West Chester man sought in killing of 86-year-old

West Chester police are seeking a 39-year-old borough man in connection with Monday's homicide.

Jorge Davila Mercado, whose last known address is the 100 block of East Union Street, is accused of strangling Augusto B. Rivera, 86, who lived alone at the Apartments for Modern Living in the 200 block of South Matlack Street.

West Chester Police Chief Scott L. Bohn said he could not release further details about the crime. The affidavit of probable cause is sealed, he said, as investigators work to apprehend Mercado.

"We have more than enough probable cause," he said. Bohn said that investigators did not believe Mercado remained in the West Chester area and that he often traveled to Philadelphia.

Officials at Lasko Products Inc., a West Chester fan manufacturer where Mercado worked, said they had not seen him for days, Bohn said. A SEPTA surveillance photo shows Mercado at the Allegheny train station in the Tioga section of Philadelphia on Sunday.

Police found Rivera's body Monday after a friend asked officers to check on him. An autopsy Tuesday identified the death as an asphyxial homicide. It was the borough's first homicide since a drug-related killing in July 2007.

Bohn said that anyone who sees Mercado should call police. He said he did not know whether Mercado was aware that police were looking for him.