They Lured Her Into Their House To Tear Her To Pieces | True Crime Documentary

University Police Security opening up. I’ve been getting these texts about from from these numbers of different people. Hi, I would like to request some help from my daughter. I got a text about, you know, asking if I wanted to go to a funeral, his funeral, and I think they’re trying to lure me somewhere.

 She started dating this guy like a bad person. I don’t want her to go there by herself and have like something bad happen to her.  Do you feel comfortable with him doing that?  I know your mom was really concerned about it.  I’m worried because I’ve been working with the campus police and I haven’t gotten an update.

 So, I’m uh dealing with a situation um where I’m being blackmailed money and I’m concerned there might be an insider um who’s letting them know about the the case  trying to reach is not available  the University of Utah October 22nd 2018 21-year-old Lauren McCluskey Ski is walking back to her dorm after an evening class.

 She’s on the phone with her mom. Her voice is calm as they talk about school, her plans, and the ordinary events of the day. Then, in an instant, everything changes. A desperate scream shatters the conversation. No, no, no. The phone hits the ground. The sound of a struggle follows, then silence. Within minutes, the entire university campus is placed on full lockdown.

 Students report hearing gunshots. Police launch a massive search, but Lauren is already nowhere to be found. It doesn’t take investigators long to uncover a disturbing pattern. For weeks, Lauren had repeatedly reported being stalked, threatened, blackmailed, and living in fear for her life. She identified one specific person. She begged for help.

 She warned that the situation was becoming more dangerous with each passing day. Her ex-boyfriend had been using a fake identity, had a criminal past, and had been following her around campus. According to Lauren, he had no intention of stopping. Every one of those reports had been documented, but not a single one was enough to protect her.

 And by the time the surveillance cameras captured Lauren entering her dorm for the last time, the man she had been desperately trying to escape was already standing right behind her.  Hi, my daughter Lauren McCloski uh was talking to her mom and then she just started saying, “No, no, no, no, no.” And it sounded someone might have been grabbing her or something.

 A unit attempt to locate a suspect involved in possible kidnapping. The victim is a Lauren McCcluskey. Her mother heard her yell no on the phone. Then the line went quiet.  At that point, Lauren couldn’t have gotten very far from her dorm since she had only just called her mom. But if someone had forced her into a vehicle, she could already be miles away.

 Without her phone to track her location, time was quickly running out. As everyone scrambled to bring in as many people as possible and follow every possible lead, investigators suddenly heard an unfamiliar sound coming through Lauren’s phone.  Oh, someone’s been talking on her phone. Hello.  Hi.  But it wasn’t Lauren.

 University Police.  Hi. I just found a whole bunch of stuff spread out all over the ground and a phone that had an active call. I picked it up.  Okay.  Um, this woman says,  “I was just on the phone with her parents.”  Okay. I’m having officers responding up that way.  On that cold October night, as police officers, reporters, and students tried to piece together what had happened, Lauren McCcluskey was nowhere to be found.

 But it only took a quick search of her name to realize just how serious the situation really was. And even more disturbing, it became clear that the warning signs had been there for a long time. From an early age, one thing stood out about Lauren more than anything else, her incredible determination, especially when it came to sports.

 Her mom said Lauren was climbing trees by the time she was just 2 years old. After that, she fell in love with just about anything that involved sports or being active, and not in the casual way most people do. For Lauren, sports became her passion and the driving force in her life.

 She was always pushing herself to improve and striving to be the very best. Even as a little girl, she was known for her remarkable perseverance and strong will. When she was 8 years old, her mom Jill signed her up for three track and field events. The 400 meter race, the high jump, and the long jump. Lauren didn’t just win. She set new records in all three events.

 A few years later, she finished second at the Junior Olympic Nationals. She never complained, even when the weather was miserable or the workouts became especially exhausting. While many of her friends spent their weekends relaxing at home, Lauren, driven by extraordinary ambition, was out training hard. And she genuinely loved every minute of it.

Despite her energetic personality, her father, Matt, said she was also an incredibly sensitive person. She poured her heart into everything she did, but she also thought deeply and carefully about every decision. Before long, Lauren had built such a strong reputation that people knew who she was far beyond her small school.

 Matt recalled introducing himself to people only to hear them respond, “Oh, McCluskey, you’re Lauren’s dad.” She also had a deep love for animals and volunteered at the Whitman County Humane Society, where she helped socialize cats so they would have a better chance of finding loving homes. Lauren was drawn to the University of Utah largely because of its outstanding athletic program.

