Columbia grad found dead in Panama was likely strangled

The Columbia University graduate who was found dead in a popular tourist spot in Panama was likely strangled, according to a report.

Catherine Johannet’s body was discovered Sunday afternoon along a wooded trail on Bastimentos Island — just three days after the 23-year-old from Westchester went missing.

Preliminary autopsy findings by Panama’s Institute of Forensic Medicine and Forensic Sciences of the Public Ministry suggest the cause of death was strangulation, the La Prensa newspaper reported.

Authorities are still awaiting final results of the examination to learn more details.

The FBI joined Panamanian authorities Tuesday to investigate the mysterious death of the Edgemont woman, a 2015 Columbia grad who had traveled to Bastimentos from nearby Colon Island, where she was last seen Thursday, The Journal News reported.

Family members on Tuesday posted a sign addressed to the media on the front door of their home, reading: “Our family is in the midst of grieving. We ask you to respect our privacy. We respectfully decline to comment any further at this time. Please vacate the premises.”

Johannet’s older sister, Laura, posted on Facebook that the family is planning on holding a service at Scarsdale Congregational Church at 11 a.m. Saturday at 1 Heathcote Road in Scarsdale.

Laura and her brother, Paul, posted messages thanking people for supporting the family as it tried to find their little sister.

“We love and miss her dearly. She was a world traveler — by the age of 23, she had already visited 6 continents and innumerable countries, including a recent 18-month trip to Vietnam where she taught English Literature to local students,” Paul wrote on Facebook.

“She was cheerful, adventurous, thoughtful and warm — all qualities I strive towards. I’ll always look up to my youngest sister.”

Catherine’s last post on Instagram shows her smiling on a Panamanian island, with an idyllic backdrop of palm trees along a sandy beach.

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