In the early hours of June 6, 2019, 17-year-old Nikki Kuhnhausen, a Caucasian male who identified as a female, left a friend's apartment in Vancouver, Washington, to meet with David Bogdanov, a man she had been communicating with on Snapchat. This would be the last time she was seen alive. Her mother, Lisa Woods, grew concerned when she didn't hear from her, which was highly unusual, and reported her missing on June 10. For months, friends, family, and volunteers posted missing person flyers around Vancouver and Portland, Oregon, hoping for her safe return.
The search for Nikki came to a tragic end on December 7, 2019, when a hiker discovered a human skull on a remote logging road on Larch Mountain. Investigators later found more remains and personal belongings, which were identified as Nikki's. The medical examiner determined that the cause of death was strangulation with a cellphone charger cord.
Detectives had identified David Bogdanov, then 25, as the last person to see Nikki. During an interview in October 2019, he claimed that after he discovered she was transgender, he asked her to get out of his van, and she walked away. However, cell tower data placed Bogdanov's phone at Larch Mountain on the morning of Nikki's disappearance. Confronted with this evidence, Bogdanov was arrested on December 17, 2019, and charged with second-degree murder and malicious harassment, which is considered a hate crime in Washington.
During his trial, Bogdanov claimed he acted in self-defense, stating that Nikki reached for his loaded gun after he rejected her for being transgender. He testified that he wrapped a phone charger around her shoulders to pull her away, but it slipped up around her neck. After her death, he dumped her body down a hillside, booked a one-way flight to Ukraine, and told a friend to get rid of his car. He returned to the United States about six weeks later. The prosecution argued that Bogdanov was enraged when he learned Nikki was transgender and that he intentionally killed her.
In August 2021, a jury found David Bogdanov guilty of second-degree murder and malicious harassment. He was sentenced to 19 and a half years in prison. The case inspired "Nikki's Law" in Washington state, which prevents defendants from using a victim's sexual orientation or gender identity as a defense for a violent crime.