 She earned a full track and field scholarship and chose communications as her major. One of her close friends, Diamond Jackson, described Lauren as incredibly intelligent and highly driven. She always knew exactly what she wanted and exactly how she was going to achieve it. Lauren was deeply devoted to her church, her friends, and her family, and she was determined to make the most of her college years.

 Um, she ranked 10th in University of Utah history in the women’s heptathlon and maintained a 3.77 grade point average while majoring in communications. Of course, photos and videos only capture a small part of who someone really is. Just a handful of moments from an entire life, but even those moments are enough to show that Lauren McClesy was living a full, successful, and genuinely happy life. October 22nd.

Hi. Um, my name is Matt McCcluskey. Uh, my daughter is Lauren McCcluskey and she went missing tonight and we reported it to the University of Utah police. She’s a student there.  Police cruisers flooded the campus with flashing lights while an atmosphere of panic and chaos spread through the grounds.

 At roughly the same time Lauren was believed to have been abducted, students also reported hearing gunshots.  Shots fired.  Were the two incidents connected? At that moment, no one knew, but the university immediately went into full lockdown. All evening classes were cancelled. Students were ordered to stay inside, lock their doors and windows, and remain there until officials announced it was safe to come out.

 My daughter Lauren, the fusy that’s missing. We do have officers on scene handling right now. We’re actively looking for her. We’re doing everything we can to track her down.  Campus police and the Salt Lake City Police Department began reviewing every report they had on file. What they found was a long list of incidents Lauren had reported over the previous several weeks.

 She had called the police so many times it was difficult to keep count. her ex-boyfriend had been stalking her, harassing her, threatening her, and blackmailing her. He used fake phone numbers, followed her around campus, and even disguised himself on multiple occasions. Every single incident had been documented, but no meaningful action had ever been taken.

 Lauren and everyone who knew her was genuinely afraid for her safety. According to her family and friends, the very first person police should have been looking for was her ex-boyfriend. The University of Utah posted his description on its Twitter account. Police described the suspect as a black male, 37 years old, approximately 6′ 3 in tall, weighing around 250 lb.

 He was last seen wearing a gray knit beanie, black pants, white shoes, and a white hooded sweatshirt. A massive manhunt began immediately. Lauren first met Shaw Fields on September 1st at a bar where he worked as a security guard. They hit it off right away. Lauren gave him her phone number and the very next day they went on their first date.

 Shaw told her he was attending Salt Lake Community College while also working at a call center. Lauren’s friend Regina said it all felt like something out of a fairy tale. Everyone was happy for her. Lauren was completely taken with him. There were flowers, romantic dates, and thoughtful gestures. He seemed kind, attentive, and eager to meet all of her friends.

 He even tried to get to know other students in her dorm building, people Lauren barely knew herself. But the honeymoon phase didn’t last long. Before long, Lauren began seeing a completely different side of Shaw, one that was controlling and possessive. At first, he constantly called her and got irritated whenever she didn’t answer. Soon, he started demanding that she pick up within just a few rings, wear clothing that covered as much of her body as possible, and he even gave her pepper spray because he insisted other men would inevitably try to bother her.

Later, he began talking about guns and insisted Lauren should keep a handgun in her dorm room. That behavior alarmed everyone around her. Her friends noticed that the 21-year-old was becoming increasingly withdrawn, distant, and anxious. They didn’t want to take any chances. One of them, Diamond, who worked in the university’s student housing office, decided to report what was happening to her supervisors.

 She sent an email explaining her concerns about Shaw. But almost immediately afterward, Lauren discovered something that completely shook her. She found Shaw’s identification card. That’s when she realized he wasn’t who he claimed to be. The man she knew as 28-year-old Shaw Fields was actually 37-year-old Melvin Roland.

 And that wasn’t even the worst part. When Lauren searched his real name, she learned that he was listed on the official sex offender registry. In 2003, he had been charged with raping and online enticement of a 17-year-old college student. At the time, he was enrolled in college himself and was allowed to continue attending classes while wearing an electronic monitoring device.

 But investigators and prosecutors ultimately concluded that putting the victim through a trial would be too traumatic, so they reached a plea agreement instead. Melvin pleaded guilty to online enticement of a minor and attempted forcible sexual abuse. He served his sentence from 2004 through 2013, but after his release, he repeatedly violated the terms of his parole and was sent back to prison several times.

