EP. 83 UTAH - The Murder of Lauren McCluskey
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In 2018, a student at the University of Utah named Lauren McCluskey discovered that her boyfriend was not the man he said he was. Not only did he lie about his name and age, but after a quick Google search, Lauren learned that he had a very dark past, a very violent past, and it wouldn't be long until she got to see that dark side that he tried to keep hidden.

Lauren McCluskey was scared of this man, and she even contacted the University of Utah's police on multiple occasions, expressing her concern. But time after time, nothing was done. They always tell us to reach out for help, to report it if someone is harassing or abusing you. But asking for help is not always easy, especially when people don't take your situation seriously.

In our case for today, Lauren did everything she could to seek protection from her abuser, but the people responsible for keeping her safe failed to do so. And in October of 2018, she was murdered by her ex-boyfriend on the University of Utah's campus. This is the story of Lauren McCluskey. I'm Courtney Browen. And I'm Colin Browen. And you're listening to Murder in America.

Our story starts in Pullman, Washington, which is a college town.

home of Washington State University. And it was here, in the late 90s, where Jill McCluskey was offered tenure at the university, teaching economics. And around the same time, her husband Matt was offered tenure teaching physics. Life was really good for the McCluskeys. They had a secure job and a growing family. Their daughter, Lauren McCluskey, was born on February 12th, 1997. And shortly after her birth, Jill and Matt built a nice home in a good neighborhood in Pullman, Washington.

Then, just a few years after Lorne, the family welcomed a son, whom they named Ryan Their family was complete, and the McCluskeys couldn't be any happier

And from a young age, Jill and Matt knew that Lauren was a very special girl. As a child, she was always happy and extremely active. Jill said that you could always count on Lauren running around with a big smile on her face. Jill told Dateline that Lauren could walk by the time she was nine months old, and by the time she was two, she was climbing trees in their backyard.

Another characteristic that they noticed at a young age was that Lauren was very competitive. So they figured she would do really well in sports. And they were right. When Lauren was a child, she joined track and field. And by the time she was eight years old, she had already broken three records in the sport in the Junior Olympics competition in Washington State. And throughout the years, she learned how to really love the hurdles and the high jump. But Lauren was also a great person to be around.

She was shy with strangers, but when she warmed up to you, she was an incredible friend. According to her loved ones, she was always so attentive when they would speak to her, listening to every word and asking questions along the way. She made you feel like you were important, the kind of friend that everyone needs. She also didn't like to bring a lot of attention to herself.

Even when Lauren would win meets and the local newspapers would interview her, she would rarely talk about herself. Instead, she would dedicate her success to her loving support system. Lauren was also beautiful. She had long dark hair, big blue eyes, and a beautiful smile. And she definitely caught the eyes of many when she walked into a room. But again, Lauren didn't like a lot of attention.

And she was more focused on bettering herself in every way she could. Her mother Jill told the Deseret News that "Lauren was really hard on herself, and she was resilient. Any time she experienced a loss, especially in track, Lauren would work twice as hard so she could get better. And this really paid off. Throughout the years, Lauren was excelling in track and field."

At her parents' home in Pullman, Washington, her room is filled with dozens of medals and awards from all of her accomplishments in the sport. And she loved it so much that she wanted to continue track even after she graduated high school. Now, Lauren was a really good student on top of being good at track, so when her senior year of high school came around, there were many D1 schools interested in recruiting her.

Lauren had a lot of options to choose from but she ultimately decided to accept the scholarship from the University of Utah.

which was located about 600 miles away in Salt Lake City. And most parents have a hard time when their kids go off to college, especially when it's so far away. But Lauren's parents had a good feeling about this school, mostly because it was considered to be very safe. In fact, the university even promotes itself by claiming to be a very safe school. It's one of the reasons they tell students to go there.

So, Lauren's parents had no reason to be concerned and they were very excited for their daughter. After all, Lauren was a very well-behaved kid.

She didn't party a lot or get into trouble. She didn't drink a lot or do drugs. She was a hard worker, dedicated, responsible. And the main thing her parents were worried about was getting her a good and safe car so she would be safe on the roads. They ended up buying her a green Jeep Liberty and before long it was time for them to say goodbye to their firstborn child.

When Lauren finally made the move to Utah, 10 hours away,

It was hard for her parents, but they were confident that Lauren was on her way to do great things and that she would be in great hands at the University of Utah. Now, Lauren didn't know anyone at the school and she was shy, so her freshman year was a little intimidating. Pullman, Washington was pretty small compared to Salt Lake City and she was just one out of nearly 32,000 students, so it wasn't exactly easy.

But she did meet one girl in August of 2015 who would go on to be her best friend Her name was Alex and she was actually one of Lauren's random roommates Now, getting matched with a roommate is usually a coin toss but Lauren was really lucky because Alex was amazing The two got along really well and they spent all of their time together studying, going to church

and having a good time their freshman year. And the two would actually stay best friends throughout all of college. And Alex would later tell the Deseret News that Lauren really blossomed over the years. During their freshman year, she was shy, and she was often seen walking around with her head down, trying to stay out of everyone's way. But by 2018, their senior year, Lauren seemed like a whole new person.

She had found her confidence and was speaking up more in conversations. Alex even said that one night they all went to an open mic night downtown and everyone in their friend group was absolutely shocked when Lauren decided to go on stage.

It was not in her personality, but she was having fun. After this, it was normal for the girls to go downtown, let their hair down and have a lot of fun. They even started going to karaoke nights where she and her friends would loudly sing along to famous songs in front of a crowd of strangers. And to everyone, it seemed like Lauren was doing really well. She was even set to graduate soon, which was exciting.

Lauren had big dreams for herself. After college, she wanted to move somewhere warm, maybe San Diego. She wanted to get a nice apartment, find her dream job, and maybe even meet the love of her life. At this point, Lauren hadn't really focused on finding a relationship. She wasn't opposed to having a boyfriend, she just hadn't really found anyone that suited her.

That was until September 2nd, 2018. It was a Saturday. Boren had finished her studies for the week and wanted to go out and have some fun. A new bar called London Bell had just opened up on Main Street and she was interested in trying it out.

So, she texts her friend Alex and the two make plans to go there later that evening. The girls weren't planning on doing anything crazy, just having a couple of drinks, checking out the new bar, and then heading back home. That night, Lauren puts on jeans, a navy shirt, and some sandals, and she and Alex make their way over to the London Belle. Upon arriving to the bar, there was already a huge line of people waiting to go inside.

