For the family of Kevin Bacon, who was a top student and talented hairdresser, Christmas will forever be marked by tragedy and devastation. The 25-year-old was reported missing after failing to arrive at a family breakfast on Christmas Day in 2019.

After police were notified of his disappearance, Kevin's roommate revealed he had gone to meet a man from Grindr on Christmas Eve. This marked the beginning of a truly horrific holiday tale for the Bacon family. Police officers would go on to discover a crime scene that nothing could have prepared them for.

As reported by the Mirror, Kevin was discovered at the home of Mark Latunski, who was 50 years old at the time, in Michigan. The killer was known to local police, with reports of some of his previous Grindr dates being forced to flee his home during "basement bondage sessions".

However, Kevin wasn't so fortunate as to escape Latunski. The then 25-year-old was found brutally murdered, with his naked body hanging upside down from the ceiling in a hidden room.

Latunski later admitted that he stabbed Kevin, slit his throat, and then hung him with a rope from the rafters. The twisted killer also said he cut off a portion of Kevin's genitalia and ate it.

Kevin's father said: "He obviously got into something he wasn't prepared for. We all make mistakes. It's gut-wrenching to hear the details, and we're just beside ourselves."

According to the Washington Post, one of Latunski's previous Grindr dates dialled 911 after escaping his home. The victim hopped the fence in the middle of the night after Latunski tried to restrain him using leather ankle straps and a chain.

Another man, wearing just a leather kilt, escaped the murderer's home before being chased by Latunski. Neither of the men pressed charges, explaining their sexual activities with Latunski were consensual and they had just become "spooked".

In September 2022, just weeks before his jury trial was set to begin, Latunski, aged 53 at the time, admitted killing and mutilating Kevin Bacon and was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole on a first-degree murder charge. He was also sentenced to 11 months to be served concurrently on a charge of disinterment and mutilation of a dead body.

Prior to Latunski's sentencing in December 2022, a statement from Kevin's mother, Pamela, was read in court. It said that Christmas for her family "will never be the same".

The statement read: "Our world has been shattered. Even though we have such great memories of our son, our lives will never be the same or will our family. I don't understand why anyone could want to hurt our son, especially in such a horrific and unbelievable way.

"Now Christmas for our family will never be the same to us, thanks to you taking our son away from us. Even though we will finally get justice for Kevin, it still doesn't feel like enough, and you still get to live and do things because a pig like you ... can never have remorse.

"In your sick, twisted mind, you probably think you didn't do anything wrong, but in reality, you took our world away," the statement continued. "This Christmas, I hope you suffer as we have. I hope you feel pain because you are all alone with all the years yet to come."