Mystery of missing 18-year-old in central Budapest is resolved — but in the worst possible way

Hungarian police have confirmed the identity of a body recovered from the Danube in Budapest as 18-year-old Mátyás Egressy, who had been missing since 17 January 2026 after a night out in the city centre.

Police said the body was found on Saturday, 21 February, on the Danube’s District XI (Újbuda) section, about three kilometres south of Rákóczi Bridge, and the identification was confirmed on Monday, 23 February.

The Budapest Police Headquarters (BRFK) said no circumstances indicating a crime have emerged. The case will continue under an administrative procedure with experts involved to clarify the circumstances.

What the police said about the discovery

In the police statement reported by Hungarian media, authorities said the body was recovered on Saturday afternoon and that identity confirmation took two days.

Index reported that BRFK communicated the news publicly only after the identification and after the family had been notified, citing “dignity-related and procedural reasons”.

How the disappearance unfolded

Egressy went missing in the early hours of 17 January, after leaving a central Budapest venue and failing to make it home to District XI on the Buda side of the city.

A police notice issued during the search said he had been out with acquaintances in District V and started home at around 2:15 am, but did not arrive.

Why the case drew so much public attention

The disappearance became a major public case in Hungary, driven by intense social media activity and repeated reports from members of the public who believed they had seen a confused young man in different parts of Budapest.

Police repeatedly asked that anyone with relevant information contact authorities directly rather than posting online. In a Police.hu “Zsaru Magazin” item, authorities again urged the public to call the emergency number 112, or the Telefontanú hotline (+36-80-555-111) — including anonymously — instead of relying on social media.

Search efforts included the Danube

During the active search phase, Police.hu reported that the Danube River Police patrolled the river section from the Chain Bridge downstream as far as Csepel, in shifts and multiple times a day, watching both the shoreline and the water surface “day and night” for any sign of the missing teenager.

Former water police officer Balázs Csomor told Blikk that the unsuccessful search was not surprising given the extreme weather conditions at the time.

“It was not unexpected that the search yielded no results, as those were the coldest days of this winter. The river was beginning to freeze, and the surface water temperature was lower than at the bottom. In such conditions, the body of a drowned person remains underwater much longer than on frost-free days,” he explained.

He added that in the case of a river as deep and wide as the Danube, search teams effectively had only one option: “They had to wait for the river to return the body.”

According to the expert, cold water significantly slows decomposition, meaning that the gases responsible for bringing a body to the surface are released much more slowly. “In January, when temperatures are below freezing and the surface of the water is icy, the body sinks. Due to the cold, decomposition progresses more slowly, and the gases that would normally lift the body to the surface are produced at a slower rate. The lungs fill with water, causing the body to drift along the riverbed, which also makes the use of technical equipment – such as radar – more difficult,” he said.

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Background for foreign readers: the places mentioned

• District V is central Budapest (the inner city on the Pest side), home to many nightlife venues.
• District XI (Újbuda) is a large residential area on the Buda side, south-west of the city centre.
• Rákóczi Bridge is one of Budapest’s major Danube crossings in the southern part of the city.
• Csepel is a district and island area further south along the Danube.

What happens next

Police said they have not found indications of criminal activity, but the circumstances will still be examined with experts as part of the ongoing administrative process.

After this story, Budapest Assembly approves full CCTV coverage for every Danube bridge