Reward to find strangler who killed Pennypack Park jogger now $50K

The Philadelphia Parking Authority added $10,000 to the reward fund for any information in the strangling death of Connie Murray, the Philadelphia Police department announced Friday.

Murray, 46, went jogging in Pennypack Park on the night of August 5 and turned up dead the following morning.

Her brother Kevin has worked for the parking authority for 12 years, according to executive director of the PPA Vince Fenerty.

So far, several tips from the area have come in, but no suspect has been named according to Police Capt. James Clark.

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“We’ve brought in several people from the area and have spoken with them,” said Clark. “Right now no one has been labeled as a suspect. We talked to them, found out what they were doing out there, and right now they’ve all been released.”

Clark said a team of homicide investigators is combing the scene for a second time for more clues, including Murray’s cell phone, which is still missing.

Detectives are also studying surveillance videos from the area.  One shows Murray pausing for a second to speak with someone in a car before the car pulled away, but officers have not yet identified the vehicle.

DNA evidence found on Murray will be analyzed within a few days, but it’s unclear whether enough was collected so it provides a profile full enough to compare with DNA databases.

“I talked to our director of the lab, everything is being expedited,” said Clark. “I can’t give an exact time frame but he has people working around the clock as well. As far as examining any DNA that we may have gotten, probably days.”

The total reward now tops $50,000 — $30,000 for an arrest and $20,000 more from the city if the information leads to a conviction.

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