'We got him': Suspect who 'raped and murdered' Google exec jogger is arrested eight months after her naked and burned body was found in Massachusetts town

  • Vanessa Macrotte's naked and burned body was found on August 7, 2016
  • Cops have now made an arrest a month after they made a DNA breakthrough 
  • Angelo Colon-Ortiz, 31, was taken into custody at state police barracks
  • The 27-year-old from New York was sexually assaulted before she was killed 
  • State police said they've received over 1,000 tips in connection with the crime 
  • Some of her friends are running in Sunday's Boston Marathon as a tribute  

An arrest has been made in connection to the death of Vanessa Marcotte.

State police detained Angelo Colon-Ortiz, 31, early on Saturday morning in connection with the slaying of the 27-year-old Google executive .

The Boston University graduate's naked body was found near her mom's Princeton, Massachusetts, home on August 7, 2016. Her hands, feet and head were burned. 

The New Yorker, who was visiting her mother at the time, was found dead after she didn't return to their home from a run.  

Colon-Ortiz is being held in at the state police barracks in Millbury on a $1million bail.

At a press conference on Saturday to announce the arrest, Worcester District Attorney Joseph D. Early Jr said: 'We got him'. 

Residents from the community gathered and applauded when he confirmed the news.

Early said the obtained Colon-Ortiz's DNA from Marcotte's hand. 

He thanked the murder victim because they wouldn't have got the sample if she hadn't fought back. 

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An arrest has been made in connection to the death of Vanessa Marcotte, according to reports
In February, Worcester County district attorney Joseph D Early Jr said they had made a DNA breakthrough in the case

An arrest has been made in connection to the death of Vanessa Marcotte (left and right), according to reports

At a press conference on Saturday to announce the arrest, Worcester District Attorney Joseph D. Early Jr (above) said: 'We got him'

At a press conference on Saturday to announce the arrest, Worcester District Attorney Joseph D. Early Jr (above) said: 'We got him'

Early Jr said that a Massachusetts State Trooper saw a dark SUV in Worcester, similar to the one that was seen driving from the scene.

The man driving fitted a description of the suspect.

The trooper then went to the man's home, and eventually got a buckle swab DNA sample.

Test results which came in on Friday, the sample matched to DNA found on Marcotte's body. 

Ortiz was then arrested. He is set to make his first appearance in court on Tuesday. 

There was little information on the Ortiz. Early Jr said he was working near where Marcotte was killed on the day of her brutal death. 

He has not formally been charged with her murder, but Early Jr said he expected it to come soon. 

Ortiz has no criminal history. The DA was unsure whether he is a U.S. citizen.  

In February, Early Jr said they had made a DNA breakthrough in the case.

He revealed they were looking for an average height Hispanic man.  

He also likely had scratches or cuts on his face, neck, hands and arms that day, police said.

They added that they believe him to be the same man seen driving a dark colored SUV in the area around the time that the young jogger was killed. 

Her body was found near her mom's (above) Massachusetts home on August 7, 2016. Her hands, feet and head were burned

Her body was found near her mom's (above) Massachusetts home on August 7, 2016. Her hands, feet and head were burned

Investigators search the wooded area where Marcotte's body was found last year 

Investigators search the wooded area where Marcotte's body was found last year 

Police have not revealed how they acquired the DNA, saying only that they got it during the course of their investigation.

It is also not clear exactly how the DNA was used to build the profile.

Marcotte vanished on an afternoon run while on a visit to the home her mom Rosanna, lived in off Brooks Station Road. Marcotte lived in New York.

Her naked body was found at around 8.20pm in woodlands near the home. 

She had been sexually assaulted, and her hands, feet and part of her head were burned.

It's believed she was killed some time between 1pm, when she left her mom's home, and 4pm. 

Marcotte's shocking murder left her family shattered, they said in towards the end of last year.

Her uncle, Steven Therrien, read an emotional statement at a church in the town on December 31, asking for help finding the young woman's killer.

Marcotte vanished on an afternoon run while on a visit to the home her mom Rosanna. Investigators are seen combing through the scene 

Marcotte vanished on an afternoon run while on a visit to the home her mom Rosanna. Investigators are seen combing through the scene 

State police say they have received over 1,000 tips in connection with the case 

State police say they have received over 1,000 tips in connection with the case 

Her body was found not far from this house in Princeton, Massachusetts. She was on a run when she was killed  

Her body was found not far from this house in Princeton, Massachusetts. She was on a run when she was killed  

'It has been more than four months since Vanessa was tragically taken from us,' Therrien said.

'Not a day goes by that we don't reflect on the enormity of our loss. She had already achieved much but we know she had much more to do.

'She was a loving caring intelligent young women who had her whole life ahead of her.'

Marcotte's shocking murder left her family shattered

Marcotte's shocking murder left her family shattered

Marcotte's parents, Rossana and John Marcotte, stood silent next to Therrien at the news conference holding back the tears.

Her father held a banner that read 'Justice for Vanessa.'

And at Marcotte's funeral, her best friend, Leah Abrahams, have a moving eulogy to the girl that so many people loved.

'She was so perfect, it was otherworldly,' she said.

'Something about Vanessa always reminded me of the ocean — so breathlessly beautiful, quiet and peaceful.'

She later said: 'You epitomize grace, light, humility, and absolute magic.' 

Marcotte was killed just weeks after Queens jogger Karina Vetrano was brutally raped and murdered while she was out for a run.

A suspect has recently been charged in connection with her death.  

Family members load Marcotte's coffin into the back of a hearse after her funeral last year

Family members load Marcotte's coffin into the back of a hearse after her funeral last year

 

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