Slain S.I. abuse vic had helped others recover
A woman found dead in a Staten Island park was strangled and dumped there, authorities have determined — months after she moved out of a domestic violence shelter.
Ola Salem, 25, was found dead in a wooded area of Bloomingdale Park by a jogger near Drumgoole Road in Rossville on Oct. 24. She was fully clothed with drag marks in the ground nearby, sources said.
There have been no arrests in her slaying.
Early this year Salem moved into Asiyah Women Center, a shelter for Muslim victims of domestic violence in Sunset Park, Brooklyn, according to staff there. She moved out months later — but stayed involved as a passionate advocate for other women.
“She came to us with her problems but when she saw the other women she took the active role as volunteer, really connecting with them,” said Mohamed Bahe, 35, co-founder and director of Muslim Community Center, the parent organization of Asiyah Women’s Center. “She knew what they were going through and tried to help them, even driving them to appointments.”
The city medical examiner deemed Salem’s death a homicide, authorities said Monday. Her cause of death was asphyxiation, a police source said.
Salem, who was described as an empowered and joyful person, came to Asiyah seeking a place to escape her abusive spouse, according to Bahe. When she moved out of the shelter months later Asiyah staff believed she had found a safe place to live.
She returned to her Staten Island home, 10 miles from the park where she was found.
“She was outgoing, she went skydiving, she was a very lovely person. But just because you have a smile in public doesn’t mean that everything is okay and that was her,” Bahe said. “But her getting dragged through the forest, that is just surreal.”