A Michigan man has been charged with the murder and mutilation of another man that he arranged to hook-up with via Grindr on Christmas Eve.
Mark Latunski, 50, of Bennington Township, MI, was arraigned in 66th District Court Monday, Dec. 30. He is charged with the murder and subsequent mutilation of Kevin Bacon, a hairdresser, aged 25, of Swartz Creek, MI.
Bacon told his roommate, Michelle Myers, that he was meeting up with a man at around 5pm on Christmas Eve. He said they’d arranged to meet via Grindr, reports Lansing State Journal.
Related: Three men used Grindr to target brutal homophobic attacks
Later, Myers received a text from Bacon’s phone saying he was having fun and might not be back for a while. However, when he failed to show up for breakfast on Christmas Day, his family became concerned. They contacted police later that day.
Police later found Bacon’s car abandoned in a Swartz Creek-area parking lot. The car keys were missing, but they found a bag of clothes, a phone, and a wallet in the vehicle.
On Dec. 28, police found Bacon’s body in Latunski’s house, 25 miles west of Flint. The body had been mutilated.
If found guilty, Latunski faces life in prison.
At a press conference, Bacon’s father criticized Grindr for not reacting quickly enough to their requests for help, reported MLive Michigan.
“They didn’t give us any info during the initial investigation,’ said Karl Bacon. “That was our biggest obstacle in this investigation. We did not know where he was going and who he was meeting with.
“If he had relayed that information early on, it may not have been avoided, but it could have been accelerated a lot quicker if we knew who and where.”
Grindr issued a statement saying, “We at Grindr are heartbroken to hear about this terrible tragedy, and share our condolences with Mr Bacon’s family and friends. While for privacy reasons we do not offer public comment on individual user accounts, we remain fully committed to working with law enforcement in the event of any investigation.”
Bacon’s family launched a GoFundMe to help pay for his funeral costs. A hairstylist studying psychology at the University of Michigan-Flint, Bacon was a fan of makeup vlogger Jeffree Star, and even had tattoos of the YouTuber.
Star was among the first to contribute to the crowdfunder, contributing $20,000.
Related: Jeffree Star named one of YouTube’s top five earners in 2019
Star tweeted on Saturday: “RIP KEVIN 😥 I’m devastated to hear of the passing of someone from Michigan who lived their life fearlessly and was taken too soon.”
RIP KEVIN ? I’m devastated to hear of the passing of someone from Michigan who lived their life fearlessly and was taken too soon ? Please help his family in this horrible time: https://t.co/4sRUjumxtl #StarFamily https://t.co/FjVAxaaJgj
— Jeffree Star (@JeffreeStar) December 29, 2019
Also sending condolences was the Hollywood actor, Kevin Bacon (no relation). He posted to Instagram: “For obvious reasons I’m thinking this morning about the friends and family of this young person Kevin Bacon.
“His life was taken from him much too soon. His love was hair dressing. I bet he would have done a great job on this mess on my head. RIP KB.”
DawnTrans
Id bet the farm that he was gone before that text was sent to his roommate. Never ever meet at someones home for a first time meeting.
Chrisk
Yeah, no doubt that Latunski sent the text.
PLAYS WELL WITH OTHERS
I see an extra from Deliverance open the door, I run like Hell….
shigellosis
look in the mirror . you fool
Chrisk
There’s more to this story too. Another potential victim came forward saying how he barely escaped with his life out of Latunski’s house. I’d say it’s a good bet that there are more victims.
bowlingbutch
What a sad way for his family to start a new year! How awfully nice of Jefree Starr to donate for someone who admired him and even for Kevin Bacon to acknowledge this young man;s death. Everyone needs to be so careful when meeting someone and if the person is not like a sent pic, turn and run
azjeff17
So young and so sad. I can’t imagine the terror this young man endured.
boymikefl
“Actor” KB trying to get his name out there, for free. Bad look. Are you that broke that you couldn’t pitch in?
gothvixen
You don’t know if he did, many keep donations private; you’re quite happy to flaunt your hissy bi*ch though.
dinard38
What a dumbass comment! Kevin Bacon (actor) is under no obligation whatsoever to make a donation. And trying to get his name out there for free?? I don’t even know what that means.
Mr-DJ
What Ev, bro!!!
Celtic
Latunski should be executed, post haste. Preferably hanged or beheaded. Why do we as a society feel committed to sustaining the life of such a monster?
Dez
Hopefully the creepy old bastard will be raped, beaten and tortured in prison.
Vince
Old? How old are you?. A teenager.
marion
Why would anyone meet up with that ugly mofo?
djmcgamester
This sucks. I’m starting to think Grindr is no safer than hooking up in the park at night.
Bob LaBlah
This is why I leave all “hookups” at the bathhouses. When I was online I would tell them to meet me at the bathhouse. Generally the response was “you go to bathhouses? No thanks.” and I was either blocked or all of my messages ignored from that point on and I didn’t and still don’t care. I live alone and my greatest fear has always been hooking up with someone and being found murdered after my body began to deteriorate. The baths tend to turn off young’uns (or should I say a few of them) but it is the safest place to meet a stranger because of the security it provides. You MUST have a state photo ID to enter and that ID does get photocopied (just in case of a medical emergency they have to be able to tell the paramedics BY LAW who you are) and there are video cameras that record the parking lots and entrances to it. I have yet to hear about people being killed, robbed and all of that foolishness at a bath house. This Grindr and all the rest are “use at your own peril” as far as I’m concerned.
Heywood Jablowme
Agree! Bathhouses provide a safer environment. I used to wonder whether to report any “tweakers” in the rooms, to management. And yes, you should. Management doesn’t want to deal with meth morons either. They can go home and hook up on Grindr and Scruff.
Another good thing about bathhouses (to me at least) is how the photo ID requirement scares away 95% of the “straight” men-married-to-women, and closet cases in general.
Kangol2
Great points. Also, there are often witnesses, even if you go into a private room. Another option in cities that have sex clubs, or bars that still have sex rooms/backrooms is to meet up there for sex, because again, there are witnesses.
shigellosis
sometimes a walk on the wild side gets pretty phucking wild.
caveat emptor
Kangol2
This is a very saddening story, and if what ChrisK reports is true, I pray there aren’t other victims/bodies, but cops should probably search this psycho Latunski’s house & property extensively just to be sure. Remember that Toronto bear gardener who murdered all of those men, many of them immigrants, and the cops sort of dragged their feet when they might have prevented additional murders?