A Queens funeral home was the setting for an outpouring of emotion at a memorial for a woman killed while jogging through a park in Howard Beach. NY1's Amanda Farinacci reports.

"Karina my baby, you shine and you glow." 

Those words were spoken by Karina Vetrano's mother at her funeral Saturday. Hundreds turned out to pay respect to the 30-year-old Howard beach runner who was sexually assaulted and killed earlier this week not far from her home.

"She's a beautiful girl," said one neighbor. Very sorry what happened." 

Police say Vetrano left her home Tuesday afternoon about 5 o'clock to go for a run. Her father, retired firefighter Phil Vetrano, usually went with her, but a bad back prevented him from going. When she didn't return home, he called police and it was he who discovered her lifeless body in a marshy area close to their home. Police say Karina was badly beaten and sexually assaulted before she died: 

"Something like this breaks anybody's heart," said Vetrano's co-worker Gerry Scaveti. "I had to come." 

Friends, family and many firefighter friends of her father packed St. Helen's Church to remember Karina's life. In the tight knit Howard Beach streets, white ribbons are displayed around stop posts and on the front doors of the homes in her memory. 

"She was just wonderful," said family friend Jim Matera. "Wonderful human being. It's a shame." 

"It's like a tradition in Howard Beach," said one neighbor. "We're a close community and we always stick together."

Investigators say the murder is an unusual one: it occurred in broad daylight and in what many consider to be a very safe neighborhood. They're combing through her cell phone records and personal effects found at the scene in the hopes of finding a clue to point them to a person police believe is a danger to the community.

"I feel unsafe right now," said one Howard Beach resident. "I feel very unsafe walking in the area. Every person I see I wonder is this the person who did it? I just feel afraid and sad at the same time." 

In his lengthy homily, the Priest described a girl whose favorite movie was The Wizard of Oz, who loved animals, nature, rainbows, writing and fitness. 

Her blog served as an online diary — and one section focused on self-respect. Making an acronym for those words, every letter standing for what she valued. 

Using Karina's own words — T stands for "tell yourself you can" the priest urged mourners to "tell yourself you can get through this" because that's what Katrina would have wanted.

Anyone with information on the case should contact the Crime Stoppers hotline at 1-800-577-TIPS, or text CRIMES and then enter TIP577, or visit www.nypdcrimestoppers.com.