A 21-year-old Queens man has been charged with murder after authorities discovered a body inside a Flushing Meadows Corona Park lake, police said.
Roman Gorbunova, the son of the Queens woman who went missing Sept. 27, was charged with second-degree murder, concealment of a human corpse, two counts of tampering with physical evidence and criminal possession of a weapon in the fourth degree, police said. He was taken into custody for questioning at the 112th Precinct Friday morning.
NYPD's Emergency Service Unit and divers discovered and removed a black trash bag from a lake near Grand Central Parkway at 10:30 a.m. Saturday, police said. The bag contained female human remains that were unidentifiable at the time due to decomposition.
Police sources believe the body belongs to Roman's mother, 58-year-old Lyubova Gorbunova of Rego Park. She was last seen Sept. 27 at about 9 a.m., authorities said.
A law enforcement source said the son has made statements to investigators describing a dispute in which his mother told him, "I wish you were never born." Both mother and son had been drinking, the source said.
He then claimed he hit her with a piece of furniture, put her in a bag and then a garbage pail, according to the source. He allegedly took the body to Flushing Meadows Corona Park in an Uber.
Video obtained exclusively by NBC 4 New York shows the mother and son inside their neighborhood liquor store on Sept. 27, the last time Lyubov was seen.
Neighbors in Rego Park said police had been investigating there throughout the week.
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"During the week, you know, off and on... there was a lot of police cars, a lot of officers," said Eric Schmer.
"Cops started coming in and out all day yesterday," said Jai Moosehandani. "When I came home from the gym there were policy waiting on the first floor."
Others were in disbelief that a senseless act could be committed by one of their own in a quaint neighborhood.
"It's crazy, this is such a safe neighborhood," said Moosehandani. "It kind of makes you wonder what would make a person do that if it's their own mom."
