U.S. police are looking into a homicide case after a South Korean woman in her sixties was found dead in Washington D.C.

The 62-year-old victim surnamed Lim was found by an employee in her sandwich shop in the northeastern part of the city around 6 a.m. local time on June 14.

Local police believe Lim was killed as she was opening the shop gates.

Lim had been planning to sell her shop to retire after running it for eight years in an area with mostly African-American residents.