Kim Wall, a 30-year-old Swedish journalist, was planning on hosting a going away party for her and her boyfriend on the evening of August 10, 2017 when she got a text from Danish inventor Peter Madsen inviting her to come interview him. His text was unexpected, but she had been chasing the interview for a story she was pitching to Wired for some months, so she agreed. She met him, and he invited her onto his self-made submarine 'Nautilus'. Wall forwent her own going away party to complete the interview.