The line moved slowly as the bouncer was checking people's IDs and letting them in. When Lauren and Alex finally made their way to the front, Lauren and the bouncer locked eyes. He's handsome, tall, and muscular and Lauren was definitely attracted to him. And you could tell by the look on his face that he was interested in Lauren too. But instead of saying anything to her, he just smiles and lets her inside the bar.

And for the next hour, Lauren and her friends have a few drinks and enjoy their night. But Lauren can't help but notice that the bouncer keeps looking over in her direction. Then, every so often, she sees him walking by, almost as if he wants to approach her.

And eventually, he does. "Hi, I'm Sean Fields. What's your name?" Lauren introduces herself and the two engage in a little small talk before Sean asks for her number. And Lauren was not opposed to giving it to him. Sean was actually one of the only guys that she had connected with since she started college. Plus, he was charming, with a very friendly face and he seemed like a great guy.

So she quickly writes her number on a cocktail napkin, the two say goodbye, and Lauren runs back to her friends to tell them about their interaction. Alex would later tell Dateline that Lauren was questioning whether or not he would even attempt to contact her, but she was hopeful that he would. And what do you know, by the next morning,

Lauren gets a text from Sean asking her on a date. Lauren quickly went to her best friend Alex and she was giddy, telling her that she and Sean had their first date that very afternoon. And it wasn't your typical date. Sean was going to take her to a climbing gym, which Lauren loved. Understandably, she was excited.

She hadn't really had any luck with boys throughout her college experience and Sean seemed like a really great guy. Later that day, he even showed up with a dozen roses to pick her up for the date. And afterwards, he took her to meet some of his friends, whom she really liked. And when they went out that afternoon, she got to learn a lot about him. Like the fact he was adopted by an older couple and grew up in New York.

They eventually passed away and he was sent off to a group home and after a few years, he decided to start attending classes at a community college nearby where he was majoring in computer science. But he was only doing part-time school while he worked at bars to make some extra money on the side. He also told Lauren that he was 28 years old, which was different.

Lauren was only 21 at the time and she had never really been with an older guy, but it didn't bother her too much. After all, she was really mature for her age and the two seemed to connect on this first date. After their first date was over and Lauren came back home, she quickly called her mom Jill to give her an update. Mom, the date was so much fun. He gave me roses, he took me to meet his friends. I really, really like him.

Both Jill and Matt could hear the excitement in their daughter's voice, and they were happy for her. They were put off a little when they heard he was 28 years old, but Lauren was an adult now, and she could make her own decisions. And she seemed really happy.

So it was something that they were able to look past. And Jill ended the phone call that evening telling Lauren that she was so happy for her. Sean would ask Lauren on a second and about a week later, the two were officially dating. And everyone in Lauren's life could tell that she was smitten. She was already a very happy person, but with Sean in her life, she was happier than ever. But it wouldn't take long for some of Lauren's friends to start noticing some concerning behavior.

For one, he never left her side. And I get that that's normal when people first start a relationship, they want to spend every second together. But Sean had practically moved in with Lauren into her small dorm on campus.

And this was weird to them because Lauren just had a small twin-sized bed and Sean was a pretty big guy. And they started to question why they never went over to his place. But that wasn't as concerning as some of the other things Sean would do. Like we see in a lot of toxic relationships, Sean started controlling the way Lauren dressed, making her change if he didn't like her outfit.

He also was overly obsessed about the people she was allowed to hang out with. And not even a week into their relationship, Lauren got to see Sean's angry side. If she took too long to respond, Sean would blow up on her. It even got to the point where her friend Alex would have to text him back if Lauren was driving.

because he would get mad if he didn't get a response. And it seemed like Sean was very insecure when he wasn't around Lauren. Some days, she would just be sitting in her dorm with her friends and Sean would start blowing up her phone. Lauren was constantly having to reassure him that she wasn't doing anything. She was just hanging out at home with her friends. And the people close to Lauren were starting to get concerned.

They noticed that whenever Sean texted her, she was at his beck and call, and it seemed like her life revolved around him.

which was strange because Lauren had always been so independent. It was clear to Lauren's friends that Sean was very controlling, and this feeling was confirmed when they all went out one night to the place where Sean worked as a security guard. At first, the night was going normally, but towards the end, when Lauren was ready to go home, Sean came up to her and asked if she would pick him up when his shift was over.

Now, keep in mind, it was already very late at this point, and Sean's shift was ending at around 2 am. And that was far too late for Lauren, so at first she tells him no because she wants to go home and get some sleep. But as time passed, Sean started demanding that she drive him home. Now, eventually, Lauren's friends pull her aside and tell her that this behavior is not normal.

But Lauren blows it off saying "I know he just has some trust issues and once we start dating a little longer he will eventually know that I'm trustworthy. He won't be like this forever. Her friends weren't buying it, but they decided to just let it go for now. Maybe she's right. Maybe he will change. But if you've ever been in a relationship like this, you'll know that it usually doesn't stop."

In fact, it almost always gets worse. And in Lauren's case, it most definitely did. A few weeks into their relationship, Sean was refusing to let Lauren go anywhere because he feared that other guys would be around.

One night, according to the Deseret News, Lauren was attending one of her night classes when her phone died. When she finally got it back on, Sean called her screaming at her and accused her of cheating on him. "What are you talking about Sean? I was in class," she tells him. But Lauren is quick to forgive this overreaction because Sean was really good at manipulation.

Afterwards, he tells her, "I'm sorry I freak out on you. I just, I love you so much and I get worried because my previous girlfriend cheated on me and I just don't want anything to happen to us." - Lauren had another friend who was a graduate student named Diamond and she too was put off by Sean's behavior. And she knew that Lauren hadn't had any dating experience. So she figured that maybe she just didn't know that these qualities were concerning in a partner.

Diamond would later say that Lauren was investing so much of her time into Sean, which is common with your first love. They're your entire world. And Lauren was definitely giving him her all. Diamond said that Lauren was constantly updating Sean on everything when they weren't together. Anytime she left her house, she had to tell Sean. Anytime someone came over, she had to tell Sean. And it only seemed to be getting worse as time went on.

