Two squatters beat a woman to death when she found they'd taken up residence in her late mother's New York City apartment, then fled to Pennsylvania in the victim's Lexus, sparking a manhunt that continued into Friday, according to authorities and reports.
Nadia Vitel, 52, flew in from her home in Spain earlier this month to prepare the East 31st Street apartment so a family friend could stay there, according to the New York Post.
But when she arrived, Vitel found that the apartment she'd believed had been empty for some three to four months was, in fact, occupied.
"We believe that some squatters took the apartment over and this woman came home ... and walked in on the squatters that were there," said NYPD Chief of Detectives Joseph Kenny, according to the Post.
Vitel was last seen entering the building on the morning of March 12.
The squatters - who have not been publicly named and are described only as a man and woman in their 20s - then beat Vitel, leaving her with head trauma, facial fractures, a brain bleed and two broken ribs, police reportedly said.
The pair then left the building and drove off in Vitel's Lexus SUV, crossing the George Washington Bridge into New Jersey, then heading into Pennsylvania, police reportedly said.
They eventually crashed in Lower Paxton Township just outside Harrisburg and ditched the Lexus, then hit up several local dealerships trying to buy a replacement ride for $1,000.
Meanwhile, Vitel's 19-year-old son, Michael Medvedev, became concerned that he hadn't heard from his mother and headed to the apartment with the building's super on March 14.
Medvedev opened up a closet near the apartment's front door and found a duffel bag, his mother's body stuffed inside, police reportedly said.
The suspects remained at large as of early Friday, with the Regional Fugitive Task Force in pursuit of them, according to the NYPD.
