Virginia Navy Reservist Arrested in Hong Kong After Wife’s Freezer Killing

The manhunt for David Varela ended in Hong Kong, closing a two-month chase that began with a freezer discovery in Norfolk and turned a domestic homicide into an international fugitive case. Varela, 38, a Virginia Navy reservist, was taken into custody after authorities linked him to the death of his wife, Lina M. Guerra, 39.

Norfolk police said Guerra was first reported missing on February 4, 2026. Detectives found her body the next day, on February 5, inside the kitchen freezer at a home in the 300 block of East Main Street. The Office of the Chief Medical Examiner ruled the death a homicide on February 10, and police charged Varela with first-degree murder on February 12.

By then, Varela was already gone. A federal affidavit said Homeland Security Investigations determined he had flown to Hong Kong on February 5, the same day Guerra’s body was discovered. The affidavit also said Varela was charged federally with unlawful flight to avoid prosecution and concealing a dead body to prevent detection.

That flight changed the case from a local murder investigation into a cross-border fugitive hunt involving the FBI, Homeland Security Investigations, NCIS, and international law enforcement. Norfolk police said federal partners helped take Varela into custody, and he was returned to the United States on April 15. As of April 16, police said he remained in California facing federal charges.

The arrest also sharpened the focus on the path investigators say led to the discovery. Reporting based on the FBI affidavit says Guerra’s brother reported her missing after more than two weeks without hearing from her. The same reporting says Varela’s Navy supervisor had not heard from him and that he failed to report to duty, details that helped authorities track his movements after the killing.

Guerra’s family has also described a broader pattern of control and abuse. Relatives told local reporters that Varela isolated her, would not let her work, study, have friends, or go out alone, and had previously been violent. They also said he falsely told family members that Guerra had been jailed for shoplifting and even sent a photo purporting to show her in an orange jumpsuit, though court records showed she was never charged or convicted of that offense. Family members said Guerra was originally from Colombia.

FBI Director Kash Patel publicly cast the capture as delayed but inevitable justice. For investigators, the arrest ends the fugitive phase. For prosecutors, it opens the harder work of proving how Guerra died, how her body was hidden, and why Varela allegedly crossed an ocean to avoid facing the case in court.