Eventually, Sean would make Lauren send pictures of what she was doing to him and pictures of who she was with. Because at some point, her word was just not enough for him. Diamond said that once she realized how controlling Sean was, she sat Lauren down and said, "You know, I'm only telling you this because I love you. And I'm an older friend that has gone through this very thing. And it's not okay.

Sean constantly asking where you're going and making you send pictures. It's not him being protective, and it's definitely not love. He's controlling you. Lauren listened to Diamond, but she didn't think it was that big of a deal, telling her, no, it's fine. He just wants to make sure I'm safe.

And again, hindsight is always 20/20. And with this being Lauren's first relationship, you can't blame her for not seeing the potential dangers. She was smitten. And a lot of the times when you're so deeply in love, it's easy to overlook this kind of behavior. According to the Deseret News,

Her friend Alex would later say about Lauren, "It was in her nature to never say anything bad about anyone. But there were times when she was emotionally abused when he would say things to her, but she couldn't seem to recognize it. She was under his spell." But as the weeks passed, her friends became more and more concerned. Lauren's friend Carmen said that one time, Sean and Lauren got into a huge fight and he stormed off mad.

And Lauren was so upset at herself for making him that mad, even though she didn't do anything wrong. She even told her friends, "I don't want to upset him that way again. I don't want to see him that mad ever again."

And it was almost like she viewed it as she needed to change, not that he was the one overreacting. Now, at this point, they had been only dating for a couple of weeks, but Sean had fully moved in with Lauren into her dorm on campus. And usually dorms are pretty strict about these kinds of things, but Sean had actually made friends with other people in the dorm, so everyone just kind of let him in, knowing that he was Lauren's boyfriend. He didn't need to have a keycard or anything.

And once Sean was fully living with her, Lauren's friends started noticing a massive difference in her. For one, she always seemed sleep deprived. Sean, who didn't have a lot of responsibilities, was keeping her up through the night, which affected her sleep schedule. And yes, she was in her senior year of college, and many people experience senioritis, but this was different. Lauren used to care a lot about her grades, but soon enough, they began to be affected as well.

Lauren's friends said that she always seemed tired, stressed, and sad, almost. She liked to make everyone think she was okay. But the look in her eyes told a different story.

And by now, there were a ton of red flags, but the biggest one of all was when Lauren disclosed to her friends that Sean was going to give her a gun for her protection. And this was really weird to Lauren's friends because, for one, Lauren had never been in any kind of danger. The University of Utah was pretty safe.

And I would understand wanting to get a gun if your apartment had been broken into or if you had a stalker or something like that, but it all seemed pretty random. Lauren's life wasn't being threatened in any way, so why did he want to get her a gun? Another reason this was concerning for her friends was because you weren't allowed to have guns in their dorm unless it was concealed and you had a license, which Lauren didn't.

And her friend Diamond actually worked for the university's housing department. So when she heard this, there were a ton of alarm bells going off in her head. In her mind, there should be no reason why this 28 year old man was giving Lauren a gun when she didn't really need it. And because Diamond worked for the housing department,

She felt an obligation to report this to her superiors. Diamond wrote a lengthy email to them, but when she received their reply, she didn't feel like they took it very seriously. They pretty much write back that they would talk about it another time and that it wasn't really their main priority.

And this would go on to be one of the many mistakes the University of Utah would make throughout the next few weeks. So at this point, all of Lauren's friends were in agreement that Sean was not a good guy. And I feel like we've all been in those situations where a friend starts dating someone and no one really likes the person, but you don't want to upset your friend, so you all just kind of keep your opinions to yourself.

But at this point, Lauren's friends were not keeping quiet about their feelings for Sean. And they started opening up to Lauren more about these concerns because they were genuinely concerned for her. And they told her, "Lauren, you do not need a gun. You are safe here. And if anything, he's the one compromising your safety." And it wouldn't be long until Lauren would learn that her friends were right. Sean Fields was not a good guy.

And she realized all of this in October of 2018, about one month into their relationship. And now we're going to take an ad break. Bald men are super hot. That's a given. But did you know that most bald men are shaving their head wrong? If you have a bald husband out there, listen up. Yeah, they're using the same multi-blade razor that they also use on their face. Wrong. Razors are made to shave flat surfaces, not curved domes.

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That's simplisafewithani.com slash inamerica. There's no safe like SimpliSafe. And now, let's get back to our story. Now, let's get back to today's story. The day started off just like any other. Sean stayed with Lauren at her dorm the night before like he always did.

And the next morning, he left to go run some errands. But while Lauren was in her room going through her things, she saw that Sean left his ID. So she picks it up and glances over it. But something that immediately caught her eye was that the name on his ID was not Sean Fields. Yes, it was his picture, but underneath it read the name Melvin Rowland.

Immediately, Lauren felt her heart sink. Why would he be going by a different name? What did he have to hide? By that point, they had been dating for about a month, and he had never mentioned to her that his name wasn't actually Shawn Fields. And then as her eyes scanned the rest of the ID, she felt her heart sink again. His birthday was listed as May 12th, 1981.

Lauren did some quick mental math in her head and it certainly wasn't adding up. Sean, or Melvin, had been telling Lauren that he was 28 this entire time, but according to his ID, he's 37 now.

16 years older than her. At that moment, Lauren was flooded with many emotions. Sadness, anger, confusion, worry, everything. So she decided to run to her computer so she could figure out exactly who this guy was. Lauren had no idea what she was even looking for, but it was clear to her that her boyfriend was hiding something.

So she types his name into Google: Melvin Rowland, just like it read on his ID. She pushes enter and anxiously waits for the results. But what she would find that afternoon was far worse than anything Lauren expected. One of the first results on Google was Melvin's rap sheet.

There, online, were several mugshots from his past arrests. And what was he arrested for, you ask? It turns out Melvin Rowland was a registered sex offender in Utah. Ten years prior, he had been arrested for enticing a minor on the internet, which is a second-degree felony.

and attempted forcible sexual abuse, which is a third degree felony. Melvin actually served nearly 10 years in a Utah prison for these offenses and was released shortly before he and Lauren met. As Lauren was reading the screen of her computer, she was in complete shock. I mean, this was the man that she loved, the man she had given her all to, just to find out it was all a lie.

Not knowing what to do next, Lauren decides to call her friend Alex and tell her about her recent discovery. When Alex answered the phone, she said that Lauren seemed scared as she quickly flooded her with all of this information. Alex did her best to try and calm her down and eventually tells her that this had to be where she draws the line. She cannot continue this relationship and Lauren was right there with her.

