GoFundMe page set up for Sarmistha Sen’s favorite charities for cancer awareness, environment protection.
Runners in Plano, Texas, have been leaving shoes at a memorial to pay tribute to an Indian-American cancer researcher and mother of two killed by an unknown attacker on her regular morning run.
Sindri, India-born Sarmistha Sen, 43, was found dead near a creek in Plano, Texas, on Saturday morning, CNN reported citing Plano Police Department.
Sen had gotten up early for a run and at some point in time came across her attacker, police said.
Less than two hours later, a witness saw what she believed was a body about 20 to 25 feet below near the creek. Police were called to the scene and discovered Sen’s body.
Her death is being classified as a homicide and the investigation is ongoing.
A person of interest is currently being held at the Collin County Detention Center for a burglary that happened nearby, according to a press release from Plano Police Department.
Sen was an avid runner and liked to wake early and jog around Plano’s Chisholm Trail every morning, according to a CaringBridge site set up by her family.
The family has also setup a GoFundMe page that can be accessed from the CaringBridge website.
The funds will be used for charities that are devoted to issues that Sen deeply cared about such as Cancer Awareness, Cancer research and protection of environment, it said.
By 3 p.m. EST on Friday, more than $30,000 has been raised from 409 donors.
On Saturday morning she went for her regular jogging and never came back home, the site said. She was “brutally killed by a stranger for no apparent reason.â€
Born on Jan 2, 1977, Sen grew up in Sindri and later moved to Bangalore, India for higher studies and work, the site said.
Sen got married to Arindam Roy and moved to Plano, Texas in 2004. She studied in UT Dallas and University of Birmingham, Alabama and worked on cancer research for most of her career.
The couple has two little kids, Neil is 12 and Ryan is 6 years old. They recently also got a puppy named Milly. Milly is only 3 months old.
Sen lived a free and fearless life inspiring many with her infectious energy and carefree smile.
Sarmistha was an avid runner, gardener and a great cook, the Caring Bridge said. She practiced healthy mindful living and she could cook extremely healthy food that tasted amazingly good.
She was a trained singer of Indian classical music and loved to teach and perform music. She was passionate about cancer care and was a lifelong supporter of cancer research.
Sen’s killing is an extreme example of an issue women commonly face while out running, CNN said.
A 2016 survey from Runner’s World cited by CNN found that 43 percent of women at least sometimes experience harassment on the run compared with just 4 percent of men.