HEARTBREAKING

Washington Man Accused of Murdering Teen After Learning She Was Transgender

Her remains were found in a remote area of Clark County, Washington, earlier this month after she went missing in June.

A 25-year-old Washington state man has been arrested in connection with the killing of a transgender teenager, local news outlet KATU reports. Police reportedly believe David Bogdanov murdered Nikki Kuhnhausen, 18, after she told him she was born a man. Bogdanov had reportedly been talking with Kuhnhausen on Snapchat and the two had planned to meet on June 6, when she was last seen alive, according to investigators. The remains of Kuhnhausen, who has been missing since June, were found on Dec. 7 in a remote area of Clark County, Washington. KATU reports that Bogdanov said in an interview with detectives that he and Kuhnhausen had been together in early June, but they “had a conflict” and he asked Kuhnhausen to get out of his van. Bogdanov said she walked away and he never saw her after that, according to KATU. Authorities said cell phone records show Bogdanov’s cell phone was in the same remote area where her body was found on the day she went missing. “We suspect that there was probably some interaction where—and by his own admission—that he determined that, somehow found out during conversation that she was transgender and he stated that he—that was offensive to his culture and he asked her to get out of his van,” Lieutenant Tom Ryan of the Vancouver Police Dept. Major Crimes Unit told KATU.