Who is Michael Pocalyko? Internet calls for action in Eden Knight detransitioning death 

On March 12, Saudi trans woman Eden Knight shared a seemingly scheduled s*icide note on Twitlonger post saying she had taken her own life by the time the message was posted on social media.

Trigger Warning: This article contains mentions of s*icide and transphobia. Discretion is advised.

In the heartbreaking note, Knight revealed that she decided to end her life after being sent home to Saudi Arabia from the U.S. and forced into detransition.

Her final message revealed that she was contacted by two American “fixers,” a “cybersecurity guy” named Michael Pocalyko and “his associate Ellen” who claimed that they would help resolve Knight’s straining relationship with her parents who were “strict conservative Muslims” and against her transitioning.

Eden Knight wrote:

“Sometime in the summer, I was contacted by Michael Pocalyko (Cybersecurity guy) through an IRL friend who claimed he was a “fixer” and wanted to “fix” the issue that was between me and my parents.”

The 23-year-old shared that she started having “innocuous” and “helpful” phone calls with Pocalyko and Ellen over the next couple of months:

“It was mainly questions about my safety and whether I had my needs met at the place I was staying at.”

Knight said Pocalyko eventually convinced her to leave Georgia and move back to Virginia after she witnessed a traumatic event at her friend’s place and ended up at a bad place mentally.

She wrote that Michael Pocalyko, Ellen Cole and a Saudi lawyer named Bader met her at a train station before taking her to a hotel and allowing her to experience D.C.

However, Bader soon attempted to detransition Eden Knight while the latter lost all contact with Pocalyko and Cole:

“At every step of the way, he [Bader] tried to detransition me. I had a breakdown over this and bombarded Michael Pocalyko and Ellen with texts about what was happening, they did not respond.”

Shortly after, Knight was sent back to Saudi Arabia with her parents, where she was denied access to her HRT medication, berated for her identity and told that Pocalyko, Cole and Bader were “specifically hired” to get her back:

“There was no escape from my situation. I was destroyed.”

Following Eden Knight’s tragic death, social media users called for legal action against Michael Pocalyko, Ellen Cole and Bader for conspiring to forcefully send the former back to her home and prompting her to commit s*icide.

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What is known about Michael Pocalyko?

Michael Pocalyko is reportedly the CEO of SI, a Special Investigations Limited Company. As per his LinkedIn profile, Pocalyko is also a fixer, cyber executive, investigator, corporate director, and bestselling novelist.

According to his online bio, Pocalyko has also served as the chairman and CEO of Monticello Capital, Advanced Environmental Resources, Inc., Erdevel Europa Sàrl, International Systems Srl, and non-executive chairman of the board of Erdevel Europa in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Envambien SA, TherimuneX Pharmaceuticals, Inc., and Enterprise Applications, Inc. before its acquisition by SI.

Michael Pocalyko was also the audit committee chairman at Herley Industries and at Challenger Corporation. He is reportedly an experienced corporate director and a Sarbanes-Oxley audit committee financial expert.

He is also a member of the National Association of Corporate Directors teaching faculty for corporate governance and is a retired commander, Navy pilot, and Beirut Veteran.

Pocalyko graduated from Muhlenberg College and earned his MPA from the Harvard Kennedy School before receiving an MBA from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.

His novel, titled The Navigator, was published by Macmillan. Pocalyko’s bio mentions that he currently serves as an investigator, compliance agent, and certified fraud examiner. Not much is known about Michael Pocalyko’s personal life.

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Netizens demands justice for Eden Knight and seeks investigation into Michael Pocalyko

In the wake of Eden Knight’s tragic demise, social media users called for justice by trending the #JusticeForEden hashtag and condemning the individuals who forced her into detransition.

Netizens also took to Twitter seeking action against Michael Pocalyko, who first contacted Knight as a “fixer” to resolve the tension between her and her parents over her transition.

It was later revealed that the man was allegedly hired as part of a plan to send Eden Knight back to Saudi Arabia from the U.S. Following the latter's death, many also dubbed Pocalyko a "murderer" on Twitter:

Some claimed that several trans s*x workers have alleged that they were previously hired by Pocalyko, while others pointed out that he reportedly attempted to hide replies below his tweets that condemned him over Knight's death:

As calls for action continue to grow online, it remains to be seen if Michael Pocalyko, Ellen Cole and Bader will be investigated over Eden Knight’s death.