Vanessa Marcotte was brutally murdered on August 7, 2016 while she was out for a run. After being reported missing by her family when she did not return home after several hours, her body was discovered beaten and burned just a half mile from her mothers home. DNA evidence tied Angelo Colon-Ortiz to Vanessa's murder, and was given a life sentence in prison. As an outcome of Vanessa's death, her family organized the Vanessa T. Marcotte Foundation and vanessamarcotte.org which talks about Vanessa’s story and the mission of the foundation is to teach women how to fight back and they advocate for a world where women are safe and free to live fearlessly. They participate in many events, including the Boston Marathon and have and entire resource center that includes safety tips for runners and walkers, webinars on violence prevention and safe running, self-defense classes, and several videos and links on sexual assault, domestic violence, dating violence, and more.
Sources:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Murder_of_Vanessa_Marcotte
https://www.wcvb.com/article/angelo-colon-ortiz-plea-change-vanessa-marcotte-murder-case-oct-26-2022/41778253
https://www.cnn.com/2022/10/27/us/vanessa-marcotte-murder-guilty
https://www.nbcboston.com/news/local/man-accused-of-murdering-runner-vanessa-marcotte-in-princeton-due-in-court/2873915/
https://vtmf.org/donate/
https://www.boston.com/news/crime/2022/10/26/angelo-colon-ortiz-charged-with-killing-vanessa-marcotte-pleads-guilty/
https://www.masslive.com/worcester/2021/08/police-still-didnt-learn-their-lesson-attorney-for-angelo-colon-ortiz-who-is-accused-of-killing-vanessa-marcotte-says-past-precedents-show-police-improperly-obtained-dna.html
