The Philadelphia District Attorney’s Office has upgraded a man’s charge to murder after his wife was found Wednesday in a Northeast Philadelphia home wrapped in plastic and taped to a shelf in a closet.
A spokesperson for the Public Prosecution Service said Vladimir Lushevskiy, who was in custody on charges of abuse of a corpse, now faces charges of murder, strangulation, tampering with evidence and obstruction.
Lola Karabaeva, 61, was found Wednesday in the closet of a home in the 9000 block of Diplomat Place in the Bustleton section of Philadelphia. The 61-year-old was reported missing by friends on Sunday.
According to police, Karabaeva’s friends told officers they last spoke to her on Saturday, October 12, at 2:30 am.
On Wednesday, police said detectives have returned to the Diplomat Place home to further investigate the missing person case. While officers were searching the house, police said they discovered Karabaeva’s body wrapped in plastic in a closet. According to police, she was pronounced dead by doctors at 10:13 am.
Police said Karabaeva’s cause of death remains to be determined. Police assume she had been dead for a few days.
Police say investigators are looking into whether Lushevskiy may have killed Karabaeva arguing over the disappearance and death of their son while hiking in California more than 20 years ago.
This is a development story. Refresh for updates.
