The family of a woman who was murdered in her Scarborough drycleaning shop issued an emotional plea on Wednesday for the killer to come forward.
"If you have any human decency; if you're human at all, please come forward and do the honourable thing," said son Stephen Liu, who flew to Toronto from his home in British Columbia after learning of the tragedy.
Police have not named any suspects in the case. However, the photograph of a woman spotted near the murder scene has been released to the public in the hopes that someone may be able to identify her.
The image of the woman was captured by a security camera outside Top A Drycleaners – the shop were police discovered the body of 61-year-old Rose Liu on Tuesday.
Police are not calling the woman a suspect, but rather a "person of interest" in the case.
"We want to identify her as fast as we can," said Det. Scott Whittemore. "In any investigation we start at the bottom with witnesses. The next step up is a person of interest. At any time she could become a suspect."
The woman in the video is described as being between 25 and 30 years old. She was wearing a long, dark coat and her hair in a bun.
Liu ran the drycleaning business with her husband at the Finch and Warden plaza for the last 15 years. Other retailers in the strip mall said Liu was friendly and well-liked.
Daughter Denise Liu said that the person or people responsible for the death only have one option: "Surrender now. Do not hesitate. Do it."
Stephen said that his mother was a loving and kind person who never did anything to motivate such a crime.
"She was a wonderful person," he told CTV Toronto's Jim Junkin. "Never harmed anybody."
Stephen, who works as an RCMP officer in B.C., also asked that the community pitch in to bring the killer or killers to justice.
"If you have a loved one at all, and you can put yourself in our shoes, do anything you can."
A motive for the death isn't known. Earlier in the week, police speculated that a botched robbery may have led to the killing.
