BUDAPEST, Hungary — Family members a 31-year-old Portland nurse who was killed while on vacation in the Hungarian capital mourned their loss as a 37-year-old suspect was arrested on Saturday.

Mackenzie Michalski, a nurse at Providence Medical Center St. Vincent, called “Kenzie”, was reported missing on November 5 after she was last seen in a nightclub in central Budapest. Police reviewed security footage from local nightclubs, where they spotted Michalski with a man later identified as the suspect at several clubs on the night of her disappearance.

The man was detained on November 7 and questioned by police, and later confessed to the murder.

Before the confession, Michalski’s family and friends launched an effort to find her, setting up a Facebook group to gather tips on her whereabouts. Her parents traveled to Hungary to help with the search, but found out on the way that she had been killed.

At a candlelight vigil in Budapest on Saturday night, the victim’s father, Bill Michalski, told The Associated Press he was “still overwhelmed” by his daughter’s death.

“There was no reason for this to happen,” he said. “I’m still trying to wrap my head around what happened. … I don’t know that I ever will.”

Police arrested the suspect, an Irish citizen, on the evening of November 7. Investigators said Michalski and the suspect met at a nightclub and danced before leaving for the man’s rented apartment. The man killed Michalski while they were engaged in an “intimate encounter,” police said.

The suspect, whom police identified as LTM, confessed to the killing but said it was an accident.

Video released by police showed the suspect directing authorities to where he left the body near Lake Balaton, about 90 miles southwest of Budapest.

Crime scene photos released by police showed a rolling suitcase, several items of clothing, including a pair of wool-lined boots and a small purse next to a credit card bearing Michalski’s name.

At the candlelight vigil in Budapest on Saturday, Michalski’s father gave brief remarks to those gathered and wore a baseball cap he said he received as a gift from his daughter.

Michalski had visited Budapest before and called it her “happy place,” her father told the AP.

“History, she just loved it and was so relaxed here,” he said. “This was her town.”

— By JUSTIN SPIKE Associated Press