The father of the 31-year-old American nurse killed on a recent trip to Budapest is “still overcome with emotion,” he disclosed at a vigil for his daughter over the weekend.
Mackenzie “Kenzie” Michalski was reported missing by friends and family this week after she was thought to have vanished from a local Hungary nightclub on Tuesday, November 5, sparking a hunt. On Friday, Nov. 8, the Budapest Police Headquarters issued a news release announcing the arrest of a suspect in the case, a 37-year-old Irish citizen who “showed” officials “where he hid the woman’s body.”
The following day, authorities provided additional information about the individual, who claimed the killing was a “accident.”
Mackenzie’s father, Bill Michalski, has now spoken out on the circumstances surrounding her death. During a candlelight memorial in Budapest on Saturday, November 9, Bill told the Associated Press, “There was no reason for this to happen.”
“I’m still trying to wrap my arms around what happened,” he told me. “I don’t know that I ever will.”
Bill, who was wearing a cap given to him by his daughter, noted that Mackenzie had previously visited Budapest and described it as her “happy place,” according to the AP.
“The history, she just loved it and she was just so relaxed here,” he told me. “This was her city.”
The individual arrested in Mackenzie’s death has yet to be identified, according to authorities. They claimed they had “caught sight” of him with Mackenzie in “several nightclubs” before recognizing him.
According to the announcement, the suspect escorted the woman to his residence, where they became “intimate,” before confessing to her murder.
Budapest Police, who detained the guy last week, said he tried to hide the scene by cleaning his flat, putting the woman’s body in a wardrobe cabinet, and then buying a bag to place her body in before traveling to Lake Balaton.
He is also accused of conducting several internet searches on how to dispose of dead bodies and if pigs eat them, as well as the odor of decomposing corpses, Budapest police competence, and missing-person case procedures.
According to a GoFundMe campaign, Mackenzie, a resident of Western New York, was last seen at 10 p.m. local time on Nov. 4 at Barack et Szilva Etterem in Budapest’s Jewish Quarter, until her friends discovered her in bar Szimpla Kert.
The campaign has since surpassed its $35,000 goal, and the nurse practitioner’s friends and relatives have created a Facebook page dedicated to her hunt.
Following Mackenzie’s death, page admin Mary Eustace, in a message signed by her friends and family, expressed her “gratitude” for the “prompt attention, diligence, care, and consideration” of local police.
She described Mackenzie, who worked as a nurse in Portland and was originally from the New York village of Fredonia, 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,” says Eustace. “We are grateful that Kenzie’s soul is now at peace. “Her memory and legacy will live on in the hearts of everyone she has touched.”
“To understand Kenzie’s spirit is to wholeheartedly embrace the vast joy and wonder of life,” she told me. “Her wish for the world: fully embrace the present moment, be your authentic self, practice kindness, and always walk in the light.”
Mackenzie’s loved ones held another vigil in her hometown of Fredonia on November 9, according to local NBC station WGRZ.
Melissa Pietrkiewicz, a family friend who helped arrange the vigil, told the outlet that she hoped loved ones would depart with “a little bit of peace” as they grieved together in the village’s Barker Commons.
“That’s what this is all about—a small community. We look out for one another, love one another, and grieve with one another as needed,” Freedonia Mayor Michael Ferguson told the site.