No Arrests In Katherine Janness Murder, Police Say It's 'Moving In Right Direction'

Homicide investigators say they’re “getting close” to solving the gruesome slaying of the Atlanta bartender whose mutilated corpse was found with her dead dog in a park this summer.

During a Tuesday press conference, senior Atlanta Police officials attempted to expunge any notions Katherine Janness’ murder investigation had gone cold, despite there being no arrests.

"Our investigations do not stop," Police Deputy Chief Charles Hampton Jr. said at a press conference on Tuesday. "That case is still open. We continue to work leads that come in almost weekly."

Investigators, who described the investigation as “very active,” also stressed that forensic investigators were still combing through a mountain of biological, physical and electronic evidence.

"We do believe that this investigation is moving in the right direction," Atlanta Police Homicide Commander Ralph Woolfolk also said. "We look forward to where the pieces of the puzzle are being put together as it pertains to this case."

On July 28, Janness and her dog, Bowie, were found stabbed to death in Atlanta’s Piedmont Park. She’d sustained upwards of 50 knife wounds in the brutal attack. The letters “F," "A" and "T” were carved onto her chest, according to a Fulton County Medical Examiner’s autopsy report obtained by Oxygen.com.

Janness’ wife discovered her body after the bartender failed to return home from walking the couple’s pet. Authorities since released a grainy surveillance footage of Janness and her dog, Bowie, using a crosswalk near Piedmont Park shortly before her suspected slaying.

"We are getting close, in my opinion," Hampton added during this week’s presser. "We have not deemed this a cold case because we continue to work leads"

"Our work is never done in any investigation, particularly in homicide investigations.”

At the time of the Atlanta bartender’s murder, media coverage and social media speculation fueled fears that a serial killer was potentially at large in the Atlanta area after Tori Lang, 18, was found killed in Stone Mountain around the same time. Police have long denied the rumors.

“I know there have been several rumors that there is a serial killer on the loose in our city,” Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms said at a Tuesday briefing. “We don’t have any evidence of that.”

The city’s mayor, eager to quell a torrent of misinformation originating from the case, described Janness’ killer as a “monster.”

Because Janness was part of Atlanta’s LGBTQ community, that sparked additional rumors that her slaying may have been a possible hate crime, a theory equally discredited by city officials.

“As of now, we don’t have any proof of that,” Bottoms added.

The 40-year-old was a mother of three who had recently moved to Atlanta from Rome, Georgia, loved ones said.

“She could’ve stayed in Rome,” Janness’ older sister, Lekrysta Trammell, told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. “But she wanted them to have a better school. She wanted different, and she set out for it. She just came in contact with some demons.”

Atlanta police officials declined to release additional information regarding the open case this week.

A spokesperson for the FBI declined to comment on the ongoing case when contacted by Oxygen.com on Wednesday afternoon.

Anyone with information related to the unsolved case is encouraged to contact the Atlanta Police Department at 404-577-TIPS.