Will the Silver Comet Trail Assault on a Female Jogger Be Solved By This Graphic Photo?

Family members have released a graphic photo of a woman who was brutally attacked while jogging on Georgia’s Silver Comet Trail, reported the New York Daily News.

Tina Waddel, a woman in her 40s, was confronted by a man while jogging on the Silver Comet Trail on Wednesday. The jogger says that she remembers very little of the attack, as she slipped in and out of consciousness as the man beat her after dragging her into the woods. When she awoke, she crawled back to the Silver Comet Trail where cyclist Peter Skott found her and contacted emergency services.

I won’t forget that image again.

Although the public will never see what Skott found on the Georgia hiking trail, the image released by the family is a devastating picture of what has happened to the female jogger. Her husband, Jim Waddel, said that he has not stopped crying since he first learned about the attack.

Local detectives in the case have very few leads to go on. No signs of sexual assault may indicate that Waddel was spared some trauma, but it also means that there is less DNA evidence to go off of on the Silver Comet Trail assault. The assailant stole Waddel’s cell phone and a set of keys, possibly indicating that robbery was the primary motivation. Cpl. Ashley Henson, spokesman for the Paulding County Sheriff’s Office, remarked that the department is currently pursuing leads on the case, reported local paper The Marietta Daily Journal.

Since the attack was so violent and her injuries were so severe, the victim could only indicate that a white male suspect with dark hair attacked her.

Waddel’s attack is not the first violent happening on the Silver Comet Trail. Eight years ago, the violent murder of Jennifer Ewing shocked locals. Ewing was beaten in a manner similar to Waddel, as well as sexually assaulted. Her murderer, Michael Leford, was sentenced to lethal injection in 2009 after facing charges of murder, kidnapping, aggravated sodomy, aggravated battery and aggravated assault.

Locals remarked that they have been cautious on the Silver Comet Trail since the attack against Ewing occurred in 2006. Linda Turnispeed, a Fulton County Schools police officer, has often been nervous to see women walking alone on the trail.

I see a lot of women out here walking by themselves. Even in the daytime, I think they should not do that. It’s dangerous. If you’re by yourself, like right now, and the trail is isolated, and there’s a predator out here in the day time and nobody’s on the trail, you can be taken.

Would you take a walk alone along the Silver Comet Trail? Do you think the release of the photo will encourage people to take more precautions?