23-year-old woman identified in Golden Gate Park homicide

SAN FRANCISCO - A 23-year-old woman who was found dead with blunt force trauma to her head in San Francisco's Golden Gate Park on Saturday morning has been identified as a resident of Quebec, Canada, according to the medical examiner's office.

A passerby found Audrey Carey face down dead near the bison paddock in Golden Gate Park around 9:15 a.m. Saturday.

Carey's death, which is being investigated as a homicide. The night before, the Hardly Strictly Bluegrass festival hosted its first day of music further east in the park.

San Francisco police don't know if Carey attended the free festival, as there are no tickets or wristbands to track who showed up.

"We do know that we did have the Hardly Strictly Bluegrass festival this weekend.  We do not know if the victim attended this or not, said SFPD spokesperson Albie Esparza. It started on Friday and the victim was found Saturday morning."

Carey is from Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu, a city outside Montreal, Quebec in Canada. It's not clear how long she had been in the city.

"We don't know the motive. We don't know if it was robbery," said Esparza. "We don't know what the circumstances surrounding the homicide are."

Park visitors KTVU spoke with said they were shocked by the violence.

"I feel safe here. Always come every weekend with the kids. We've never had any issues," said Cinthy Walsh.

"I feel safe, unless there's any trouble. But there are a lot of people down by the 'Don't Feed the Animals' place who feed the animals and are very bad when you call them on it," said Carol Costello. "I walk midday, I wouldn't come to the park after dark."

Anyone with information should call SFPD at (415) 575-4444 or text a tip to TIP411 with "SFPD" followed by the message.