 One of his parole hearings was recorded, and it provides a chilling glimpse into Melvin’s past, his state of mind, and the many women he had harmed over the years.  They didn’t tell me how many victims you have. Uh, so, uh, I’d like you to give me kind of a idea of what we’re looking at victim-wise.  I would say every female that I came across dating or met on the internet, I’d say every woman I’ve met or I came across that I used my manipulation tactics to get what I wanted.

 Mhm.  How many How many did you out and out rape like the one young lady? Well, not like that. But me being a womanizer, you know, I I use other taxes to get what I wanted with them. I’d say some similar I’d say uh two  two others.  But I see in general just how I manipulated and used women in general.

 How many How many women in general did you convince to have sex with you by manipulation?  I got locked up at 22. And my sexual experience, I’d say about 50.  Okay. Hopefully uh when you get out you’ll uh have learned from uh this experience. Only time’s going to tell.  Yeah, I know I’m I have that capability reoffending, but again is something I’ll have to prove.

 Melvin had also been accused of attempted rape and another woman had obtained a protective order against him. Just a few months after he was released from prison, his parole officer, Megan, gave him a stern warning. She described him as arrogant and overly confident. And she made it absolutely clear that she expected him to follow every condition of his release and commit no further violations.

 But only a few months later, Melvin met Lauren. Shocked by everything she had uncovered, Lauren went home for a few days. As she tried to process it all, she told her mom everything and said she couldn’t continue the relationship. She decided to end it on October 9th. There was just one problem.

 While Lauren had been home, her car was still with Melvin, so she needed to get it back first. After returning to the university, she asked him to come see her. Melvin came up to her room where the two of them talked. Lauren confronted him with everything she had learned. His explanation came almost immediately. According to him, it had all been one big misunderstanding.

He claimed that years earlier he had met a young woman at a college party who had convincingly lied about her age. He insisted he had never assaulted her. The next morning, Lauren called one of her friends to tell her how the conversation had gone. Regardless of his explanation, she had made up her mind.

 The relationship was over. Melvin left, but he still had her car. Lauren’s mom, Jill, was deeply concerned about that. So, she called campus police and asked whether officers could be present while the car was returned.  Hi, I would like to request some help from my daughter who’s a student at University of Utah and she started dating this guy who’s like a bad person.

Okay. Found out he’s a bad person and she broke up with him and he has her car. Stephie was lying to her and he’s actually a sexual offender. I don’t want her to go there by herself and have like something bad happen. About 20 minutes later, campus police called Lauren to discuss the safest way they could help her get her car back.

 Hello.  Hi, this is Lauren. Your ex-boyfriend’s dropping off your car. Do you feel comfortable with him doing that? I know your mom was really concerned about it. Um,  I think I think it’s okay.  At first, Lauren said she would pick up the car on her own, but then she changed her mind and asked the officers to drive her there instead.

 We have um a security operator in charge of escorts tonight. Do you want him to wait with you as well when the car is being dropped off? The car was returned without any problems. Lauren hoped that would finally be the end of her relationship with Melvin. But just 2 days later, she started receiving text messages from unknown phone numbers.

 The messages claimed that Melvin had died and asked if someone could pick her up and take her to his funeral. Then Lauren received another message, this time supposedly from Melvin himself. It claimed he was still alive but had been seriously injured in a car crash and that the accident was somehow her fault. Lauren blocked the numbers and contacted campus police once again.

 I’ve been getting these texts about from from these numbers of different people. They were saying that he was in the hospital and then saying that like that he passed away, but then I got a text from him and he seems to be alive. I got a text about, you know, asking if I wanted to go to a funeral, his funeral, and I think they’re trying to lure me somewhere.

 Okay. Have you asked them to stop texting you?  I have not, but I’ve I’ve blocked a few of the numbers already.  All right. Um, I will send this through an officer uh to give you a call again. Is that okay?  The dispatcher told Lauren that a police officer would be contacting her, but that call never came.

 The next morning, Lauren called the police again. She had just woken up and found a new wave of text messages waiting for her. This time, the situation had become far more serious. So, I’m uh dealing with a situation where I’m being blacked.  Um, someone sent Lauren a message claiming they had intimate photos of her and Melvin.

 If she didn’t pay, the photos would be shared across the entire campus. Soon after, Melvin texted Lauren claiming that he had received the exact same message. Lauren was convinced that either Melvin himself or someone connected to him was behind it all. At the same time, she was terrified. She transferred $1,000 through Venmo to the unknown sender.

