WOMEN ARE NOT SAFE ANYWHERE

TEEN HELPING FRIEND WITH TOWED CAR
MURDERED BY DRIFTER

(AP) - NEW YORK--A suburban teenager who disappeared after a night of clubbing was found dead in a New Jersey trash bin on Thursday and police later arrested a drifter accused of strangling her in a nearby motel, authorities said.


New York police think Jennifer Moore was lured or forced into a taxi along a major roadway along Manhattan's west side where the 18-year-old was last seen walking alone early Tuesday. Moore had accompanied a friend to retrieve their car from the city tow pound when Moore's friend passed out and had to be taken by ambulance to a hospital. Moore stayed behind. She called her boyfriend around 5 a.m. to say she was lost and he told her to call a cab, The New York Post reported. When he called back there was no answer, the newspaper said.


About 48 hours after she vanished, Moore's body was found in West New York, N.J., police said. Her killer had taken her to a motel in nearby Weehawken, N.J., and strangled the teen, said a law enforcement official, who talked to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because the investigation was ongoing. Moore died of blunt force trauma to the head and strangulation, the Hudson County medical examiner said.



Draymond Coleman, who has an extensive arrest record and no permanent address, was charged with the slaying. He was arrested at dive hotel in Manhattan. Hudson County prosecutors and New Jersey state police didn't return messages left after hours Thursday seeking details about what evidence led investigators to Coleman.


Coleman, 35, has done time on a drug charge, and police said he has prior arrests for robbery and assault. It was not known whether he had a lawyer. The teen's father, Hugh Moore, spoke outside their home in Harrington Park, N.J. "She was someone who was smart and bright and funny," he said. "Wrong place, wrong time. It could happen to anybody."