Kenzie Michalski Death: Police Release Alleged Killer’s Internet Searches

Police have released the internet searches of a man who allegedly killed an American tourist who was on vacation in Hungary.

Mackenzie “Kenzie” Michalski, a nurse practitioner who lived in Portland, Oregon, was reported missing on November 5 after she was last seen at a nightclub in Budapest.

Local police launched an investigation, and obtained security footage from nightclubs. They spotted 31-year-old Michalski with a man later identified as the suspect in several nightclubs on the night of her disappearance.

The man, a 37-year-old Irish citizen who police identified only with the initials L.T.M., was detained on November 7. Police said he confessed to the killing, but said it had been an accident.

Police said Michalski met the man in a nightclub and together they visited another nightclub, where they danced before leaving to go to the man’s rented apartment.

“They had gotten intimate, and he killed her in the process,” police said.

Police alleged that he tried to cover up the crime by cleaning the apartment and hiding Michalski’s body in a wardrobe while he went out to purchase a suitcase.

He placed her body inside, rented a car and drove about 100 miles to Lake Balaton with the suitcase in the trunk of the vehicle, police said. There, police said he disposed of the body in a wooded area outside the village of Szigliget before driving back to Budapest.

Police also said the suspect had made numerous internet searches before being taken into custody.

They said he had searched for the phrases:

• “Do pigs really eat dead bodies?”
• “Texas woman killed by a wild boar”
• “Wild boar sighting in Lake Balaton coastal towns”
• “What does a corpse smell like after it decomposes?”
• “Getting rid of the smell of rotting meat”
• “Budapest webcams”
• “What happens after a person is reported missing?”
• “How do the police handle missing person cases?”
• “How reliable is the police in Budapest?”

Michalski’s father, Bill Michalski, told The Associated Press at a candlelight vigil in Budapest on Saturday night that he was “still overcome with emotion” at the death of his daughter.

“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.”

Before the suspect confessed to killing Michalski, Michalski’s friends had created a Facebook group in an effort to find her.

A GoFundMe page was also set up to aid the effort by hiring a private investigator. An update on the page said donations would now be used to cover the cost of bringing Michalski’s body back to the United States as well travel and funeral expenses.

Michalski’s family and friends said in a statement released on Friday that they were “deeply saddened to confirm a report published by Hungarian police announcing the death of our beloved Kenzie.”

The statement added: “Kenzie will forever be remembered as a beautiful and compassionate young woman who dedicated herself to caring for others and making the world a better place.

“As a nurse practitioner, Kenzie used her humor, positivity, and limitless empathy to help heal her patients and encourage family and friends alike.”

Michalski’s friend Gretchen Tower told WKBW-TV that she and Michalski had been traveling through Europe and had spent three days in Hungary before parting ways on Monday.

Tower said she had responded to a message from Michalski early on Tuesday, then later received messages from Airbnb that said Michalski had not checked out of their accommodation. She called the U.S. Embassy to report Michalski missing later that day.

Crime scene photographs released by police showed a rolling suitcase, several articles of clothing including a pair of fleece-lined boots, and a small handbag next to a credit card bearing Michalski’s name.

At the candlelight vigil in Budapest on Saturday, Michalski’s father gave brief comments to those who had gathered, and was wearing a baseball cap he said he had received as a gift from his daughter.

Michalski had visited Budapest before, and called it her “happy place,” her father told the AP.

“The history, she just loved it and she was just so relaxed here,” he said. “This was her city.”