Triple Murder Near Petrohan: Who is the Owner of the “Lodge of Horrors", Ivaylo Kalushev?

The owner of the so-called “lodge of horrors,” Ivaylo Kalushev, who is currently wanted by police, ran business operations in Mexico for more than a decade, our investigation has found. His main companies and projects were focused on extreme cave diving and underwater exploration in the Yucatán Peninsula. Kalushev was also a sailor, film producer, and martial arts instructor.

Archival photos from one of his underwater diving companies show that Kalushev was with two of the men later killed in Petrohan as far back as 2015 in Mexico. In 2019, he acknowledged that through his adventure school in Bulgaria, three generations of children had participated in his programmes.

• Murder Emerges as Main Line of Inquiry in the Case of Three Men Found Shot at Former 'Petrohan' Lodge

Public records show that Ivaylo Kalushev, currently wanted by police, ran business operations in Mexico for more than a decade. Between 2010 and 2023, he led projects in extreme cave diving and underwater exploration in the Yucatán Peninsula.

Kalushev’s name is linked to four organisations in the region. In 2013, his team conducted large-scale underwater research and mapping, with one of the projects receiving significant funding from the state.

Shortly afterwards, in 2015, the Bulgarian emerged in a new role as a film producer. Some of the expeditions were filmed and released as a documentary titled The Unexplored, which also featured two other Bulgarians.

Acting Chief Prosecutor Sarafov on the Petrohan case: “This is a real-life Twin Peaks, which we are only beginning to unravel.”

With the support of his foundation, Kalushev purchased a research base and a compressor station in Mexico, where he also established a school for underwater diving. Archival photos from 2015 show him at the facility with two fellow Bulgarians, whose names correspond to two of the men later killed at the Petrohan lodge: Ivaylo Ivanov and Plamen Statev. The images show all three diving in hard-to-access caves.

Kalushev later transferred his experience from Mexico to Bulgaria through the Adventure School “Rouk”. In 2019, he presented the project in an interview with BNR, stating that adventure and mountain activities could empower weak, introverted, or bullied children at school.

Ivaylo Kalushev ('Horizont Do Obed" programme,” BNR, 2019):
“We have extensive experience working with children. Three generations of children have gone through our programmes. There is an entire world that these children are completely unaware of – the world of games, sports, and the mountains. All of this is condensed within school life, and its absence is noticeable.

It also emerges that, in the past, Kalushev’s ranger organisation received support from the Mayor of Sofia, Vasil Terziev. Terziev stated on Facebook that he personally knew Ivo, Decho, and Plamen. The mayor donated funds for electric motors to help combat poaching and described the three men as some of the best cave divers in the world, modestly living while choosing to fight a brutal enemy. According to Terziev, the men assisted border police in tackling illegal migration and were involved in efforts against the forest mafia.