Search for Princeton jogger's killer turns to sex offender registry

PRINCETON, Mass. — More than a week after a woman went jogging near her mother's home and never came back, there are still few answers as to what happened to her before she turned up dead hours later.

Vanessa Marcotte was mourned and remembered as she was laid to rest Tuesday, but her killer is still out there.

Law enforcement sources told FOX25's Bob Ward the search for Vanessa's killer is methodical and painstaking. They say a big part of it is focusing on sex offenders.

Sources told FOX25 News Vanessa's body was burned and she may have been sexually assaulted.

Part of the investigation includes taking a hard look at registered sex offenders living in the area.

The Massachusetts Sex Offender Registry shows two Level 2 sex offenders living in Princeton.

But when FOX25 widened the search to the cities and towns immediately surrounding Princeton, we found 414 registered sex offenders.

"It's disturbing. It really is distrubing," former Mass. State Trooper Todd McGhee said. he now heads up a security firm. "It's really frustrating to see this many people right here in Massachusetts, specifically in that area. We are not talking across the entire state of Massachusetts, just within that region. That's really disturbing."

There are 93 Level One sex offenders in the immediate Princeton area, meaning they are the least likely to reoffend.

There are 215 Leven Two sex offenders and 106 Level Three sex offenders -- the most likely to re-offend.

Sources confirmed to FOX25's Bob Ward investigators are following up with all of them. If they have not provided DNA samples, as required by state law, police are taking fresh DNA swabs and entering it into the database.

It's work that could break open the baffling case.

"Based on the crime, based on the evidence, you cannot leave that out," McGhee said. "You can't leave those 400 names out as a possible end game."

Cox Media Group