On the morning of February 12, 2013, the lobby of a hotel in Vienna, Austria, was filled with the routine bustle of a flight crew preparing to head home. But amidst the luggage and tired chatter, a sense of unease began to grow. One of their own, 29-year-old flight attendant Lorraine de la Guardia, was missing.
Known for her punctuality, her failure to show up for the scheduled departure was an immediate red flag. A check of her room revealed all her belongings were still there, but Lorraine herself had vanished. What began as a missing person case would soon unravel a secret double life and expose a deadly serial predator who had been operating in the shadows for years.
To her family and friends in the Philippines, Lorraine de la Guardia was a pillar of strength. The youngest of three, she was the breadwinner for her family, supporting her mother with the earnings from her five-year career as an international flight attendant.
For the past five years, she had been in a devoted, long-term relationship with her live-in partner, Paulo Angeles, a car sales agent. Their text messages were a portrait of a loving couple, filled with daily updates, terms of endearment, and Lorraine’s constant excitement about coming home.
But the investigation into her disappearance uncovered a secret life that no one in her inner circle knew about. A forensic analysis of the laptop and phone she left behind in her hotel room revealed a year-long, clandestine affair with a man in Austria who went by the name “Lucas.”
They had met on a European dating site, and their conversations were filled with flirtation and intimacy. The digital trail showed that Lorraine had been secretly meeting “Lucas” during her regular layovers in Vienna.
The search for Lorraine ended tragically three days after her disappearance, when a hiker discovered her body in a wooded area of the Danube-Auen National Park, kilometers outside the city. The focus of the investigation immediately shifted to finding the mysterious “Lucas.”
Using the IP address from his dating profile, the Austrian Cyber Crime Unit identified him as Andreas Hofer, a 37-year-old unemployed former truck driver with a documented history of obsessive behavior and anger management issues. A deeper dive into his background revealed a disturbing pattern. Hofer’s profile was linked to two other cold cases of missing women: Anna Molnar from Hungary, who vanished in 2010, and Irina UNESCO from Romania, who disappeared in 2012.
On February 21, police raided Hofer’s home. In a hidden basement, they found a chilling collection of personal items belonging to various women. A follow-up search of the area around his property led to the discovery of the remains of both Anna and Irina. Lorraine’s tragic death had unmasked a serial killer.
Investigators believe the motive for Lorraine’s murder was Hofer’s extreme possessiveness. It is theorized that he discovered she had a long-term partner in the Philippines, which led to a fatal argument on the night she was last seen leaving the hotel with him.
The revelations were a devastating blow to her family, and especially to her partner, Paulo. He was left to grapple not only with the grief of her death but also with the painful truth of her betrayal. Yet, in a remarkable display of grace, he chose to mourn the woman he loved without public condemnation. He attended her funeral, stood by her family, and focused on his grief rather than her secrets.
In October 2013, Andreas Hofer was found guilty of the murders of Lorraine de la Guardia, Anna Molnar, and Irina UNESCO. He was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. The story of Lorraine de la Guardia is a complex and heartbreaking tragedy. Her death, born from a secret and dangerous affair, became the catalyst that finally brought justice to the families of two other women.
In the end, it’s also a story of a partner’s profound love, which proved strong enough to forgive and find peace, with Paulo eventually remarrying and starting a new family years later.
