Katharina Buczek
But unfortunately, this valley of mental health struggles quickly became much more severe than during Nicole’s teen years.
Instead of renting an apartment while attending UT as previously planned, she lived with her dad. While there, it was incredibly difficult for Mike to ensure his daughter’s safety and well-being.
Nicole began to self-medicate, disappear for days, and lose countless friendships. Finally, in the fall of 2018, she checked herself into an Austin, Texas, mental health facility.
There, Nicole received treatment for a couple of months before successfully transitioning to living in a women’s group home that December.
Tragically, though, these signs of progress and restored hopes for Nicole’s future were soon ripped away from her family on December 28.
That day, at 5:26 p.m., she was last seen on gas station surveillance footage walking through a parking lot.
Austin Police Department; pictured above is Nicole at the gas station
Then, Nicole was never heard from or seen alive again. Instead, on New Year’s Eve, cyclists discovered her remains in the woods– about a ten-minute walk from the gas station.
Nicole was found without clothes, and detectives later revealed that she had been the victim of “traumatic injuries throughout her body.”
An investigation by the Austin Police Department Homicide Unit was immediately launched, in which officers initially suspected Nicole’s case might have been connected to a nearby aggravated assault that occurred just a few days prior.
