As detectives on Sunday looked for clues in the killing of a worker at the Bethesda Row apparel retailer lululemon athletica, police said there is no surveillance video from the store to shed light on the brutal Friday night crime.

The upscale store, at 4856 Bethesda Ave., remained closed Sunday while detectives continue to examine the scene and canvass the neighborhood for witnesses.

Police said two men, dressed in black and wearing gloves, wanted to rob the store after it had closed. They killed one employee and sexually assaulted another, a 27-year-old woman who survived.

"We do believe robbery was part of the motive here, but we haven't been able to clarify what was taken," Capt. Paul Starks, a police spokesman, said.

"We can't rule out [the crime] was random, but the suspects were clearly prepared to do something. They had gloves and masks with them," Starks said. "Whether they had planned to rob the store, or planned to commit some other type of crime, we do not know."

The homicide was the third in the Montgomery County this year and the second at a workplace in Bethesda. A Suburban Hospital worker was killed Jan. 1 and a co-worker has been charged with murder.

The employee who died, Jayna Troxel Murray, 30, of Arlington, Va., was remembered Sunday on social media sites.

On the store's Facebook page, individuals from around the globe offered condolences.

"sending love to my lulus, i'm heart broken over here," wrote one woman, identified as an American living in the United Kingdom on her Facebook page.

A woman from Columbia, Md., also offered her thoughts.

"I am shaken...sending deepest thoughts and prayers to the entire lululemon Bethesda family...xxx," she wrote.

According to her page on LinkedIn, a social networking website, Murray was a key leader for lululemon athletica for two years, while studying for a master's of business administration in marketing from Johns Hopkins University.

She earned a master's degree in communications from Johns Hopkins and an undergraduate degree in international business and marketing from George Washington University, according to the site posting.

Prior to lululemon athletica, Murray was a project manager and international marketing coordinator for energy industry giant, Halliburton, according to the posting.

The upscale Bethesda retail neighborhood, where pedestrian traffic was described as heavy Friday night, rarely experiences such brutal attacks.

County police said at around 10 p.m. Friday, after the clothing shop closed, one of the workers realized she left something inside and called the other woman, who agreed to return to the store, one of about 100 stores operated by a Canadian chain selling "yoga-inspired" clothing.

Murray and her colleague entered the store through the front door and went toward the back to retrieve the forgotten item, Starks said. Police believe that as the two women were leaving the store, they were confronted by the men, Starks said.

Starks would not comment on whether the men were armed.

At 8 a.m. Saturday, an employee arrived at the store, where she noticed that merchandise had been disturbed. After hearing a faint noise coming from the back of the store, she left and caught the attention of a man who was walking by, who noticed that the employee looked distressed, Starks said.

The passerby volunteered to check inside and found a woman bound in the back of the store. Police were called and arrived at 8:12 a.m.

Murray's body was taken to the state medical examiner for an autopsy.

A Bethesda business owner is prepared to offer a $10,000 donation to Crime Solvers to supplement the $1,000 reward that is already offered, Starks said.

Anyone with any information pertaining about the case is asked to contact the Homicide/Sex Section at 240-773-5070. Those who wish to remain anonymous may call Crime Solvers of Montgomery County toll-free at 1-866-411-TIPS (8477) or 240-773-TIPS (8477).

nnourmohammadi@gazette.net