San Gabriel Homicide Victim Was Beaten, Asphyxiated to Death in Her Home

A woman found murdered in a house in San Gabriel had been assaulted and asphyxiated, authorities said Wedday.

The body of the 45-year-old woman was found in a bedroom of a residence in the 500 block of East Valley Boulevard by San Gabriel Police Department officers about 5:30 p.m. Tuesday, said Lt. John Corina of Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department's Homicide Bureau.

There was no sign of forced entry in the residence, where the woman lived alone, Corina said in a statement.

The woman had moved to Los Angeles from China, CBS2 reported. Her identity was being withheld until relatives in China had been notified of her death, according to the station.

Corina said friends first discovered the body when they went to check on the woman after not hearing from her for several days. He said it could not be immediately determined if robbery was a motive.