 Then the blackmailer demanded even more money. Lauren sent another $1,000. Frustrated by the way officers had handled her calls, Lauren and her friend Alex went to the police station in person. Alex later recalled how difficult it was to convince the officers that the situation was truly serious. They told them it was probably just another scam.

 Considering how common these types of extortion schemes are, that assumption wasn’t unreasonable by itself. But Lauren explained that her ex-boyfriend had been using a fake identity, was listed on the sex offender registry, and had unrestricted access to the university campus. In her mind, all of it pointed directly to him.

 She filed an official police report. She was told someone would contact her on Tuesday. It was only Saturday, so she was expected to wait several more days. Lauren’s case was assigned to Detective Kayla Doof, but she wasn’t working that day. Her supervisor had instructed her to stay home, and she followed that order.

 No one checked Melvin’s name in the police databases or reviewed his criminal history. None of his previous convictions or repeated parole violations were taken into account. Meanwhile, the messages kept coming. Lauren grew more and more desperate because she felt that no one was taking her seriously.

 Later that same day at 5:45 in the evening, she was walking past the University Police Department when she decided to call 911 so she could speak directly with the Salt Lake City Police Department. I’ve been blackmailed for money.  Let me go ahead and get you over. University police will probably take the case in [music] just one sec.

 I I’ve talked to them already, but I just wanted to call you as well.  Usually, we just take it where you live and then that agency does a case.  Yeah, I was just concerned cuz I wasn’t sure how long they were going [music] to take.  Okay, let me get you up to them and so they can see what’s going on with it.

Just one moment.  Do you know when an arrest would be made? You can talk to an officer if you want. I can arrange that if you want that.  Okay. Yeah, that that sounds good.  In the end, she was transferred right back to campus police. She found herself trapped in an endless loop. On October 16th, Melvin admitted what he had been doing to one of his co-workers and his supervisor.

 His employer knew he was on parole. Even so, no one reported what he had said to the parole officer responsible for supervising him.  He just told me that he had gotten into some trouble over the weekend and that he was dating a girl from university and he had lied to her about his age and she had recently found out that he lied and she broke up with him.

 And so he got angry and over the weekend he had sent her messages from another phone and that he wanted money so that he wouldn’t release them. So he said that she sent him money through Venmo. He sent  [clears throat]  $1,000 is what he said she sent him. And then she sent him another $1,000. And the second time he said he kind of freaked out.

 Um he knew that he was going to be in trouble. So he tried to send the money back to her. He said that he had access to her email on his phone because she had logged into her email from his phone before.  And he said that he could see that she sent messages to the campus police of screenshots of the conversation. So he knew that she had contacted authorities about it. And so he said he was afraid.

He didn’t want to go back to jail. And he knew we couldn’t run forever. Melvin said, “Yeah, I don’t want to go. I don’t want to resign. Can I just go on a leave of absence?” And I said, “I’m okay with that.”  Melvin’s parole officer later said she had no doubt about what would have happened.

 If she had known about any of this at the time, Melvin would have been sent straight back to prison, but she was never told. After all of her repeated attempts to get help, Lauren finally felt she had no choice but to step back. She told her friends that the right people were handling the situation now, so she was going to trust them and let them do their jobs.

 But there was one thing Lauren didn’t know. At one point, she had logged into her email account on Melvin’s laptop. Because of that, he still had access to her account. He could see everything. every screenshot, every email she exchanged with University Police and the Salt Lake City Police Department, he was always several steps ahead of her.

 A week passed October 19th, 2018. 3:16 in the afternoon, Melvin was standing outside Lauren’s dorm dressed as Deadpool. He wandered around the area looking for her. At 4:02 that afternoon, Lauren entered her residence hall. Just one minute later, surveillance cameras captured Melvin peering through the building’s glass doors.

 Not long afterward, Lauren received another message from him. I know everything. Why did you go to the police? Terrified, Lauren and her friend Alex called the Salt Lake City Police Department once again.  I’m worried because I’ve been working with the campus police um at the U  and uh last Saturday I reported and I haven’t gotten an update.

 So the the case it involves extortion and those people um are still me but but someone contacted me today someone who is harass said that that they know everything about the police.  Okay. So you already spoke to the campus police?  Yes. And they haven’t updated or done anything. What prompted you to call Salt Lake City police? Well, I thought it was weird that there are people who know about the entire case and the harassers seem to know about it more than me.

