Dad, son find mother slain in family’s laundromat

A 53-year-old woman was stabbed to death Wednesday during a robbery of her family-owned laundromat in North Philadelphia.

Huan Mo lay in the laundromat office for several hours before her husband and teenage son found her body around 11:30 p.m., police said.

They had been trying to reach Mo on the phone after she did not return to their South Philadelphia home, said Capt. James Clark, commander of the Homicide Unit.

He said Mo was last seen alive around 6:30 p.m. Typically, she closed the laundromat around 8 p.m., he said.

Between those times, detectives believe an attacker armed with either a knife or a screwdriver forced Mo into the office, where she put up a "fierce struggle," Clark said.

When her husband and son arrived, they found the doors to the business wide open and a blood trail leading to the office.

"Inside the office area, quite frankly, was very gruesom," Clark said. "It appears she fought back for her life."

Mo was pronounced dead at the laundromat, in the 4700 block of North 15th Street in the Logan section. Her family had owned the business for about a year, Clark said.

There were no surveillance cameras inside the laundromat, but detectives were scouring the area for any nearby cameras that might have caught footage of the attacker.

Clark said the assailant escaped with $100 to $200.

"She lost her life for that," he said. "Everyone we talked to loved her."

Anyone with information on Mo's slaying should call the Homicide Unit at 215-686-3334 or 3335.

Contact staff writer Troy Graham at 215-854-2730 or tgraham@phillynews.com.