Death of Kenzie Michalski: Police publish internet searches of the suspected murderer

Police have released an internet search for a man who allegedly killed an American tourist who was on vacation in Hungary.

Mackenzie “Kenzie” Michalski, a nurse from 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 nightclub security footage. They discovered Michalski, 31, at several nightclubs on the night of her disappearance with a man who was later identified as a suspect.

The man, a 37-year-old Irish national whom police identified only by the initials LTM, was arrested on November 7. Police said he confessed to the murder but said it was an accident.

Police said Michalski met the man at a nightclub and together they visited another nightclub where they danced before heading to the man's rental apartment.

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

Police alleged he tried to cover up the crime by cleaning the apartment and hiding Michalski's body in a closet while he went out to buy a suitcase.

He put 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 conducted numerous internet searches before being taken into custody.

They said he was looking for the phrases:

• “Do pigs really eat corpses?”
• “Texas woman killed by wild boar”
• “Wild boar sightings in coastal towns on Lake Balaton”
• “What does a corpse smell like after it has decayed?”
• “Get rid of the smell of rotting flesh”
• “Budapest webcams”
• “What happens after a person is reported missing?”
• “How do the police deal with 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 evening that he was “still overcome with emotion” over his daughter's death.

“There was no reason for that,” he said. “I'm still trying to come to terms with what happened… I don't know if I ever will.”

Before the suspect confessed to killing Michalski, Michalski's friends had created a Facebook group to find her.

A GoFundMe page has also been set up to support the effort by hiring a private investigator. An update on the site said the donations would now be used to cover the cost of repatriating Michalski's body to the United States, as well as travel and funeral expenses.

Michalski's family and friends said in a statement released Friday that they were “deeply saddened to confirm a report released by the 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 was committed to caring for others and making the world a better place.”

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

Michalski's girlfriend, Gretchen Tower, told WKBW-TV that she and Michalski traveled through Europe and spent three days in Hungary before parting ways on Monday.

Tower said she responded to a message from Michalski early Tuesday and later received messages from Airbnb saying Michalski had not checked out of her property. Later that day, she called the U.S. Embassy to report Michalski missing.

Crime scene photos released by police showed a rolling suitcase, several items of clothing, including a pair of fleece-lined boots, and a small purse next to a credit card with Michalski's name on it.

At the candlelight vigil in Budapest on Saturday, Michalski's father delivered brief words to those gathered, wearing a baseball cap that 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.

“She just loved the story and was just so relaxed here,” he said. “This was their city.”