Police ask Belt Parkway path users for help after jogger Katie Suarez was stabbed near Bath Beach

The NYPD on Sunday released an image of Katie Suarez, the 28-year-old woman stabbed in the neck while jogging along the Belt Parkway in southern Brooklyn on Friday night, and asked the public for help piecing together her last minutes on the path, ABC7 New York reported.

What police are asking

• When: Friday, Oct. 30, between 7:56 and 8:12 p.m.
• Where: the eastbound bike path along the Belt Parkway, between Bay 8th Street and Bay 17th Street, on the Bath Beach waterfront.
• Who: anyone who saw Suarez, or anything unusual, in that window. Anyone with information is asked to contact the NYPD.

What is known

The stabbing happened shortly after 8 p.m. near Bay Parkway and Cropsey Avenue, ABC7 reported. Police sources told the station that Suarez was training for Sunday's New York City Marathon. Her father found her after she did not come home, ABC7 said.

According to law-enforcement sources quoted by the New York Post, Suarez, a bank teller, had met her mother after work and set off for a run on the waterfront path, a regular route for her. Around 8 p.m. she spoke with her father by phone about where to meet, and said she was about half a mile away. When she did not arrive, her parents went looking, and her father found her with two stab wounds to the neck near Bay 17th Street and Shore Parkway, the Post reported. Sources told the Post investigators believe the attack was random, noting that her phone and jewelry were still with her.

Police have not identified any suspects or announced a motive, ABC7 reported. The station said Suarez remains in critical condition; the Post, citing sources, reported that she has been declared brain dead and is on life support at NYU Langone. Officials have not publicly confirmed her condition beyond that.

Search and safety concerns

The NYPD said it was taking the case very seriously and had specialty teams out Friday night and Saturday, including scuba, aviation, K-9 units and drones, ABC7 reported. Runners on the path told the station they were shocked, and one said they no longer felt as safe there.

State Sen. Steven Chen, who represents the area, told ABC7 the stretch needs safety upgrades, saying it is dark at night, that a barrier keeps drivers on the parkway from seeing the path, and that he wants more lighting. The waterfront path, with views of the Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge, is popular with walkers, joggers, cyclists and people fishing, the Post noted.

We'll update this story as police release more information.