The fact that Sean, or Melvin, had lived this double life was the last straw. Lauren knew she couldn't be with him anymore. After that phone call, Lauren makes the difficult call to her parents. They had sort of been in the dark about the way he had been treating her. I know a lot of the time you don't want parents to be worried about you, so you mostly tell them about the good parts in your life and hide the bad parts, which is what Lauren had been doing. But she knew she couldn't keep this from them.

This was huge. So she calls her mom for some advice. I'm sure for Lauren's mother, she was horrified to hear the news about Lauren's boyfriend. She had always talked so highly of Sean, and now she's finding out that he's a convicted sex offender. Lauren's mom, however, was grateful that she was opening up and was ready to move on and break up with him.

But Lauren was worried. She had never been in a relationship before, so she didn't know the best way to navigate a breakup. She also knew how angry Sean could get, so she was rightfully scared. And Lauren's mom was scared for her. Now, from this point forward, we are going to call him Melvin now that we know his real name. But after this phone call, Lauren was ready to end the relationship.

I can imagine she was running through exactly what she was going to say to him over and over in her head. But Melvin was unpredictable. Who knows how he's going to react? But as she was sitting there thinking about what she was going to say, she saw something out of the corner of her eye. There, standing outside of her bedroom, was Melvin, just kind of standing there, glaring at her.

And it was clear that he had been somewhat listening to her conversation because when he came inside, he was mad at her for discussing their relationship with her friends. But I don't think Melvin knew about Lauren's recent discovery because when she brought it up, he was shocked. Lauren mentioned the fact that she knew his name wasn't Sean. The fact that he's 37, not 28.

And lastly, that he was a convicted sex offender. As Lauren laid all of this out, she made it clear that he had betrayed her and that she couldn't be with someone that lived this big of a lie. But like most manipulators do, Melvin did his best to backtrack everything

Now, this was a complete lie. Melvin pled guilty to soliciting a 13-year-old online.

but he was saying everything he could to salvage their relationship.

And knowing the kind of person Melvin is, it's likely that he already had this story ready to go just in case he ever got caught. I mean, living that big of a lie, you have to get your story straight. So he begs Lauren to give him a second chance, doing everything he can to convince her that what she read about him wasn't true. But at this point, Lauren was done.

What he had done to her had caused irreversible damage and there was no turning back. So she tells Melvin to leave, but he wasn't going to take no for an answer. In fact, every time she told him to leave, he would force himself on her, cornering her in her room. And Melvin was a big guy. He was 6'3", 250 pounds of muscle. So Lauren was scared.

It was obvious that he wasn't going to leave and there was absolutely no way she could force herself out of there. So she takes a deep breath and she did her best to de-escalate the situation. I'm sure she told herself that if they just sit there and talk and she listens to what he has to say, he will eventually leave and she will never have to see him again.

So, being the bigger person, Lauren sits in her room for hours while Melvin does his best to convince her he's a good guy. Eventually, Lauren looks outside and she sees that the sun is starting to rise. She is tired. She's been up all night trapped in her room by her ex-boyfriend. Now, eventually, Melvin tells her, "You know what? I will leave, but only if I can take your car."

And it's clear the only reason he did this was so that he would have an excuse to see her again. Obviously, if he took her car, they would have to meet up again so he could give it back to her. And Lauren knew this, but honestly at this point, she was willing to do anything.

I can only imagine the amount of relief Lauren felt as she watched him walk away.

She was finally free. Now, Lauren didn't want to have to see Melvin to get her car back, so the two arranged it to where Melvin would just drop off her car in a random parking lot at the university. But when Lauren called her mom, Jill, to let her know about this arrangement, something about it just didn't sit right.

She did not want her daughter going to that parking lot alone. Who knows what this guy was capable of? So, on October 10th, at around 10pm, Jill decided to call the University Police and she asked if they could escort Lauren to her car that day, just to be safe. Here's the audio from that call. - University Police, security, open the hatch. - No, please. - Hi, I would like to request some help from my daughter.

Is there a student at University of Utah? Okay. What is the situation exactly? What does your daughter do? Okay. So she was dating someone who is not a student, and he has her car. Okay. Okay.

She broke up with him and he's supposed to return it to the parking lot at the stadium. And I'm worried that he's dangerous. Okay, we can definitely have someone help her out. Can you have your daughter give us a call? Can you guys call her? Okay, so let me tell you just a little bit more. So he was lying to her?

And he's actually a sexual offender. Okay. And lied about his age and things like that.

Okay. And then he has her car, and he wants her to return. One of his friends wants her to return the car to the stadium parking lot at 5 o'clock. And since it's fall break, a bunch of her friends aren't there, so I'm worried she's going to go there alone and someone's going to hurt her. She's an out-of-state. Her name is Lauren McCluskey. She's on the track team. She's an out-of-state student.

and she started dating this guy there who's like a bad person. Okay. And she found out he's a bad person, and she broke up with him, and he has her car. Definitely. Let me give her a call real quick, and we will figure something out, okay? Okay.

Okay, so I'd just like someone to accompany her because a bunch of her friends are out of town. I don't want her to go there by herself and have something bad happen to her. Definitely. I will give her a call. Did you want me to give you a call back or...

Yes, you can call back. That'd be good. Okay, what was your name? Jill. Jill? I'm on post 10-3-2. Okay. Perfect. It's going to be okay, Jill. Let me give Lauren a call real quick and figure something out with her, okay? Because that would be totally easy for us to send someone with her. I wouldn't want her to go into a bad situation by herself. So let me give her a call real quick. Yeah, no problem, Jill. I will give you a call back in a little bit, okay? Okay.

Okay, thanks Jill. Bye-bye. And during that call, you can really hear the fear in Jill's voice. She knows deep down that something about this entire situation is just not right. A mother's intuition. So a few minutes after that call, the university police call Lauren and they offer her a safety escort as she goes to pick up her car. Here is the audio from that call.

Hello? Hi, this is Lauren. Dana. Hi, this is University Police. I got a call from your mom about, I guess, a car drop-off that you're going to be doing or someone dropping off your car, and she was a little bit worried about it. I was wondering if I can ask you a few questions and then maybe send someone with you or have someone meet you there when you're going to drop off the car.

