Philadelphia Police are searching for those responsible for the murder of a Germantown woman on Monday.
"She was a beautiful woman," said her only son, Damon. "They took the life of a mother, a grandmother, someone who was well respected in the community, someone who was always putting others first."
Ellen Walton was just entering the back door of her home on Magnolia Street when she was attacked from behind, police say.
The 68-year-old grandmother and retired social worker was beaten to death at the foot of her basement stairs.
"She was savagely beat throughout the head," said Capt. James Clark. "There was a metal frying pan that was found nearby that was actually found broken in half."
Clark says investigators believe the frying pan to be the murder weapon.
The house she called home for more than 30 years was then ransacked and robbed before those responsible sped off in her Toyota RAV-4. Her car was abandoned blocks away.
"We just want some kind of closure," Damon said. "We just want to know exactly what happened and we want whoever did this, you know, to face justice."
