What happened to Khashoggi? Key moments in the disappearance — and suspected gruesome slaying — of the Washington Post columnist

Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi, who wrote critically of the kingdom's policies and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, disappeared earlier this month on a trip to the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul, where Turkish officials believe he was killed.

—September 2017: The Post publishes the first column by Khashoggi in its newspaper, in which the former royal court insider and longtime journalist writes about going into a self-imposed exile in the U.S. over the rise of Prince Mohammed. His following columns criticize the prince and the kingdom's direction.

—Sept. 28, 2018: Over a year after the Post published his first column, Khashoggi visits the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul, seeking documents in order to get married. He's later told to return Oct. 2, his fiancée Hatice Cengiz says.

—3:28 a.m. Oct. 2: A private plane arrives at Istanbul's Ataturk Airport carrying some members of what Turkish media will refer to as a 15-member Saudi "assassination squad," including a man that officials describe as a forensics and "autopsy expert." Others arrive via commercial flights, Turkish officials say.

—1:14 p.m.: Surveillance footage later leaked to Turkish media shows Khashoggi walking into the main entrance of the Saudi Consulate. No footage made public ever shows him leaving and his fiancée waits outside, pacing for hours.

—Oct. 3: Khashoggi's fiancée and the Post go public with his disappearance. Saudi Arabia says Khashoggi visited the consulate and exited shortly thereafter. Turkish officials suggest Khashoggi might still be in the consulate. That night, Prince Mohammed tells Bloomberg: "We have nothing to hide."

—Oct. 4: Saudi Arabia says on its state-run news agency that the consulate is carrying out "follow-up procedures and coordination with the Turkish local authorities to uncover the circumstances of the disappearance of Jamal Khashoggi after he left the consulate building."

—Oct. 9: Turkey says it will search the Saudi Consulate as a picture of Khashoggi walking into the diplomatic post surfaces.

—Oct. 10: Surveillance footage is leaked of Khashoggi and the alleged Saudi squad that killed him. Khashoggi's fiancée asks President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump for help.

—Oct. 14: Trump tells CBS' "60 Minutes" that "we're going to get to the bottom of it, and there will be severe punishment" if Saudi Arabia is involved. The kingdom responds with a blistering attack against those who threaten it, as the manager of a Saudi-owned satellite news channel suggests the country could retaliate through its oil exports. The Saudi stock exchange plunges as much as 7 percent at one point.

—Oct. 15: A Turkish forensics team enters and searches the Saudi Consulate, an extraordinary development as such diplomatic posts are considered sovereign soil. Trump suggests after a call with Saudi King Salman that "rogue killers" could be responsible for Khashoggi's alleged slaying. Trump says Secretary of State Mike Pompeo will travel to the Mideast over the case. Meanwhile, business leaders say they won't attend an upcoming economic summit in the kingdom that's the brainchild of Prince Mohammed.