Okay. Well, so I think the car will be dropped off. Okay. So she said your ex-boyfriend's dropping off your car. One of his friends, yeah. Okay. And, sorry, he's dropping it off where? Well, for sure. At first it was going to be at the stadium, but he was asking...

to drop it off at my place so okay um i might just have it dropped off at one of the buildings in my mind do you live on campus yes okay and um where do you live on campus are you assuming except the dorms okay do you feel comfortable with him doing that

I know your mom was really concerned about it. I think it's okay. Okay, because if it's all right with you, I mean, we're here 24-7. I'm super cool. You could come hang out here and have him drop it off here.

We have a parking lot on the east side of our building. It's the police department on campus. It's right by the South Stadium tracks. We could even have a security officer pick you up at your dorm and drop you off here so you can wait here for him to leave your vehicle. Especially, I mean, it sounds like... I mean, I don't know how you feel about the situation. I don't want to misinterpret just based off of what your mom was saying, but she definitely seemed worried about it. Um...

So if you wanted to and you felt comfortable, you could come hang out here with us. I mean, it's just a bunch of college kids here. I mean, there's some adults, obviously. We work for the police. But, you know, you could come hang out with us when you dropped it off. Or I know she wanted someone to be there with you when the car gets dropped off, which would definitely make me feel more comfortable about that situation. But I don't want to put you out of your comfort zone. I know that's kind of weird, especially if you haven't.

with the police before, just having an officer hang out with you while someone drops off a car can be weird. - I think I just want to have it dropped off here, but I'll call if I need to. - Well, okay. Is it all right if I have a security officer at least in the area when it's getting dropped off in case you need anything? - Yeah, that sounds good. - Okay, and what time is it getting dropped off?

Okay. And this is, what building did you say it was again? Okay. I'm looking at my map. It looks like the closest parking lot is the parking lot kind of in front of 825. It's like kitty cornered. Yeah. Okay. Is that going to be the closest parking lot, do you think? Yeah, I think so. And what type of car is it?

It's a Jeep Liberty. It's green. Okay. And the guy who's dropping off, what's his name? And his last name? I'm not sure what his last name is. So you cut out a little bit. Let's see. I'm not sure what his last name is. Okay. Is he a student on campus?

I don't believe so. Okay. All right. So I will give my security officers just a little bit of a heads up in case you need anything, and we'll go from there. If you change your mind last minute or anything like that, we have...

Some really cool security officers. We have some new, we have a couple of new cops on campus that are always looking for like extra stuff to do while they're finishing up their training. Anything like that, you just let me know, Lauren. My name is and I'll be here until 6 p.m. So if you need anything, just let us know. It's

And I just want to take a second to say that the woman who talked to Lauren was amazing.

And honestly, she was the most helpful of anyone that Lauren would go on to deal with throughout this entire ordeal. But after this phone call, the dispatcher calls Jill again to give her an update. Hello? Hi, is this Jill? Yes. Hey, Jill, this is...

With campus police, I'm the person you spoke with before. So I just got off the phone with Lauren. I let her know that we had talked about the situation. I told her I thought it might be easiest if she just come hang out with us here at the police department and he can drop off

the car here um because that way she's hanging out indoors with us i mean it's good lighting i don't know that would be that would be great that would be great she didn't seem thrilled about that idea she said she would prefer it be dropped off at her dorm um i offered to send someone up to hang out with her um she said she would just let me know if she needed anything so i

got her dorm number. It sounds like she doesn't want to change the plans that they already made. His friend made some plans, but I'm just so worried about it. I don't want to do anything without her permission, but I did let her know, even though I'm not technically assigning someone, I am going to tell the security officers where she is and what time it's going to be dropped off. And I just told her

um, up front. I'm, I am going to send someone to walk around that area while it's happening. So, I gave her our number, I gave her my name, um,

and let her know to call back, especially if the situation gets weird and she needs help. But I am going to send security officers either way just to walk around. Yeah, but she's dealing with a bad person who lied to her. Yeah, yeah. And it's hard because she was dating him. Yeah, exactly. Yeah, and I know, right? I know exactly. That's...

unfortunately a pretty common occurrence on campus. So I am going to send them, but unless she wants someone there or unless she wants to come down here, which I know that's weird for most young college students, but I did give her the option that would be really easy for us, but I'll send them in the area at least. Yes, so thank you and

Thank you so much that you're looking out for her. Yeah, no problem, Jill. Okay. Give me a call back if you have any questions or need anything else. Okay. Again, you can just ask for me my name. I'll be here until 6 p.m., and I let your daughter know as well that if she feels comfortable calling back and talking to me, I'll be here until 6 after the drop-off. So it's supposed to happen at 5, so that would be perfect. Yep, yep. Sounds good. I will let my security officers know right now.

And I know these calls are kind of long, but I feel like it really does show us the severity of the situation and how it affects everyone involved. You can tell that Jill is worried sick. And for Lauren, it almost seems like she doesn't want to make a big deal out of everything.

I'm sure in her mind, it would be a lot easier if Melvin just left the car in the parking lot and she moved on. And bringing a lot of attention to it all may just upset Melvin even more. But Jill knows that there's something wrong here. And after this phone call, the dispatcher calls a security officer and explains the situation at hand. Hi, this is Kepa Phone 12. Okay.

Hey, so, sorry, this is, I'm barging in on this call because I'm the one who wanted you to call. So I wanted to make you guys aware of a situation tonight at 6. This girl doesn't want officers to respond and she didn't want to come down here, but her mom called to tell us about it. I guess her ex-boyfriend is dropping off her car there.

because they broke up and he needs to leave her car there at 5 p.m. I think it's lot 73. This girl doesn't want police to go to do a keep the peace or anything like that, but her mom said that her ex-boyfriend's actually a sex offender and he lied about his age.

and lied about being a student on campus and all this stuff. So she said at 5:00 PM, she would like someone to be nearby in case something happens. But this girl, her name's Lauren, she said she doesn't want anyone to be there. And I said, well, I'm going to let security know anyway so that they can be nearby. I think she said it's a green Jeep.

And do we need to keep the key? How is it going to be? No, they're going to do the exchange themselves, I guess. He's going to pull up. She's going to be outside. He's going to hand her the keys and then leave. Okay. But it is going to be a green Jeep Blurber pulling up there at 5. And I just let her know, like, expect for some security officers to be nearby. I'm not going to, you know, tell them to go and talk to you and stuff, but they're going to be driving around at least. Yes, that's okay. So, again, the girl...

