BODY IN WAITING
Can’t claim ma’s remains till city ID’s slay vic
SHE FLEW 6,300 miles from Uzbekistan to New York, intent on claiming the body of her slain mother and laying her to rest.
But the badly decomposed body of 58-year-old Lyubov Gorbunova — pulled from Willow Lake in Flushing Meadows-Corona Park in Queens in September — hasn’t been positively identified by the medical examiner’s office. That means the body can’t be released to a funeral home.
The victim’s daughter, Marina Gorbunova, who flew to the city in mid-December, can do little more than wait as her mother’s body sits in the morgue.
“I feel horrible and upset,” Gorbunova, 30, who flew to the city in December told the Daily News. “This is my mother. Why haven’t I been able to put her to rest?”
She initially wanted to bury her mother in Uzbekistan, but now says she’ll bury her in Queens.
Lyubov Gorbunova’s disappearance in late September sparked a manhunt for her son who had quickly become the prime suspect. Roman Gorbunova, 21, admitted to cops that he dumped his mother’s body in the park. And he confessed that he beat her to death with a piece of furniture after they had an argument.
Police sources said the mom told her son she wished he’d never been born. The son was charged with murder, criminal possession of a weapon and concealment of a human corpse.
He’s being held without bail at the Bellevue Hospital psychiatric prison ward. His next court date is March 7. Meanwhile, the city medical examiner’s office said the condition of the victim’s body made visual identification impossible.
“Identifications can become more complex and time intensive when the decedent is in a condition that prevents visual identification by photo,” spokeswoman for the ME said.
More advanced techniques include dental records, x-rays if available, or DNA.
“Our identification experts would determine what method is appropriate for the particular circumstances,” she added.
Gorbunova said the medical examiner took a cheek swab from her on Dec. 24. Comparing a her DNA profile to her mother’s could help confirm her identity.
But as the weeks pass Gorbunova has grown more frustrated.
“Even though I know they’re doing their job, I haven’t gotten any news since I’ve gotten here,” she said, speaking in Russian through a translator.
“They just say one thing, that the DNA isn’t ready,” she said. “That’s all they say.”
She says she hasn’t been allowed to view her mother's body or visit her brother. Being away from her 2-year-old son, whom she left with friends back home, has been the most painful part.
“Words can’t describe how I feel . . . I call him every single morning,” she said, beginning to cry.
She planned to leave in February but now says she’ll stay until she gets possession of her mother’s remains. “I want to deal with this,” she said. “I want to put her to rest.”