Police: Potential witness in Atlanta park stabbing located

Atlanta police say a possible witness who was seen jogging in the popular metro park where a woman was stabbed to death has been located and is cooperating with investigators

Atlanta Park Stabbing (Copyright 2021 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.)

A possible witness who was seen jogging in the popular metro park where a woman was stabbed to death has been located and is cooperating with investigators, authorities said Friday.

Police said a man came forward just hours after they released surveillance images with his photo as they seek potential witnesses in the killing of Katherine Janness, 40.

Janness was found just inside an entrance to Piedmont Park about 1 a.m. on July 28. She had been stabbed multiple times, and her dog Bowie was found dead nearby.

Officers are still seeking others who might have seen something, police said. The witnesses are not considered suspects. A $20,000 reward is being offered to anyone who provides information leading to an arrest.

Janness, known to her friends as Katie, bartended at a nearby restaurant, friends and relatives have said. Her wife, Emma Clark, told news outlets she found Janness' body with a phone tracking app she used after Janness didn't respond to calls or texts.

“I ran up to her, I tried to feel for a pulse but it was clear that she was gone. I turned around and I just ran out of the park,” Clark told WXIA-TV. “It was dark, and I didn’t know what was going on. I was terrified and shocked. That’s when I called the cops immediately.”

Clark said she did not think Janness was targeted, and she wasn't the type of person who would get into a heated argument.

“She didn’t have a lot of people outside of her job that she would speak to on a regular basis besides her friends,” Clark said. “I just thought, maybe it was somebody who saw an opportunity. That’s all I can think. I honestly don’t know.”