 And I’m concerned there might be an insider um who’s letting them know about the the case.  Okay. With something like that, you would want to contact the campus police back and ask to [music] speak to your detective.  How could he possibly know that? Lauren kept wondering, was someone on the inside actually feeding him information? But once again, she was referred back to campus police.

 Detective Kayla Doof apologized and told Lauren she hadn’t had a chance to fully review the case yet. Lauren had to go through the entire story all over again. After listening, Kayla asked her to put everything into a single email. So, a little after 7 that evening, Lauren sent it. Later, she told her mom, Jill, that she felt like she had become a burden to everyone.

 She believed she was only getting in the way of the campus police. Jill responded, “They’re just doing their job. You have every right to ask for help, and they have a responsibility to help you.” October 22nd arrived. At 6:06 that morning, Melvin left his apartment using a friend’s car. He drove to Lauren’s residence hall about a 20-minut drive away.

 After parking, uh, he began walking around the area near her building. [music] Shortly before 9 that morning, Lauren received a text message that appeared to be from Assistant Police Chief Rick Mlennon, who was also involved in her case. Finally, she thought maybe something was finally moving forward. The message said she needed to come to the police department immediately.

[music] It claimed there was something very important she needed to see. But the more carefully Lauren read it, the more strange details she noticed. There were spelling mistakes, grammatical errors, even Rick Mennon’s name was misspelled. It looked nothing like the previous messages she had received from the police.

 Instead, it closely resembled the messages she had received during the extortion along with Melvin’s writing style. It came as no surprise when investigators determined that the message had not been sent from the assistant police chief’s real phone number. Lauren was simply told to ignore it. But no one even attempted to determine where the message had actually come from.

 At 9:11 that morning, Lauren walked out of her residence hall. She was carrying her school materials, preparing for what she expected to be another ordinary day filled with classes and training. A few minutes later, Lauren met with her counselor, someone she had also been telling about everything she had been going through.

 Shortly after 10:00, she headed to class. At that very moment, Melvin walked onto the university campus. They came within moments of crossing paths, but instead Melvin spent the next several hours wandering around campus searching for Lauren. At around 2:00 that afternoon, he was already inside the residence hall where Lauren lived.

 He stepped outside briefly, then came back. Another student, someone he apparently knew, led him into the building. Melvin remained inside for nearly 6 hours. He wandered the hallways and tried door after door. That evening, Lauren finished class a little earlier than usual. She was happy about that. On her way home, she called her mom.

 She was already thinking about getting to bed early that night. The next surveillance video has never been released to the public. What is known is that Lauren reached the entrance to her residence hall at 8:17 that evening. Surveillance footage captured only Melvin’s legs hidden in the shadows behind Lauren as she was just steps away from the dorm entrance.

 Within seconds, he grabbed her and began forcing her away. And this is where we return to that tragic night. The campus was still in full lockdown, but police were no closer to finding either Melvin or Lauren.  It’s looking like this might be kidnapping. Lauren’s father, Matt, later recalled sitting by the phone, staring out the window and praying that every minute that passed without a police car pulling up to their house meant only one thing, that his daughter was still alive.

 Hi. Um, my name is Matt McCcluskey. Uh, my daughter is Lauren McCcluskey and she went missing tonight.  Uhhuh.  And I’m just make I just want to make sure that you guys know about that. Um, so we wouldn’t really need to other than her being listed, um, she would be listed as a missing person on the national database if you made a missing person’s report, but  Okay.

 Um, otherwise, I mean, else anything else?  So, this is this is No, no. Okay. So, this is more than that. She was abducted while we were talking to her on the telephone. So, so we heard her being assaulted and they called the uh University of Utah campus police  and I’m just calling you to let you know heard a gunshot.

 But this just happened like a hour ago.  Was it that they were in that silver Buick planter?  Uh I don’t know anything about a silver Buick.  Yeah, university let us know about it. We had our units. Um, we notified them as well.  Uhhuh.  Okay.  Thank you.  Uhhuh. All right.  Meanwhile, at around 10:00 that night, a new call came over the radio on campus.

 Hey, can you come to my location? We had someone bleeding from the mouth and they hear in the car.  It was Lauren’s coach who found her in the back seat of a silver car parked near one of the campus residence halls. It was the same vehicle Melvin had borrowed from a friend. Lauren had suffered multiple gunshot wounds.

