A man has been charged with the murder of a transgender girl, 18, whose remains were found in a wooded area after she went missing in June.
The Vancouver Police Department in Washington arrested David Bogdanov on Tuesday and he has been charged with second-degree murder over the death of Nikki Kuhnhausen, who was last spoke to her family on June 5, KPTV reported.
Nikki’s friends allegedly told investigators she was staying with a friend on the night of June 5 but had left to meet a man, KOIN-TV reported.
According to investigators, her Snap chat account revealed she was communicating with a man- believed to be Bogdanov, 25, in the early hours of June 6.
Bogdonov told detectives that he had spent time with her in early June and they ‘had a conflict.’
He told them that he subsequently asked her to get out of his van, and that she walked away and he had not seen her after that time.
Bogdanov confirmed he had met Nikki and driven her in his vehicle, according to Vancouver police.
He was allegedly said to have been ‘really disturbed’ when he discovered Kuhnhausen was born a male and that this was a factor in her death.
A hiker found a human skull on December 7 in the Larch Mountain woods with forensic results later confirming that they were the remains of Nikki Kuhnhausen.
Lieutenant Tom Ryan of the Vancouver Police Department Major Crimes Unit told KATU2 ‘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 Ryan added: ‘The cause of death is always found by the medical examiner’s office.
‘There was some evidence that indicates at least the potential of some strangulation involved.’
Bogdanov was arrested on Tuesday and was remanded in custody at Clark County Jail on a charge of 2nd-degree murder. He is due to appear in court on Wednesday.
Vancouver police spokeswoman Kim Kapp told The Oregonian that police are unsure of how the pair met or for how long they knew one another.
She said they believe Bogdanov asked Kuhnhausen to get out of his car after he found out that she was transgender.
In July, detectives obtained a search warrant for Bogdanov’s cell phone call and tracked its location data.
Her exact cause of death has not been revealed by medical examiners but it is thought that she may have been strangled.
Kapp said medical examiners have not yet released Kuhnhausen’s cause of death.
It revealed that he was near the area in east Clark County where she disappeared on June 6.
Vancouver Police were assisted by the FBI in examining cellphone records which placed in him in the area where her remains were discovered and where she is thought to have gone missing in June.
