Community Mourns 26-Year-Old Woman Found Dismembered In Canarsie Park
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- A Canarsie community came together for a vigil Thursday night, mourning 26-year-old Brandy Odom, whose dismembered body was discovered in a local park earlier this week.
Nicole Odom placed a candle near the spot where part of her daughter's remains were found.
"For you baby girl, for you," she said. "I'm going to do everything in my power to keep this going until I catch the monster who did this to my child."
Dozens of family and community members released balloons in Odom's memory, struggling to comprehend how this could happen or who could have done it.
"This is just brutal. This is just brutal right here," said aunt Tiarria Odom. "This is just unacceptable."
More: Mother Of Woman Found Dismembered In Canarsie Park Searches For Answers
A dog walker discovered Odom's head and torso naked, face-down and covered in leaves Monday inside Canarsie Park, about 15 feet away from a footpath in a wooded area. Her face was bruised and swollen.
Police sources told CBS2 her arms and legs had been cut off and were found nearby.
They believe Odom was killed and dismembered somewhere else, then dumped in the park within 24 hours.
Sources also said a saw was found in a park trashcan, which they believe was used in the crime.
Police sources told CBS2 they have several strong leads, since they've been able to track Odom's movements before the murder. They've also expanded their camera canvassing to see if anything suspicious was captured on video, including traffic cameras in the area.
On Thursday, Crime Stoppers increased the reward for information to $10,000. Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams said he's also donating another $1,000.
The family hopes it will help bring Odom's killer to justice.
"She did hair, she could cook, she had school safety calling her. She was a good person and she did not deserve nothing to happen," sister Aisha Odom said. "I will miss her dearly."
The family also said Odom was in the process of trying to become a school safety agent.
At this point, it's still unclear whether she was targeted or whether this was a random attack.
