak directly with Suarez’s father to provide support. He said that only those who have experienced this specific loss fully understand the grief. He warned that if the public outcry fades, the victim risks becoming another statistic. Vetrano emphasized the importance of maintaining momentum so the case does not get swept under the rug.

Reflecting on his daughter’s short life, Vetrano said he takes comfort in knowing Karina lived fully. She graduated from St. John’s University with a master’s degree in speech pathology and worked as a tutor and speech pathologist. She was also an aspiring writer and actress. Vetrano stated that she lived her life as if she was dying.