Woman's body found wrapped in plastic inside closet; husband charged with abuse of corpse

PHILADELPHIA (WPVI) -- A man is facing charges after his wife's body was found wrapped in plastic inside the closet of their Philadelphia home.

On Sunday, neighbors reported 61-year-old Lola Karabaeva missing, saying they last spoke with her the morning before.

Their suspicions were answered Wednesday after police pulled Karabaeva's body out of the couple's home on the 9000 block of Diplomat Place in the city's Bustleton section.

The cause of death has yet to be determined.

Police said that Karabaeva's husband, 65-year-old Vladimir Lushevskiy, was taken into custody on Wednesday at a motel in Westampton Twp., New Jersey, on an abuse of a corpse charge.

Mikhail Igdalov, who lives a few doors down, says Lola Karabaeva had been out of the country the last few weeks, but he figured she returned safely after seeing her car.

"She has been in Europe two weeks, maybe three weeks, I don't know. She come in here. I saw just her car," said Igdalov.

In video obtained by Action News, you can see a woman, who neighbors say is Karabaeva, pull up to the home in the early morning hours on October 12. She gets out and for several minutes struggles to get the home's front door open before the video stops.

The next day, neighbors say they saw Vladimir Lushevskiy on video going in and out of the home and moving vehicles belonging to him and his wife.

The victim's car was later found less than a quarter mile away in this parking lot at Maternity BVM Church on old Bustleton Pike.

One neighbor, who asked to remain anonymous, says police spent days investigating.

"The police were here Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday. They went in the house each day, and then they found it yesterday," the resident said.

Neighbors of the victim tell us she was a kind woman who came here from Uzbekistan.

"She was absolutely angel. She was an angel," said Marina Lipkovskya.

Others said the couple appeared to have a strained relationship.

"It was very evident that they maybe had an estranged marriage because they never went out together," one neighbor said.

Additional charges may be filed in the case depending on the outcome of the investigation, police said.

Anyone with information is asked to call police at 215-686-TIPS.