Paramedics arrived within minutes, but there was nothing they could do. Lauren had died. Later, prosecutors reconstructed the sequence of events.  Roland confronted Lauren, who was on the phone with her mother, in the parking lot right outside of her residence hall, where we had viewed him on camera several days prior.

In the altercation, she dropped her cell phone and her belongings. He dragged Lauren to a different spot in the parking lot where he forced her into the backseat of a car. Excuse me. that he had driven to campus and he shot her in the car multiple times.  It became clear that Melvin had come to campus that day with one goal, to kill Lauren. He waited for her with a gun.

 He forced her into the car. Then, almost immediately, he opened fire. Just 3 minutes later, surveillance cameras captured him running across a parking lot toward a nearby train station. After that, he met up with a woman he had recently met through a dating website. The two of them went out to dinner together.

 Later, Melvin went back to her house where he took a shower. Afterward, she drove him to a coffee shop. Not long after dropping him off, she saw news reports about the shooting and the massive manhunt for the suspect. She immediately recognized the man she had just spent the evening with. Without hesitation, she called the police. At last, investigators had confirmed his identity.

 Officers tracked Melvin as he fled through the city streets. They chased him on foot all the way to a small church. To get inside, he broke the lock on one of the doors.  I have officers chasing your suspect on the shooting.  He is in foot pursuit right now.  When officers entered the building, they found him.  We have the suspect inside the the church.

 It looks like he had the gunshot wound self inflicted.  Melvin Roland was lying dead on the floor. He had taken his own life by shooting himself in the head. Investigators later learned that he had borrowed the gun from an acquaintance. Melvin had told him he wanted to teach his girlfriend how to shoot. Police in Salt Lake City, Utah, say the man accused of shooting and killing a student at the University of Utah last night, has taken his own life.

Investigators say 37year-old Melvin Roland’s body was found at a church in the city’s downtown area.  They were chasing him on foot. Um they chased him to this location. After making entry into the church and officers then coming shortly thereafter um and clearing the building they found our suspect deceased in a room in the church.

 The university identified the victim as Lauren McCcluskey from Pullman, Washington. Police say McCcluskey had previously been in a relationship with Roland. They’d gotten into a dispute earlier in the evening. The campus was placed on a temporary lockdown which was lifted shortly after 11 p.m.  Coming to a college, you never want to be in a situation like this, especially in I mean there’s more and more every day, but this is insane.

 Roland was not a student at the university, according to police. He’s currently listed on the Utah Sex Offender Registry for a 2004 conviction involving a minor. News of Lauren’s death spread across the campus almost instantly. The athletic director at the University of Utah delivered an emotional statement and paid tribute to her memory.

 You know, I don’t really have any words. Um, my heart and our entire department uh goes out to her family who I’ve been texting with her mom. you know, we’re blessed every day, educators, uh, and then in my role as director and all the coaches and staff to be around an elite group of students and student athletes.

 So, when when something like this happens, it uh it just defies any logic, any reason. I mean, every single counselor that the university had showed up this morning um and there were some hugs and words and and u you know, they’re trying to figure it out. their kids. This doesn’t make any sense. Um, but our focus, my focus as leader of the department will be making sure they’re okay.

 The rest of our student athletes are gathering. You know, we’re we’re not one team. I mean, we’re not 20 teams. We’re one we’re one team. And uh so we’ll we’ll work really hard um to make sure that they’re okay. Um we’ll [clears throat] honor her. We’ll we’ll we’ll figure those things out. So, we’ll get through this.

 These are strong young people. They’re resilient, and [snorts] we’re going to just do everything the rest of the year in in Lauren’s memory. Thank you.  Lauren did everything she possibly could. Despite her fear and the overwhelming sense that she was facing it alone, she handled every step with remarkable courage and dignity.

 Melvin worked for a security company that did not have the required license. His employers knew about the violations he had committed, yet they never reported them to the parole officer responsible for supervising him. Lauren put her trust in the system, but the system failed her.  Unbridled tears as students mourn a star athlete shot dead by her ex-boyfriend.

 We’ll always miss her and we will always [snorts] always love her. He was an amazing, genuine, and caring person. and [snorts] she will be really missed.  After this tragic and entirely preventable loss, two separate investigations were launched. Both were meant to answer the questions Lauren’s family, students, and the public had been asking since her murder.