And she's picking up the key. And we don't need to do anything unless something abnormal happens. Exactly, yeah. And I'll radio you if we get a call. I told her to call if it gets weird. It'll be right in front of me.

As it nears closer to 5 p.m., Jill is worried sick about her daughter.

So she calls Lauren and she convinces her to exchange the car with a security guard present. And she tells her, you know, it's better safe than sorry. I have a really bad feeling about this and you don't know what this guy's capable of. Eventually, Lauren agrees and she calls dispatch again to tell them that she changed her mind.

Hi. So this is Lauren. We talked a while ago. Hi, Lauren. Yeah, what's up? So, yeah, so there's kind of a change of plans. I'm actually going to the stadium to get my car. Okay. And I was wondering if I could get a ride to the stadium. That's okay? Definitely. Definitely. Yeah, for sure. We have...

a security officer that's just in charge of escorts tonight so I could have him give you a ride. Do you want him to wait with you as well when the car's getting dropped off? That would be great. Okay, definitely. Yeah, I'll just give him a heads up. I'll have him hang tight there and then if you want to grab the keys or whatever, he'll just wait until you get into your car and stuff and drive away and just make sure everything's okay, okay?

Okay, sounds good. Sounds good, Lauren. And then just give us a call back when you're ready to go down there and we'll send them out there to meet you, okay? Okay. Sounds good. Thanks so much. Bye-bye. Thanks. Bye. A few minutes later, Jill calls again to confirm that an officer will be there to escort Lauren to her car. University Police and Security, how can I help you? This is, uh-huh. Jill, um, Lauren's mom. Hi. Hi.

Hi. So did she call you back? She did. She called me back and said that there was going to be a change of plans. They'd be going down to the stadium, and a security officer is going to pick her up at her dorm and drive her down there. Okay, wonderful. And then he'll wait with her until she gets her car. Okay. Yeah, because I think the reason she said no at first was that the guy's friend was saying that she was really judgmental.

Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

She's in her car. Okay. So I'm going to let him know just to wait there until she gets in and drives away. Okay. So perfect. Okay. So thanks so much. I just wanted to make sure that that was happening because I feel like

I feel like he has a little bit of control over her. Oh, definitely. You know, that something bad could happen, you know. Yeah, I know exactly what you mean. I was there at one point, too. Young college kids don't always make the best decisions, but it sounds like he's got to give up watching out for her. Yeah, so she's 21, and this is an older guy who, like, lied about his age to her. Yeah. And so thank you for looking out for her. Yeah.

And you can hear the relief in Jill's voice knowing that her daughter will be safe. Soon enough, she will have her car back and they can put this entire situation behind them. Little did they know, that would not be the case.

But as for now, dispatch updates an officer about the situation and at 4:58 p.m., Lauren calls the University Police and tells them that she's ready to be picked up for the car exchange. University Police, Sound Security, how can I help you?

Hi, Lauren's just supposed to get a ride to the stadium to pick up my car. Lauren? This is Lauren. Okay, perfect. And can I have my officer meet you on the north side of your building at the parking lot? Which side is that? Sorry, it's the side. It's that parking lot just in front of 825 and 826. Okay, sounds good. Perfect. I'll send him out right now.

Okay, thanks. Bye. Now, shortly after this, a police officer drives to Lauren's apartment. She hops in their vehicle, and they make their way towards the university's stadium. Once they pull into the parking lot, they see her Jeep Liberty, and they hand off the car with no issues.

Whatever Melvin Rowland had been planning for Lauren that night, those plans were interrupted once the police were involved. And something about Lauren involving the police triggered something inside of him, and there was nothing he could do to manipulate his way back into her life.

But for now, Lauren had her car, she was safe, and she was finally done with Melvin Rowland. Or so she thought. At around 5.44 p.m., Jill called the university police, and they confirmed that Lauren was safe. Hi, this is... Hold on just a sec. Hi, this is...

Joe, I got a message. I got a missed call from you. Yeah, I just wanted to give you a heads up. I just wanted to let you know that we did have our officer pick up Lauren. We had him wait with her while she found the key, and then I watched her drive away on the cameras. Yeah, and she texted me too that she got the car back. So thank you so much. You guys are so wonderful. I so much appreciate it. No problem. You have a great day, Joe. Yeah, I just wanted to follow up. Thank you. No problem. Bye-bye.

For the first time in days, the McCluskeys could breathe a sigh of relief. Their little girl was finally safe. Jill was especially grateful to the campus police for being so helpful, but this gratitude would be short-lived. Unfortunately, this would pretty much be the most help the university would provide throughout this entire story.

And from here on out, they would make a ton of mistakes regarding Lauren's safety. But after this, they made sure to tell Lauren's parents that they would be on the lookout for Lauren to make sure nothing happened to her. And that because she lived in a dorm on campus, they had nothing to worry about. "Campus is safe," they told them. "Lauren will be okay." But they couldn't have been more wrong.

Now that Lauren had her car back, she was sure that Melvin would be out of her life forever and she was ready to move on and enjoy the rest of her senior year. But in the days after she got her car, Lauren's phone began to flood with messages. These messages, however, were allegedly not from Melvin.

but from Melvin's friends. Now, spoiler alert, they were indeed from Melvin. And they read things like: "How could you do this to the big man? Melvin's a great guy. He really loves you. Melvin is so upset about you breaking up with him." Now, all of these messages were coming from different numbers, but everyone knew it was Melvin. He even had the same grammatical errors in these messages that he was known to use.

And they all figured he was probably using an app that sent messages from different numbers. Lauren ignored these texts, but as time went on, they started getting more and more strange. One message told her to kill herself. Another said that Melvin had gotten in an accident and was severely injured.

Lauren still doesn't respond, but the next thing she knows, she gets another text that Melvin was in the hospital and that they weren't sure he was going to make it. Then another text that Melvin had died. Now, Lauren figured this was all a ruse to get her to talk to him again, but just to make sure, she looks at his social media accounts and sees that he's literally still using them.

So it's obvious that he's not dead. She then gets a text saying, "Will you come to his funeral?" And by this point, Lauren has had enough. So she texts back saying, "I know he's alive. Please leave me alone and don't text this number. I got police involved." She then blocks all of the numbers that had been texting her hoping that they would soon stop.

