By Nina Mandell
DNAinfo Reporter/Producer
MANHATTAN — As police continue to search for the man who attacked two women in Riverside Park last week, one of the victims, 19-year-old Marisa Cortright, returned to her Salem, Oregon home, the New York Post reported.
Cortright, a Barnard College student who came to New York last fall, was attacked while running in Riverside Park around 6 a.m. on July 5, police said. She was released from St. Luke's Hospital shortly before July 9, when the NYPD released a video of the man who they believed attacked her, according to the Post.
Cortright was running near the tennis courts at 120th Street when she was grabbed from behind and slammed into a wall, knocking her unconscious, police said. A passerby found her bleeding on a park bench and called 911. Her iPod was taken during the attack, police said.
Twenty minutes later, police believe the same suspect grabbed Janet Blumenfeld, 48, a senior director of operations for Yeshiva University, as she was walking her dog in Riverside Park, the Post said. He slammed her into the ground and kicked her repeatedly, police said.
The video released by the NYPD shows a shirtless black man wearing red shorts, fitting the description Cortright gave police.
Violent crime in Riverside Park is a rare occurrence, according to recently-released statistics, but university officials emailed students urging them to be vigilant.
Late last week, Cortright's family said she was in good spirits at St. Luke's.
