Husband charged after missing wife’s body found wrapped in plastic in closet

BURLINGTON COUNTY, N.J. (KYW/KCAL/KCBS) - Police in Philadelphia are investigating a connection between the body of a missing woman found wrapped in plastic in her closet and her son’s fatal hiking trip in California 20 years ago.

Lola Karabaeva, 61, was found dead Wednesday in the closet of a home in the Bustleton section of Philadelphia. Police say her body had been wrapped in plastic and duct taped to a board. It’s believed she was dead for a few days before she was found.

Karabaeva’s husband, Vladimir Lushevskiy, is accused of killing her. He faces charges of homicide, strangulation, tampering with evidence and obstruction, according to the Philadelphia District Attorney’s Office.

“Lola, she was the most sweetest lady you could ever meet,” said Alexander Polevich, who lives in the Bustleton neighborhood. “This whole neighborhood is shooken.”

Investigators are examining whether Vladimir Lushevskiy may have killed Karabaeva in an argument about the disappearance and death of their 19-year-old son, Evgeniy “Eugene” Lushevskiy, while hiking in California 20 years ago.

The 19-year-old was taking a gap year after high school in 2004 when he went hiking on Mount Baldy in Claremont, California, according to archived reports from KCAL/KCBS. He never came down from the mountain and was missing for several years.

Human remains found during a 2010 search by West Valley Search and Rescue were identified to be the remains of Eugene Lushkevskiy in 2011, a written report from the search and rescue teams of the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department said.

Detectives are looking into whether Vladimir Lushevskiy may have killed his wife on their late son’s birthday, which was Oct. 12, as Karabaeva was last seen on that date.

The medical examiner’s office describes Karabaeva’s death as homicidal violence.

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