A woman was found dead inside a makeshift tent at a campground in Northern Virginia, on Saturday. A man she had recently met was charged with murder, police said in an update.
Cara Abbruscato, 40, of Fairfax, was found dead in Burke Lake Park, Fairfax County police said.
People with a campsite reservation saw the tent, which was just a tarp tied to a tree, and talked to park management. Park employees looked inside and found Abbruscato’s body, police said.
Officers responded to Ox Road in Fairfax Station after police received a call at about 3:10 p.m. Saturday. Abbruscato was found with stab wounds and lacerations to the upper body, police said. An autopsy will be performed to determine her cause of death.
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Abbruscato was fighting her own demons but would never hurt anyone, her parents said Monday. They were too distraught to speak on camera.
Rami El Sayed was arrested in New Jersey and charged with second-degree murder, police said Monday. Police say he stole Abbruscato's car and drove it to New Jersey, where automated license plate readers flagged her plate as being connected to a felony. Police pulled over El Sayed and arrested him.
A man camping in the park said he met Abbruscato and spoke with her a few times. He said she told him she had previously been reported missing and then charged with narcotics possession.
The fellow camper said he was surprised to hear she was dead and that she had seemed like she was “turning a new leaf in life.”
The camper said Abbruscato and El Sayed had seemed to be in a romantic relationship. He didn’t think anything of it when both their vehicles were suddenly gone.
Anyone with potentially relevant information was asked to contact police.
“We are asking the community to come forward if they were at Burke Lake Park campground and noticed a makeshift tent ... between September 19th and September 30th,” police said. That tent is show in video at the top of this story.
Abbruscato was reported missing last month. Police asked the public to help find her on Sept. 3. A short time later, police said she had been found safe.
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Police said they hope El Sayed will be extradited from New Jersey within days.
Stay with NBC Washington for more details on this developing story.
