QUEENS — The body of a missing Rego Park woman was pulled from Willow Lake in Flushing Meadows-Corona Park Saturday morning, one day after her son was arrested and confessed to her murder, police sources and the Queens District Attorney's office said.
Police found the body of 58-year-old Lyubov Gorbunova around 10:30 a.m. Saturday, after searching the lake and surrounding area inside the park since Thursday, sources said.
Gorbunova, an immigrant from Uzbekistan who worked as a home health aide, was missing since Sept. 27, and her son Roman Gorbunov, 21, was arrested after police sources said he was caught on camera leaving his mother's building with a large bag.
According to police sources, the two got into an argument, and after the mother said she wished her son had never been born, he allegedly struck his mother in the head with a plate and then picked up a piece of furniture and beat her to death.
An Uber driver told police he gave Gorbunov a ride to Flushing Meadows-Corona Park, and later called 911 after noticing the large bag smelled like a dead body, sources said.
Gorbunov was initially arrested on Sept. 30 for stealing a security monitor from his mother's apartment building, but was later released, since his mother was not reported missing until Oct. 4, sources said.
The medical examiner has not yet determined the official cause of death.
Gorbunov confessed to killing his mother Friday, police sources said. He was charged with murder, criminal possession of a weapon, tampering with physical evidence and concealment of a human corpse, and was ordered held without bail at his arraignment Saturday, according to the Queens District Attorney's office.
He is due back in court on Oct. 21.
If convicted, Gorbunov faces 25 years to life in prison, the DA's office said.
His attorney did not immediately return a phone call seeking comment.
