A 21-year-old soldier is the focus of an international manhunt after being accused of killing his wife and placing her body in a suitcase in a dumpster before fleeing to Thailand, PEOPLE confirms.
On Wednesday, prosecutors in Marion County, Indiana, charged Peter Van Bawi Lian of Colorado Springs, Colorado, with murder in the death of his wife, Khuang Par, 27, whose body was found on Dec. 23 in a suitcase in a dumpster behind an Indianapolis apartment complex, according to a probable cause affidavit obtained by PEOPLE.
Lian, who is on active duty with the U.S. Army, is also wanted for allegedly deserting the military, the Indianapolis Star reports.
On Dec. 22, Lian allegedly flew from Colorado, where he is stationed at Fort Carson, to Indianapolis, where Par was staying with family, the affidavit states.
Authorities say they believe he killed Par before he fled on Dec. 24 to Bangkok, Thailand via Hong Kong, the affidavit alleges, citing flight records.
When Lian failed to return to Fort Carson on Dec. 26, military authorities declared him AWOL and filed a warrant for military desertion, the Star reports.
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Par had moved to Indianapolis, where her family lives, on Dec. 1 after Lian was arrested on November 30 and charged with second-degree assault and menacing, according to the affidavit.
She had been granted a protective order against Lian on Dec. 3 in Colorado Springs, where she’d been living with him, after he allegedly attacked her during an argument about her desire to move to Indianapolis, the affidavit says.
According to the affidavit, Lian allegedly admitting to telling his wife, ‘I”m going to kill you” in her native language of Burmese during the Dec. 3 argument.
Par’s friend told police that on the night of Dec. 22, she received a text from Par’s phone saying she was heading from Michigan. But she said she didn’t believe the text was from Par, the affidavit states.
The following morning, a homeless woman found Par’s body in the dumpster. The homeless woman told police she saw the suitcase as she was placing an Aldi’s shopping bag in the dumpster.
“She said she did not open it, but did reach inside and touch what she believed was a body,” the affidavit says.
PEOPLE’s calls for comment from the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department and Fort Carson were not immediately returned.
Anyone with information is urged to please contact the homicide office at 317-327-3475 or Crime Stoppers at 317-262-TIPS.