Authorities in Philadelphia are investigating the death of a 61-year-old woman who disappeared after returning from a recent trip to Europe. Her husband was arrested but has not been charged with murder, say police.
Lola Karabaeva, 61, was last seen on Saturday, Oct. 12, at her Philadelphia residence, the Philadelphia Police Department said on Monday in a missing persons report.
On Wednesday, police found her body in her home and arrested her husband, Vladimir Lushevskiy, 65, on a charge of abuse of a corpse, Philadelphia police said in a separate statement to PEOPLE.
The investigation began over the weekend when police were notified about a missing person early in the morning on Sunday, per the statement.
On Wednesday, Oct. 16, detectives searching the house found Karabaeva’s body wrapped in plastic inside a closet, police said.
The Philadelphia Inquirer reported that police discovered the body on their third search of the home. The first two searches garnered no results but on their third visit, police reportedly found a dark stain near a closet, which prompted them to remove a wooden board at the back of the closet.
They then recovered Karabaeva’s body in a trash bag that had been sealed with duct tape and had a rope attached to the wooden board, per the outlet.
“She has been in Europe two weeks, maybe three weeks, I don’t know. She (came) in here. I saw just her car,” Mikhail Igdalov, who lives in the neighborhood, told 6abc.
Frank Vanore, Deputy Commissioner of Philadelphia PD, says authorities are investigating the possibility that the killing may have happened after the couple got into an argument over their son’s death from 20 years ago, The Philadelphia Inquirerreported.
In 2004, the couple’s 19-year-old son reportedly disappeared while on vacation with them in California, per the Inquirer, and his remains were not discovered until six years later. The nature of his death was not clear from the reports.
A GoFundMe set up for Karabaeva’s funeral costs claims the woman, who according to neighbors is from Uzbekistan, had no other family in the country.
“This beautiful, kind and amazing woman was a true friend,” her friend wrote in the GoFundMe. “She was always ready to help others in spite of her personal tragedy with the loss of her son.”
While Karabaeva’s cause of death is yet to be determined, the case is being investigated as a homicide, per police. Lushevskiy is not facing any other charges at the time, but police say there might be additional charges as the investigation proceeds.
Plea and attorney information were not immediately available for the suspect.