And by now, Lauren knows that Melvin's behavior is escalating. So just to be safe, she calls the campus police to report the text she had been receiving. University Police and Security, how can I help you? Hi, this is Lauren. I called a little a few days ago about...

a situation and I wanted to kind of give an update and ask about some things. Um, so it was like, I, so my, um, well basically, so. Did you make a report? I did not.

Okay, so you called a couple days ago about a situation you wanted to follow up on? Well, I guess it's kind of a different situation, but it's related in a way. Okay. You didn't make a report, did you talk to a police officer? Okay. I, well, so I had a security person drive me to pick up my car because I was worried about getting it,

But so what happened was that so I got the car and that was fine. But from one of my ex's friends. But so he and then some other people.

I've been getting these texts about from these numbers of different people saying that they were saying that he was in the hospital and then saying that he passed away. But then I got a text from him and he seems to be alive. And then I got a text about asking if I wanted to go to a funeral, his funeral.

And I think they're trying to lure me somewhere. So you got a bunch of texts seeming like they're trying to get you to go somewhere. Um, first it was just saying... Where did you receive the text at? Where do you live? So I live at... Okay. And when did this happen? Okay.

So the latest one was today. When did it start? Yesterday. At about what time? When they were saying that he was hospitalized. I think around 7 p.m. And what time this afternoon was the last one? Around 7 p.m. Hello? Hello?

It was around 3 p.m. 3 p.m.? Okay. And this is all your ex's friends? Right. And are these just text messages? Yes. Okay, and are they threatening text messages? Um...

Well, most of them know, but I mean, they've told me not to go where he's at the club where he used to work. Okay. And is there a protective order between you guys, or is he just an ex of yours? Just an ex. Okay. And are you trying to avoid him?

Or not necessarily. I would say it's more just his friends. Okay. Will you spell your last name for me? Yes. M-C-C-L-U-S-K-E-Y. What's your first name? Lauren. L-A-U-R-E-N. All right. Where are you right now? Right now, I'm at home.

Okay, now have you asked them to stop texting you? I have not, but I've blocked a few of the numbers already. All right. I will send a student officer to give you a call. He's going to give you a call on that last phone number that you gave me. Is that okay? Yeah, sounds good. Okay, perfect. I'll have somebody call you shortly.

Lauren did exactly what she was supposed to do in this situation. Someone was harassing her, and even though they weren't threatening her yet, she reported it, just to be safe. And listening to these calls is frustrating, because it's clear the dispatchers don't understand the severity of the situation, and eventually they reach out to tell her that there isn't much they can do, since the texts weren't really threatening, but to just give them a call if he escalates.

And what do you know? The very next day, he would. On October 13th, Lauren receives a message saying that if she didn't pay him $1,000, he would leak her nudes all over social media. After receiving this text, Lauren immediately calls the university police. University Police and Security, how can I help you? Hi, so I'm dealing with a situation where

where I'm being blackmailed for money. It's a photo of me and my ex. They're threatening to send it out to everyone. And she's asking for $1,000. And this is over text? What did you say? And this is over text message?

Yeah, well... Okay, where did you receive the messages at? Well, at first it was an email. Okay. And then over that app. Okay. Where were you at when you received the messages? Oh. No, you're fine. At my apartment. Hi, are you still there? Yes. Okay. Has this happened before or has it been happening or is this the first time? This is the first time. Okay. Okay.

RIT. There has been some harassment before. So it has happened before? Not this particular type of thing. Okay. But you have had involvement with this person? Yeah. Okay. And do you know who this is? So it's Sean Rowland is the one messaging me. And that's who? Yeah.

Yeah. Is he... What's your relation to him? My ex-boyfriend. Okay. Okay, and how long ago did this happen? This morning. Okay, do you know around what time? The email...

- It was around six or seven and. - Okay. And do you know around what time the text came? - Around eight. - Around eight? - Yeah. - Okay.

Alright, and can you tell me what his name is again? Yeah, it's Sean Rowland. S-H-A-W-N. And then his last name? R-O-W-L-A-N-D. Okay. And do you happen to know his date of birth? I'm not sure. Okay. Do you know how old he is? 37. Okay. Okay, are you still there?

Yeah. Okay, sorry about that. Wait. Okay, I'm going to get your information, okay? Can you tell me your first and last name? Yeah. McCluskey. What is it? Lauren McCluskey. All right, can I have you spell it for me? L-A-U-R-E-N. And then your last name? McCluskey.

MCC LUSKEY. Okay. Alright, so it looks like I have everything. What's going to happen is I'm going to let one of our officers know and he's going to call you. It may come from a blocked number. Is that okay? Yes. Okay. Alright, that should be happening shortly, okay? Okay.

Okay. Alright, thanks for calling. Bye. Now, you can tell by these calls that Lauren is not only frustrated, but she's scared. And after this call, there wasn't really an update assuring her that the police would take care of it. And I can't imagine how scared she was knowing that Melvin was still out there. And here she is, she's called the police multiple times and...

it didn't seem like they were taking it seriously. She also knew it was only a matter of time until Melvin would post their nudes on social media. So scared, she decided to go ahead and send him the $1,000, hoping that he would just leave her alone.

But of course, he doesn't. Now, after sending the money, Lauren decided to physically go into the campus police department to file a report in person. In her mind, over the phone, nothing's getting done. So maybe if she went in, they would actually do something.

So, Lauren and Alex walk into the police station but, surprisingly, they don't even bring her into a back room to get the information. Instead, they just meet her in the lobby and tell her that it probably isn't Melvin sending those messages. In fact, someone probably just hacked into his phone and found those pictures of you. So actually, Melvin's a victim here too.

And when I heard this, I was infuriated. How on earth would they ever come to that conclusion? And Lauren tried to explain to them, no, you don't understand. I know this is Melvin.

I even caught him peeking into my window on the day that we broke up and he's a convicted sex offender. This is not a good guy. I just know that it's him sending these messages. But again, they basically sent her home and told her not to worry. Now, it's important to note that the police did look up Melvin Rowland and they saw that he was a convicted felon but somehow they still didn't see Lauren's concern.

She wanted him arrested right away for extortion, but they didn't think that was necessary. In the meantime, Lauren was extremely anxious that Melvin was going to post her nude images or even worse, cause her harm. And knowing that the university police weren't going to do anything about it, she decides to make the call to the Salt Lake City Police.

