Awaiting justice for mother slain 21 years ago

Jeanette Tong cherishes every memory of her mother - how she always was there to cook dinner, help with homework, and teach the "very big" life lesson: hard work.

"There was something about her that made her a perfect mom," Tong said.

But for more than two decades, Tong has lived with a nightmarish memory.

On June 26, 1993, when Tong was 11, her mother's body was found inside a car on a tree-lined Delaware County street, the result of a crime that remains unsolved.

Last October, banking on advances in technology and fresh perspectives, Radnor Township police revived the investigation.

A year later, family members still await a resolution of the case. Police have no suspects or person of interest, nor will they comment on the status of DNA evidence.

Police believe Jennifer Tong was abducted from her Marple Township home, and a witness reported seeing four men near the home that morning.

Radnor Township Police Superintendent William Colarulo said that no one had been ruled out as a possible suspect, including Chun "Tony" Tong, the victim's husband, who has been questioned several times.

According to the police chief, Jeanette Tong and her brother, Rob, who were staying with relatives in New York that summer, have kept in touch with police over the years about the status of the investigation.

Now 33, Jeanette Tong speaks with admiration about the mother she lost.

"I think my mom did an extraordinary job raising us as kids for me and my brother to become what we are today," said Tong, an administrator for a dental practice. Her brother is an auto mechanic.

She is flattered when friends and family point out a resemblance to her mother, whom she described as "very pretty."

"It means a lot to know I have some of her in me," she said.

"I wish she would have seen me graduate high school. I wish she had been there when I married. I wish she would have been there for the birth of my kids, to see them take their first step - normal things a grandma would want to be around for," Tong said, crying.

Police say they believe Jennifer Tong, a part-time waitress at the Olga's Kitchen restaurant in the King of Prussia mall, was targeted.

Her body was found about 1 p.m. inside her 1993 Toyota Camry in the 100 block of Spring Mill Road. The car's engine was running, the flashers were blinking, and blood was dripping from under the rear of the vehicle.

Her body was in a kneeling position in the backseat, a single gunshot to the head. She was barefoot, dressed in shorts and a T-shirt, and wearing a gold necklace. Her purse, with $1,800 in restaurant receipts, was never found.

"She had no enemies, and was not involved in any gambling or owed anyone money," Colarulo said.

The police superintendent would not call Chun Tong a suspect, but said that every time he has been interviewed, "his story has consistently changed."

Colarulo also said Tong was given a polygraph test by an FBI agent in his native language and failed on key questions.

Approached recently at his workplace, Chun Tong, 58, said in an interview that he had no idea who might have killed his wife. "I want police to find somebody," he said. "I want to know, too."

At the time of the slaying, 13 witnesses said they saw the Camry parked on Spring Mill Road from 7 to 8:30 a.m., said Radnor Detective T.J. Schreiber.

Colarulo, pointing out that murder has no statute of limitations, said he had asked Philadelphia's homicide and organized-crime units for help.

"We are going to be relentless," he said. "Someone has got to be this woman's voice."