Ophelia Bauckholt was a rising star: a transgender Wall Street analyst earning over $500,000 a year, deeply involved in New York’s Rationalist and effective altruism circles. But in January 2025, she was found dead in a snow-covered Vermont highway—shot during a fatal shootout with U.S. Border Patrol agents. Her passenger seat was filled with tactical gear, hollow-point bullets, and a mystery that has stunned investigators and friends alike.
Who Was Ophelia Bauckholt?
Born Felix Bauckholt in Germany in 1996, she was a math prodigy who won a gold medal in a global computer science competition, studied at the University of Waterloo, and later moved to Manhattan to work at a high-frequency trading firm. Friends described her as brilliant, generous, and idealistic—donating thousands to buy mosquito nets and living on just 10% of her income.
She was also a committed vegan, a transgender woman navigating her “second puberty,” and an active participant in the Rationalist movement—a tech-adjacent subculture obsessed with artificial intelligence, logic, and ethical optimization.
The Zizians: A Radical Offshoot
Ophelia’s life took a dark turn when she became entangled with a fringe group known as the Zizians—a mostly transgender, highly educated collective led by a self-styled “Sith Lord” blogger named Ziz. The group believed veganism was essential to preventing AI apocalypse and accused mainstream Rationalists of covering up sexual abuse.
By late 2023, the Zizians were linked to multiple violent incidents:
- Stabbing death of a California landlord (2023)
- Murder of a Pennsylvania couple (parents of Zizian member Michelle Zajko)
- Fatal shooting of Border Patrol Agent David Maland (Jan. 2025)
Timeline of Disappearance and Death
| Date | Event |
|---|---|
| Nov 2023 | Ophelia vanishes from NYC; stops responding to friends |
| Dec 2023 – Jan 2024 | Rents Airbnbs in Chapel Hill with Zizians; adopts “Sith Lord Goth” aesthetic |
| Feb 2024 | Her Prius spotted driving toward Vermont |
| Jan 20, 2025 | Killed in shootout during Border Patrol stop in Vermont |
Infographic: The Dual Life of Ophelia Bauckholt
Why Did She Join?
Friends say Ophelia didn’t fully embrace the Zizians’ apocalyptic beliefs—but she believed they were victims of systemic injustice.
“She gives people the benefit of the doubt… and also believes that a lot of systems in the world are unjust.” — Dr. Astra Kolomatskaia, close friend
She reportedly funded legal defenses for Zizian members and may have been helping them live off-grid. Investigators found surgical tools, ballistic helmets, and night-vision gear in their vehicles.
Aftermath: Seven in Jail, One Dead
As of October 2025, seven Zizians—including Ziz, Michelle Zajko, and Daniel Blank—are in federal custody. Teresa Youngblut, the driver in the Vermont shootout, faces the death penalty. Ophelia is the only one who didn’t survive.
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