The devastated father of a US nurse killed in Budapest is struggling to come to grips after her alleged killer who met her in a nightclub confessed to the senseless crime.
Fredonia, New York native Mackenzie “Kenzie” Michalski, 31, had vanished after leaving a popular club with a stranger on Nov. 5 — but a 37-year-old Irish man confessed to the killing and led Hungarian police to her corpse after disturbing internet searches that hinted at murder, authorities said on Friday.
Dad Bill Michalski told The Associated Press he was “still overcome with emotion” at a candelight vigil for his daughter on Saturday.
“There was no reason for this to happen,” he said. “I’m still trying to wrap my arms around what happened … I don’t know that I ever will.”
When Kenzie Michalski never returned to her Airbnb, panicked family members took to Facebook and GoFundMe to mobilize search efforts for the missing tourist.
“She is likely in danger,” organizers wrote on GoFundMe of the nurse, who had moved from the Empire State to Portland, Oregon in 2021, according to local reports.
Hungarian police recovered Michalski’s remains and confirmed her death three days later, after the fundraising effort netted more than $30,000.
Police only identified by the initials “LTM” and didn’t disclose a motive or details of the killing.
But LTM alleged to authorities that Michalski’s death was an accident that unfolded during an “intimate encounter.” The strangers had danced at the club before they returned to the man’s rental apartment, investigators said.
LTM’s chilling internet searches included how to dispose of a body, whether pigs really eat dead bodies, if wild boars were present near Lake Balaton, and police procedures in missing person cases, officials said.
The suspect allegedly tried to cover up the crime by heartlessly stashing the nurse’s body in a wardrobe before he stuffed her remains in a suitcase.
The alleged killer then drove 90 miles southwest to Lake Balaton in a rented car and dumped Kenzie Michalski’s body, according to authorities.
Kenzie Michalski had been on a trip through Europe with her friend Gretchen Tower but the pair split when Tower went to Italy while the nurse planned one more evening in Budapest, the grieving friend told WKBW.
Michalski was a neurosurgery nurse practitioner who had previously worked at Buffalo General Medical Center. She received her nursing degrees from Daemon University in Amherst, New York, according to her Linkedin profile.
Michalski’s family and friends are grieving the heartbreaking loss in a Facebook group, asking for privacy.
“We are thankful that Kenzie’s soul is now at peace. Her memory and legacy will endure in the hearts of all whom she’s touched,” loved ones wrote in group post.
“To understand Kenzie’s spirit is to wholeheartedly embrace the vast joy and wonder of life. Her wish for the world: fully embrace the present moment, be your authentic self, practice kindness, and always walk in the light.”
With Post wires
