Virginia Cruttenden, 57, was found shot to death inside her Port Richmond home in Philadelphia on February 24, 2017. Police responded to the 3200 block of Mercer Street shortly after 4 p.m. and discovered her on the floor with a gunshot wound to the head; she was pronounced dead at the scene about 4:20 p.m. Neighbors reported a sudden flood of police cars and crime-scene tape, and one neighbor said her son returned from work and discovered his mother had been killed.

Investigators quickly treated robbery as the apparent motive after officers found the second floor ransacked and several items missing. Police later identified her nephew, Andrew Cruttenden, then 26, as the suspected shooter. Authorities said he had robbed and shot his aunt inside the home; reports described him as an ex-con who had been in and out of prison since age 18 and released only a few months before the killing. He was arrested in North Philadelphia and charged with murder, burglary, robbery, firearms offenses, criminal conspiracy, and related counts.

Andrew Cruttenden’s girlfriend, Michelle Waclawski, 36, was also arrested and charged with burglary, criminal trespass, criminal conspiracy, theft, and related offenses.

If anyone knew Virginia, her routine, or saw activity at the Mercer Street home around February 24, 2017, please share what was observed or contact investigators.