DETROIT (WWJ) – As the investigation into the murder of prominent Detroit synagogue leader Samantha Woll continues, Detroit police officials say the department is still looking into multiple “persons of interest.”
Speaking at Thursday’s Detroit Board of Police Commissioners meeting, Deputy Chief Franklin Hayes told commissioners that investigators have identified persons of interest, but no suspects have been arrested.
Woll, president of the Isaac Agree Downtown Detroit Synagogue, was found dead with multiple stab wounds outside her Lafayette Park home around 6:30 a.m. Saturday.
Chief James White said earlier this week Woll was killed sometime early Saturday morning after returning home from a wedding on Friday night. Authorities believe she was attacked inside her home and then stumbled outside before collapsing on the sidewalk.
While a motive in the case remains unclear, Hayes reiterated Thursday what White said on Monday: “no evidence has surfaced that this crime was motivated by antisemitism.”
“The relentless pursuit of the violent suspect responsible for this heinous act is ongoing,” Hayes said Thursday.
While Detroit police have identified what they call “persons of interest,” no one has been labeled as a suspect. No information about the people they are investigating has been released.
Officials are still asking anyone who knows something about Woll’s murder to call the DPD’s Homicide Unit at 313-596-2260 or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-SPEAK-UP.
Woll, 40, was also connected in Michigan political circles, having once served as an aide to Rep. Elissa Slotkin. She also worked on Attorney General Dana Nessel’s re-election campaign last year.