NEW YORK (AP) – Catherine Woods never caught up with her dream. Police are now trying to catch up with her killer.

Woods, 21, was an aspiring dancer from Ohio who came to New York three years ago with hopes of beating the odds and making a splash on Broadway. Instead, unknown to her family and friends, she wound up working as a topless dancer with the stage name Ava in the months before her brutal stabbing death last weekend.

Her double life was exposed after her Sunday slaying in a second-floor apartment on Manhattan’s Upper East Side, delivering a double shock to the Woods family.

Her father, John R. Woods, director of the Ohio State University marching band, came to New York to claim his daughter’s body.

“She was apparently a very sweet girl,” said Anthony Regina, day manager at the club Privilege, where Woods was a dancer. “She really was trying to get into show business. She was classically trained. It’s sad when this happens to anyone, but she was really trying to make it.”

By Wednesday, police had yet to make an arrest in the grisly slaying. Woods’ ex-boyfriend was questioned for two days but not charged. The couple were living together despite their romantic split, police said.

The ex-boyfriend, an aspiring rapper who worked as a doorman in a nearby building, had followed Woods to New York from Columbus, Ohio.

In a phone call last week to her family, Woods claimed she had landed a role in an off-Broadway show, “Privilege,” according to published reports. In reality, she had worked between April and July as a dancer at a strip club of the same name, Regina said.

She then moved on to Flash Dancers on Broadway, another topless club. It was as close as Woods would make it to the Great White Way.

It was a long way from the Dance Reach with Mary Rose school in Powell, Ohio, where Woods began taking classes at age 3. Rose said Woods trained in classical technique and contemporary dance and aspired to be with a modern or jazz company.

“Catherine had that star quality from the moment she walked in my building,” Rose said. “She had not only the physicality and intelligence but a radiance of spirit that enveloped those around her.”

Friends and family said she desperately wanted to make it in New York City. Many were convinced she would.

“I believe she had all the tools necessary to succeed in the business,” Rose said.

Rose didn’t know she was working at a strip club.

“I was heartsick,” Rose said. “I felt it was an unfortunate choice for a talented young woman.”

The dark-haired, soft-spoken beauty graduated from high school in 2002 and moved to New York over the protests of family members who hoped she would attend college.

But breaking into show business proved tough, and friends said Woods took jobs waitressing and teaching dance classes. She continued to take classes of her own while auditioning for shows.It was a long way from the Dance Reach with Mary Rose school in Powell, Ohio, where Woods began taking classes at age 3. Rose said Woods trained in classical technique and contemporary dance and aspired to be with a modern or jazz company.

“Catherine had that star quality from the moment she walked in my building,” Rose said. “She had not only the physicality and intelligence but a radiance of spirit that enveloped those around her.”

Friends and family said she desperately wanted to make it in New York City. Many were convinced she would.

“I believe she had all the tools necessary to succeed in the business,” Rose said.

Rose didn’t know she was working at a strip club.

“I was heartsick,” Rose said. “I felt it was an unfortunate choice for a talented young woman.”

The dark-haired, soft-spoken beauty graduated from high school in 2002 and moved to New York over the protests of family members who hoped she would attend college.

But breaking into show business proved tough, and friends said Woods took jobs waitressing and teaching dance classes. She continued to take classes of her own while auditioning for shows.Woods studied ballet, tap, jazz and modern dance, and spent most days dancing there through high school, The Columbus Dispatch reported.

Friends and family told the Dispatch how desperately she wanted to make it in New York City. Many were convinced she would.

The dark-haired beauty graduated from high school in 2002 and moved to New York over the protests of family members who hoped she would attend college.

But breaking into show business proved tough, and friends said Woods took jobs waitressing and teaching dance classes. She continued to take classes of her own while auditioning for shows.

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