 The first investigation was conducted by the state’s Department of Public Safety. Its goal was to determine how Melvin had managed to use fake identification for years, repeatedly violate the terms of his parole, and still remain outside effective supervision. Investigators carefully examined his criminal history, the actions of government agencies, and every circumstance that allowed him to avoid proper oversight for so long.

 The second investigation was commissioned by the University of Utah itself. Its purpose was to determine how the university responded to Lauren’s repeated requests for help or why it failed to respond appropriately. Investigators closely reviewed every interaction Lauren had with campus police along with every decision that was made after each report she filed about the stalking and threats.

 The officers who handled her complaints were found to have acted improperly. The investigation concluded that serious mistakes had been made throughout the handling of Lauren’s reports, causing a credible and escalating threat to receive far less attention than the circumstances demanded. Those findings ultimately became the foundation for a sweeping overhaul of the university’s internal procedures and the way it responds to cases like this.

 It is very important that our students know that I have confidence in our department of public safety and that our students and staff and faculty should not hesitate to reach out to our department as needed. I want to be clear that safety on our campus is a top priority for me and for my administration.

 This report does not offer us a reason to believe that this tragedy could have prevent been prevented. However, during a press conference, university President Ruth Watkins stated that in the university’s view, the tragedy could not have been prevented. That statement came only a short time after Lauren’s death and immediately sparked intense criticism from her family and from people who knew the details of the case.

 Her words left Lauren’s loved ones and friends stunned. To them, it sounded as though the university was refusing to acknowledge its own mistakes or accept any responsibility for the events leading up to Lauren’s murder. Lauren’s friend, Diamond, who also worked at the university, [music] was outraged. She understood how the system worked from the inside and believed the outcome could have been very different if Lauren’s repeated requests for help had been handled properly.

 In her view, it was nothing more than an attempt to shift responsibility. Instead of honestly admitting where the system had failed, she believed the university’s leadership was trying to portray the tragedy as something that was simply unavoidable. She said, “They lost their daughter, she’s gone, and you still have the nerve to try to cover yourselves.

” Detective Kayla Dooff, who had been assigned to Lauren’s case, was ultimately fired. Her dismissal became one of the consequences of the sweeping review of the university police department that followed the tragedy and drew national attention. Her career with the campus police came to an end after investigators identified serious failures in the way law enforcement handled Lauren’s repeated reports.

 The investigation concluded that a series of decisions and failures to act at critical moments had significantly affected the chain of events leading up to the tragedy. Later, another case involving Kayla also came to light in which she was accused of failing to take appropriate action to protect a student. That revelation only intensified public scrutiny of her work and prompted closer examination of other cases in which victims also claimed their reports had not been taken seriously.

 As more details emerged, concern continued to grow because it was no longer seen as a single isolated incident, but another case involving similar allegations. The existence of another comparable case deepened questions about whether these failures were isolated mistakes or evidence of much broader systemic problems.

 All of this placed even greater pressure on the university and law enforcement agencies which were forced to answer an increasing number of questions about how they handled reports from students who had asked for help. The former University of Utah detective who was warned about her handling of the Lauren McCcluskey case and fired over her handling of another case now has a new job.

 She unanimously lost her appeal challenging her termination. The court’s decision permanently upheld her dismissal and every attempt to regain her former position ultimately failed. It seemed that would be the end of the story surrounding her time with the University Police Department. but later she was hired by the Weber County Sheriff’s Office.

 That decision raised a great deal of concern because someone whose role in Lauren’s case had already been the subject of widespread public criticism was once again given a position in law enforcement. To many people, it sent the message that the consequences of those failures were far less significant than the public had expected.

 After that, the university police department began receiving a growing number of complaints from students. More and more people came forward to share experiences they had kept to themselves for years. Many said they had stayed silent because they feared they would be ignored or that no meaningful help would ever come. Students described how their reports of stalking, abuse, and mistreatment had also not been taken seriously.

 According to many of them, they repeatedly asked for help, but were met with indifference, delays, or a lack of [music] meaningful action. Some said that even after reporting situations that genuinely terrified them, they never felt safe. As more of these stories became public, it became increasingly clear that the problem may have extended far beyond a single case.

