NORTH HIGHLANDS, Calif. >> Police say a man beat an 86-year-old woman to death in an apparently random attack as she walked around a high school track in Northern California.

Sacramento County Sheriff’s Department Sgt. Tony Turnbull says the woman and a 61-year-old companion, who was only slightly injured, were walking on the track at Highlands High School in North Highlands when they were targeted early today by a short man wearing sweats who appeared to be in his mid-30s.

The man punched and kicked the two women, as another person at the track called police.

When officers arrived, the older woman was already dead, and the suspect had fled. Officers searched the neighborhood, but could not find the man.

Authorities have not released the names of the two women.