Police say David Varela fled overseas after Lina Guerra’s body was found in their downtown Norfolk apartment.

NORFOLK, Va. — A U.S. Navy reservist has been charged with murder after Norfolk police found his wife dead inside a kitchen freezer at their home downtown, then learned he had left the United States, sending the case into an international search.

Police identified the victim as Lina M. Guerra, 39, who had been reported missing on Feb. 4. Detectives found her the next day at the couple’s apartment in the 300 block of East Main Street. An autopsy on Feb. 10 led the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner to classify her death as a homicide, and police announced a murder charge against her husband, 38-year-old David Varela, on Feb. 12. Investigators say the case now stretches beyond Norfolk because Varela is believed to have traveled to Hong Kong, drawing in federal authorities, military investigators and extradition efforts.

The case began as a missing-person investigation after Guerra’s family told police they were worried about her well-being. Norfolk police issued a public alert on Feb. 5, describing Guerra as 4-foot-9 and about 100 pounds, and said she was known to frequent the downtown area near her East Main Street home. Later that same day, detectives searching the residence found her unresponsive inside the kitchen freezer. She was pronounced dead at the scene. Police did not release a cause of death at that stage and initially described the matter as an undetermined death while awaiting the medical examiner’s ruling. By Feb. 11, the city announced that the death had been ruled a homicide. One day later, Norfolk police said Varela had been charged with first-degree murder. Reporting based on a federal affidavit said he also faces a charge of concealing a dead body to prevent detection. Police have not publicly released a motive.

Investigators say Varela left the country as the case was unfolding. According to reporting based on an FBI affidavit, authorities determined that he boarded a flight to Hong Kong on or about Feb. 5, the day Guerra’s body was discovered. Norfolk police said he was not in custody when the murder charge was announced. In later reports, local and federal agencies said they were working with the Naval Criminal Investigative Service, the FBI and Homeland Security Investigations to locate him. Norfolk Commonwealth’s Attorney Ramin Fatehi said the case had grown into an international matter, requiring help from Interpol and multiple law enforcement agencies. Fatehi said the difficult part in cases like this is both finding the suspect and completing the paperwork needed to return a person to the United States. Authorities have not publicly said why investigators believe Varela went to Hong Kong, and court reporting has said investigators did not identify obvious personal ties for him there.

Family members have described weeks of confusion before police found Guerra’s body. Reporting based on court records said her brother told authorities he had not heard from her for more than two weeks. Virginia authorities previously said her last known contact was Jan. 16 near East Main Street. In interviews with local television, relatives said Varela gave them a false explanation for her disappearance, telling family members in Colombia that Guerra had been arrested on shoplifting charges and jailed. They said he sent messages claiming he was distraught about her incarceration and even shared a photo that appeared to show Guerra in an orange jail uniform. Court records later showed that Guerra had not been charged with or convicted of any such offense. Those details became a key part of the family’s account of what happened in the days before police began searching for her. Relatives said the explanation never made sense to them, and their concern grew as the days passed without direct contact from Guerra herself.

Guerra’s death has also focused attention on what relatives and friends say was a controlling relationship. Paola Ramirez, who is married to Guerra’s brother and spoke through a translator in local interviews, said the family believed Varela was jealous and did not want Guerra to work, study, have friends or go out alone. Ramirez said there had been violence before, though relatives said Guerra did not fully share those details with them because she did not want to alarm the family. Those statements have not been matched by any public release of prior criminal charges tied to domestic abuse in this case, and police have not described earlier incidents in their official updates. Still, the family’s descriptions have shaped public understanding of the homicide as an alleged intimate-partner killing. Fatehi, without discussing the facts of the pending case in detail, said homicides involving intimate partners can be especially painful because they break the trust expected inside a home. Friends interviewed by local media described Guerra as kind, adventurous and devoted to her three dogs.

The military connection has added another layer to the case. The U.S. Navy said Varela is an enlisted Navy reservist from Florida who was serving on active orders and working as an electrician. The Navy said it was aware of the investigation and was cooperating with local, state and federal law enforcement. NCIS said it was conducting a joint investigation with Norfolk police. Reporting on Varela’s service record said he had more than a decade of military service after first enlisting in 2007, with a break before returning to service. Those details have not changed the criminal allegations, but they have expanded the number of agencies involved in the search and in efforts to gather records, coordinate internationally and support any extradition request. Norfolk police have kept their public statements brief, repeating that the homicide investigation remains active and that they are not releasing the motive or additional circumstances surrounding Guerra’s death.

The location of the case has also deepened public reaction in Norfolk. The apartment was in the city’s downtown core, in a residential area near businesses, restaurants and the waterfront, turning what began as a missing-person bulletin into one of the region’s most closely watched criminal investigations. Public attention grew quickly after police moved from asking for help locating Guerra to announcing that her body had been found inside her home. The fact that investigators believe the suspect then left the country added urgency and widened the story from a local homicide to a fugitive case with international dimensions. In follow-up interviews, Fatehi explained that extradition is often a two-step process: first, locate the suspect, and then work through the agreements and legal paperwork needed to secure a return. He said those efforts involve state, federal, local and international partners. As of mid-March, authorities had continued to describe the search as active, and no public announcement of an arrest had been made.

For Guerra’s family, the legal process now sits alongside grief. Relatives told local reporters that she was a central figure in their family and the kind of person who put others first. Ramirez said, “Lina was the pillar of our family,” describing her as loving, hardworking and humble. Another relative said the family wants justice and answers after what they called a shocking and painful death. Friends echoed that sense of loss, remembering Guerra as sweet and caring. Even with murder charges filed, several basic questions remain unanswered in public: exactly how prosecutors believe Guerra was killed, what evidence directly ties Varela to the death inside the apartment, and whether any formal extradition hearing has been scheduled outside the United States. Norfolk police and prosecutors have said only that the investigation remains open and that more details will be released when they can be shared without harming the case.

The case stood on two tracks Monday: a homicide prosecution in Norfolk and a cross-border effort to find the man charged in it. The next public milestone is likely to come with either an arrest announcement or new court action tied to extradition.