Overview
- Family members requested a welfare check that led first responders to find 19-year-old Julissa Rubi Salazar dead in her Tucson apartment on Aug. 6.
- Responders and investigators observed marks and scratches consistent with strangulation and opened a homicide investigation.
- Tucson detectives say 20-year-old Varun Batchigari flew from Tucson to Houston and then to Germany the same day and was later detained upon arrival.
- Authorities obtained felony warrants charging first-degree murder and kidnapping and say Batchigari is in German custody awaiting extradition to Arizona.
- Investigators are examining allegations of prior abuse, use of the victim’s phone and bank card after the death, and questions about the suspect’s student and visa status while multiple U.S. and international agencies assist the probe.