Renewed hope in murder investigation of Grace Chen

There's renewed hope in the murder investigation of Austin teacher Grace Chen. It has been three years since her death but authorities say there are persons of interest in the case.

Chen's death came as a shock  to the Asian American community and questions still surround the incident.
They hope to get answers soon after getting an update on the case from APD last week.

Family and friends of Grace Chen are holding onto hope, that there will soon be justice.

"It was such a shock to our community because we didn't know if it was a hate crime. Are we being targeted? She's just, you know, a nice person and a good teacher. Why would that happen to her?" says Amy Wong Mok, head of the Asian American Cultural Center. 

47-year-old Grace Chen was killed February 19, 2014 outside of the  business she and her husband owned, called Grace Language and Culture. It was located at the Galleria Oaks shopping center off 183 near Anderson Mill.

Her body was found inside a second floor bathroom, which was only accessible to employees. Officers estimate she had been there for two hours.

"There's so many questions that are not answered. What is the motive? How did she die? You know, it was in broad daylight. It was not in the middle of the night. Somebody must have seen something; somebody must have heard something. So please come forward," says Mok.

Amy Wong Mok is the head of the Asian American Cultural Center. She says Chen came to her for advice before opening up her business.

"I think wow, she's a very generous person and her heart is really in the right place to promote our culture and our language to people who wanted to learn," says Mok.

Which is why she's fighting to make sure Chen is never forgotten. About a year ago, the case was assigned to a detective in the cold case unit. The original detective, who retired, had developed persons of interest in the case. Now they are hoping that forensic evidence will help tighten up that area to be more conclusive.

"As a community, we cannot move forward. I can only imagine how her son, her only son Jackie, how can he move forward with his own healing? We are going to help him get closure, to really bring justice to his mother," says Mok.

APD says they utilize every resource available in order to have a successful closure of these cases for the victim, their family and the community.