One account after another began to paint a deeply troubling picture, raising even more questions about how the entire response system was operating. And then the case took an even more shocking turn. Published today, an investigation by our content partners at the Salt Lake Tribune uncovered that days before Lauren McCleskkey was killed, Miguel Daryus, one of the campus officers assigned to investigate her being blackmailed over explicit photos, showed off at least one of the images to a male co-worker, and bragged about getting to

look at them whenever he wanted. According to the Tribune, the university confirmed that information. Daryus is currently working for the Logan Police Department. Today, they posted on Facebook about this report, saying in part, “We are very concerned about this allegation and are starting our own internal investigation to determine the facts.

” At the end of the investigation, we will take whatever action is appropriate based on the facts we discover. And also tonight, the University of Utah releasing a statement in response to the article and said after an internal affairs investigation, they quote, “Found no evidence that a former officer had bragged or shared any image from the investigation that wasn’t considered a legitimate law enforcement reason.

”  In June 2019, Matt and Jill McCluskey filed a $56 million lawsuit against the university. It was more than just legal action. It was an effort to hold the university accountable for a series of events they believed could have been stopped before the unthinkable happened. In October 2020, the University of Utah officially acknowledged its responsibility.

 The university agreed that Lauren’s murder could have been prevented. It was a significant admission because for the first time the university publicly acknowledged that serious failures within its system had contributed to the tragic outcome. The case was settled for $13.5 million. Ruth Watkins said, “The University of Utah acknowledges and deeply regrets that we did not handle Lauren’s case the way we should have.

 At the time, our staff failed to fully understand the seriousness of her situation and did not respond appropriately. As a result, we failed Lauren and her family. Those words became an official acknowledgement that the help Lauren desperately needed was never provided when it mattered most. The university also stated that if its employees had received better training and had clearer response protocols, it believes they would have been far better prepared to protect Lauren.

 In addition to the financial settlement, the university agreed to donate $3 million to the Lauren McCcluskey Foundation. Because of that, Lauren’s legacy continues to reach far beyond the tragedy itself. The Lauren McCcluskey Foundation was established by her parents. Today, the organization works to improve safety on college campuses and support people affected by relationship violence.

 Its mission is to make sure no other student is ever left without the protection and support they need. A legislative initiative known as Laurens Promise was also created to strengthen cooperation between universities and law enforcement while improving protections for students facing dangerous situations. It became another important step toward meaningful systemic changes designed to make college campuses safer for everyone.

 The University of Utah also established scholarship and memorial funds in Lauren McCcluskeyy’s name. They provide financial assistance to female track and field athletes, helping young women continue their education while pursuing their athletic goals. At the University of Idaho, the running track was named in Lauren’s honor.

 A dedicated room for cats at an animal shelter was also created in her memory. These very different but equally heartfelt tributes serve as a reminder of how many lives Lauren touched during her short life. During the summer before Lauren was murdered, another University of Utah student, Mackenzie Luick, whose case we’ve also covered and linked in the description, was killed as well.

 Two high-profile tragedies in such a short period forced the university to take a hard look at its own safety system. In the aftermath, an independent commission issued 30 recommendations for improving campus safety. In less than a year and a half, the university implemented every one of them.

 Those changes led to a sweeping overhaul of both university procedures and the campus police department. The university invested significant funding in a new police headquarters, built modern interview rooms, appointed a new police chief, and hired a new detective specializing in domestic and interpersonal violence cases.

 All of those changes were intended not only to correct the failures of the past, but also to help prevent tragedies like this from happening again. To this day, Lauren’s room remains exactly as she left it. It’s as if time stopped the moment she walked out of it for the last time. Her medals still hang where she proudly displayed them.

 The trophies she earned through years of relentless dedication remain on the shelves. Her college keepsakes are still there, too. Reminders of her student years and of the dreams she never got the chance to fulfill. Every part of that room reflects just how deeply she loved the life she was building. It has become a place where time stands still.

 Every item tells the story of a young woman with limitless potential who poured everything she had into her dreams and worked tirelessly toward her future. Lauren was an exceptional athlete, a dedicated student, a loving daughter, and a loyal friend to the people who loved her. She was so much more than a talented track and field athlete.

She was someone who inspired others through her kindness, her work ethic, and her genuine love of life. And even though her room remains frozen in time, Lauren’s story did not end there. It lives on every time a student’s plea for help is taken seriously. Every time someone is believed before it’s too late and every time another young athlete walks onto a college campus with the same ambition, determination, and passion that once drove Lauren forward.

That is how Lauren’s legacy lives on. Not only in the memories of those who loved her, but also in the changes that continue to protect others from experiencing the same tragedy.