LEBANON COUNTY, Pa. (WHTM) — A New York man is facing homicide charges in Lebanon County in the death of his daughter in 2019, whose body was found in a New York park, according to charging documents from the Pennsylvania Attorney General’s office.

Kabary Salem, 56, of Staten Island, was charged with homicide and strangulation in the death of Ola Salem, 29, after a lengthy investigation, the criminal complaint filed in Magisterial District Judge David Warner Jr.’s office shows.

Ola’s body was found, fully clothed, under leaves and branches in Bloomingdale Park on Oct. 24, 2019 before 9 a.m. According to the charges, police learned that Ola and Kabary left two days prior for Pennsylvania.

Autopsy results showed that Ola’s cause of death was from asphyxia and the manner was ruled homicide. The AG’s Office says the results showed she had injuries, such as blunt force trauma to the head, that were consistent with being strangled.

New York City Police interviewed Kabary, who said he had recently co-purchased a restaurant in Palmyra, and that he and Ola went to the place to do some work. Kabary said while working, him and Ola got into an argument, and she eventually left, and he claimed that was the last time he saw her.

In Kabary’s story to police, he claimed he didn’t leave for New York till early afternoon on Oct. 24, however, charging documents read that the car he used was a rental with a GPS tracker which showed investigators he went to Staten Island and the park where Ola’s body was found early in the morning before coming back to Palmyra. He then drove the car back to the rental place in New Jersey.

He also made a stop at a Lowe’s in Palmyra for a shovel before he went to Staten Island, investigators said they saw from GPS records and from surveillance camera at the store.

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DNA evidence was also found on Ola’s body during the autopsy that investigators were able to match to Kabary’s through a cup he discarded after the interview with NYPD, the charges show.

In June this year, investigators were told by the NY Medical Examiner that Ola had to have been dead at least eight hours before her body was dumped, which was noted in the charges to match the time period of the GPS records.

Just four days after he was interviewed by NYPD in 2019, Kabary fled to the Middle East until he was arrested in Dec. 2020, court docs show.

Kabary is currently locked up in Lebanon County Prison with bail denied. He had a preliminary hearing on Aug. 6 and now awaits arraignment scheduled for Spt. 5, court docs show.

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