Hi Lance,
I would suggest checking which file system is used for swap and how much swap is used:
# cat /proc/swaps
If those values correspond to the usage that you have seen under /var then you could use tools to check which process is using swap. An example would be smem which would show how much swap (as well as physical memory) is used by which program.
# smem
However mongo seems to be using space in the /var folder but when I do a du -h on the /var folder it shows a total of 800m
Does the value of 800MB correspond to the total usage on /var that you see? What are the specific files that led you to believe they are owned by mongod?
If you still require assistance, please provide:
/varRegards,
Amar