Karina Vetrano,A Jogger Declares Missing Was Found Dead Near Queen's Park.

Karina  Vetrano

A 30-year-old jogger reported missing by her dad Tuesday afternoon was found dead in a marsh off the Belt Parkway less than half a mile away from her Queens home — and investigators believe she was murdered, police sources said.

Karina Vetrano was discovered deep in the marshes near 161st Ave. and 78th St. in Howard Beach late Tuesday, after cops conducted a massive search for her. Her pants had been pulled down and cops believe she was strangled and sexually assaulted, police sources said.

Cops found her cell phone near a bike path and discovered her body closer to the shoreline.

The city Medical Examiner will conduct an autopsy to determine how she was killed.

Neighbors, concerned that Vetrano had met with foul play, said that vagrants live in the woods off the bike path.

“I hear there's a couple of shanty houses out there," said one neighbor, who identified himself only as John.

The father, Philip Vetrano, told police he last saw his daughter at 5 p.m. when she left for a jog near Gateway National Park.

He reported her as missing at 7 p.m. and was later seen walking alongside a NYPD bloodhound at the search site and smoking a cigar.

Neighbors said Philip Vetrano is a retired FDNY firefighter.

Vetrano earned a master’s degree from St. John’s University in 2015, and worked as a caterer at the Vetro Lounge in Howard Beach, her neighbors said.

She described herself as a “thrill seeker” and day dreamer” on her Instagram page, where friends posted messages mourning her death Tuesday night and Wednesday morning.

“She used to go jogging with her father,” said a neighbor, who identified himself only as John. “If the weeds were not that tall, we would of seen the girl jogging on the path . . . You can grab that girl, and we wouldn't know it.’ ”

Vetrano’s family declined comment as reporters gathered outside her Howard Beach home late Tuesday.