A manhunt is underway for a Navy reservist feared to have fled to Hong Kong after police found the body of his missing wife stuffed inside a freezer at their Virginia home.
Lina Guerra, 39, was found dead inside a freezer in the Norfolk apartment she shared with David Varela, 28, her husband of 11 years, on Feb. 5 — days after her brother reported her missing when her family had not heard from her since Jan. 16, WAVY reported.
An autopsy conducted by the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner on Feb. 10 ruled her death a homicide.
The Norfolk Police Department has since charged Varela with first-degree murder and concealing a dead body to prevent detection.
The accused killer failed to answer repeated calls from his chain of command, with superiors telling detectives the behavior was unusual for him.
Investigators with Homeland Security, the Naval Criminal Investigative Service (NCIS), and the FBI believe Varela fled on a flight to Hong Kong “on or about Feb. 5, 2026,” and said there is “probable cause to believe that David Varela has fled the Commonwealth of Virginia in an attempt to avoid prosecution,” according to an affidavit obtained by WAVY.
Emergency disclosure requests to WhatsApp later revealed location data pinging from Hong Kong.
NCIS said Varela has family in Colombia but “does not have any discernible ties to Hong Kong or China.”
As investigators continue to search for Varela, Guerra’s family is devastated by her death, her aunt, Elizabeth Echavarria, told WAVY from Colombia, adding that the two met in Florida years ago and married soon after.
During the two weeks the 39-year-old was missing, Varela told Guerra’s family in Colombia that she had been arrested and jailed on shoplifting charges, WTKR reported.
Relatives said he even sent a photo of the pair together, claiming it showed him visiting her behind bars and that she appeared to be wearing an orange jumpsuit.
Guerra’s sister-in-law, Paola Ramirez, said Varela messaged her claiming he “has not stopped crying” and “hasn’t eaten in more than a day” over his wife’s supposed incarceration.
Court records confirm Guerra was never charged or convicted of shoplifting, WTKR reported.
Ramirez said the family had long feared for Guerra’s safety, alleging Varela had been violent and jealous and would not let her work, have friends, study or go out alone.
“I want to emphasize that there had been violence before from David,” Ramirez told WTKR.
“He had hit her previously, but she didn’t tell us because she didn’t want to worry us. He appeared to be very religious, very calm, normal, that’s why this is so shocking; we never imagined he’d do something like this.”
Varela served in at least six states after enlisting in the Navy in 2007, where he received multiple awards and decorations, 13 News Now reported.
There is growing concern that Varela fled to Hong Kong because the extradition treaty with the United States has been suspended since August 2020, Ed Booth, a Navy public affairs officer, told the station.
“If you needed to buy yourself some time to where law enforcement was not going to be looking for you, this was a way to do it,” Booth said.
“You can’t murder people in Hong Kong, you can’t murder people in the United States, so you’ve got that, but you don’t have a treaty in place for mutual extradition from one country to the other.”
