LASD: Woman, 45, Murdered Inside San Gabriel Home
SAN GABRIEL (CBSLA.com) — The Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department Wednesday was investigating the murder of a 45-year-old woman who was found dead in her San Gabriel home.
A friend of Jinmei Chen found the her body at her home in the 500 block of East Valley Boulevard around 5:30 p.m. Tuesday, officials said.
"When officers arrived, they discovered a 45 year-old Asian female lying in a bedroom at the location. The victim appeared to have been assaulted and asphyxiated," Lt. John Corina said.
Police said it was unclear if she was raped.
There was no sign of forced entry to the home and the victim's friend found the sldining door unlocked, police said.
Further investigation revealed that the Chen lived alone and had not been heard from or seen since the weekend. It was unclear when she died.
"Its hard to tell if robbery was a motive at this point. We're still going through the house; we don't know if something has been taken or removed, so we can't rule that out," Det. Angus Ferguson of the LASD's Homicide Bureau said.
Authorities said Chen moved to the San Gabriel Valley from China about a year ago.
No suspect information was released.
