A warning is going out from the Carlsbad Police Department urging people not to engage in vigilante justice after a woman was killed on a popular hiking trail.
Lisa Thorborg, 68, was a grandmother and widow who’d recently moved to Carlsbad, according to her social media accounts.
She was found stabbed to death during daylight hours on Hosp Grove Trail on Nov. 23. No significant progress has been made in the homicide investigation, and Carlsbad police say some in her community are planning on taking matters into their own hands.
“That’s just crazy. People want to play cops and robbers or something," said Mo Teasley, who hikes the same trail.
With the killer still on the loose, Carlsbad police wouldn't talk on camera, but posted a plea to the public on social media.
Urging them not to jump to conclusions and “not to take the investigation into your own hands but continue to work with us to bring the killer to justice.”
“We’re all feeling very vulnerable. This is a walk that I take, that my family takes as well. So that tension in the community is palpable," explained Carlsbad City Councilmember Cori Schumacher.
Schumacher represents the district where Thorborg, a Portland, Oregon transplant and acupuncturist, was killed.
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She's hoping to be a voice of reason to those who police say are on social media, “encouraging people to go into rural areas with potential encampments to search for the suspect.”
“We want to protect our entire community, everybody within the border of Carlsbad, to ensure that we're not increasing the amount of tragedy but lessening it and getting to the root of this tragic issue," said Schumacher.
CPD's Homeless Outreach Team and patrol officers continue to canvas the area. Meanwhile, investigators are looking into a social media post Thorborg made in November about looking for a friend to go hiking.
A lieutenant working the case says they don't know if the suspect is still in the area and without someone identified, they can't say it was a random attack.
"I don’t think there is a maniac running loose," said Teasley at the trailhead, protected by her two dogs.
The 65-year-old avid hiker says she plans to follow her own path, ignoring the social media sleuths.
"Whoever it is, police will figure it out and arrest them. I don’t think police need my help," said Teasley.
Police say so far, no one has been identified as a suspect. Though they've interviewed several people matching a tipster's description of a person of interest who is 5-foot-10 to 6-foot-3 with a husky build and possible limp.