Upon calling, however, they inform her that they can't take the case because this was all happening on campus. So the university police had jurisdiction. So they refer her back to the university police. University 991, what is your emergency? Hey, it's Cindy. She's got a case number pending. She's receiving additional blackmail threats. She lives in...

This is all I got from her so far, but she does have a case number. She's on the line. Okay. So the case number is 18-1861. 1861? Okay. Okay, give me one second, okay? Okay. Hi, are you still there? Yes. Okay, so I opened up your call from yesterday, is that correct? Yes, you did. Okay. All right, what's going on?

Well, I came in earlier today and I filled out a report for the threat or, you know... You came into our building? Yes, I did. Okay.

I wanted to, I called 911 because I was just concerned and I wasn't sure if it might help speed things up. I don't know. Yeah, that totally makes sense. Okay.

Yeah, if you call 911, the call will just come back to us and do the exact same thing. Yeah. Okay. Okay, so... Do you know... No, you can go ahead. 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.

And again, I know these calls are long and honestly hard to listen to, but I think it's important to hear them in their entirety so that we can get a sense of how back and forth this entire situation was.

The calls are infuriating. All she wants is for Melvin to be arrested for what he has done. But no one is taking any action. And for Lauren, you can tell in her voice that she just wants it all over with. Hi, is it there? Hi, yes. Okay, so I got my officer. He, um, I believe he's the same one that had took the original report yesterday. So he's going to give you a call, okay? Okay.

Over the next few days, Lauren called the university police over and over again, hoping to get some kind of movement in the case. An officer even gave Lauren his own phone number so she could contact him directly. And throughout that week, they exchanged 16 calls and texts. It's clear that Lauren knew something horrible was on the horizon.

But it didn't matter how many times she reached out for help, nothing was happening. And they just kept telling her that a detective would contact her soon. And throughout all of this, she continued to receive harassing texts from Melvin. Lauren's friends said that during this time, she wasn't herself. She was sad, scared.

and barely even made eye contact with them when she spoke. It was clear that this situation was consuming her entire life. Her friend Alex would later say that around this time she and Lauren were having a conversation about their future. And Lauren looked at her and said, "One day I'm gonna be married to a nice guy, and hopefully we can look back on all of this and laugh." Little did she know, that day would never come.

Now at this point, it had only been a week and a half after Lauren broke up with Melvin, and on October 19th, she received a text that sent a chill down her spine. It was a text from him that read, "What did you tell the cops? We know everything."

Scared for her life, Lauren decides to call the Salt Lake City Police again. And in this phone call, you can hear that she's pretty fed up with the lack of attention to her case. Now, Lauren was scared that maybe Melvin hacked into her phone and saw that she was speaking with the cops. But again, all they did was refer her back to the University Police.

She did feel a little relief though, because they finally assigned a detective to her extortion case. But again, when the lead detective talked to Lauren, they simply told her not to worry because someone probably just hacked Melvin's account.

So, it's very clear that no one thinks this is that big of a deal, despite the dozens of phone calls Lauren has made to the police. Now, a few days later, on Monday, October 22nd, Lauren receives a text from someone claiming to be a campus police officer, who tells Lauren to meet him so they can discuss the case.

But something about the message seemed off. The university police never mentioned that they were going to have a police officer meet her anywhere. And so she figured it was just another text from Melvin. When Lauren called the university police, they confirmed that the text definitely did not come from any of their officers. But instead of doing anything about it, they tell Lauren to just not answer the phone if he texts or calls again.

So this guy has not only stalked and harassed Lauren, but he's blackmailed her, and now he's impersonating a police officer, all while he's a convicted felon, and no one is doing anything about it. And this would go on to be a fatal mistake. That day, at around 6 p.m., campus security footage shows Melvin walking around Lauren's dorm.

He's wearing a dark hoodie, jeans, white Adidas shoes, and he's carrying a black drawstring bag with something inside of it. Video shows him pacing around inside of the building, walking over to the window, looking outside, fidgeting with the bag in his hand. He looks anxious, like he's waiting for something. And he was. Melvin would wait inside of the dorm for the next two hours, pacing around the halls while Lauren was in class.

Then, a little after 8pm, security footage shows him exiting the dorm and walking out into the parking lot. It was a chilly October evening in Utah, and Lauren was just arriving home after her evening class. She was on the phone with her mom, who was on the stairmaster in her basement, hundreds of miles away in Washington.

She and Lauren talked on the phone almost every day, sometimes several times a day. And this phone call was like any other. Jill said that Lauren sounded positive, like her day had been going really well. According to the Deseret News, she tells Jill, "I've got some good news, Mom. I did really well on my health communications quiz." Jill is happy to hear that her daughter seems uplifted.

It was exactly what she needed after the horrible last few weeks. Lauren goes on to tell her mom that she had a big assignment for her theater class due at midnight.

So, once she got inside, she was going to turn that in early and then call it a day. Matt, Lauren's father, recalls hearing their conversation and he was pleased to hear that his daughter sounded happy. Lauren was just about to walk into her dorm, so she told her mom, "I love you," wrapping up the phone call. But suddenly…

Right when she's about to hang up the phone, Melvin appears out of the darkness and he's heading right in Lauren's direction. As she sees him nearing closer, Lauren yells out three words that her mother will never be able to forget. "No, no, no." After hearing those three words, Jill hears a scuffle over the phone and then the line goes silent.

Feeling hopeless, she starts yelling her daughter's name. "Lauren, are you there? Lauren, are you okay? What's going on?" But she knew deep down exactly who her daughter had just encountered. So Jill quickly notifies her husband and he makes a call to the police. "Security, how can I help you?"

Hi, is this the University of Utah? This is. How can I help you? Okay. This is a dispatch center in the state of Washington. I have a 911 call to transfer you. Hold up one moment, please. Okay. Sir, are you still there? Hi. Okay, you're on the phone with the dispatch for the University of Utah. Hi, this is Chris with the University of Utah Police.

Hi, my daughter, Lauren McCloskey, was talking to her mom, and then she just started saying, no, no, no, no, no. And it sounded like someone might have been grabbing her or something. Okay. How long ago was this? This was just two minutes ago. Okay. Okay.

Does she live on campus? Yeah. Okay. Okay, what's her name? Lauren McCluskey. Okay, will you spell that last name for me?

I'm sorry? I'm sorry, will you spell the last name for me? Yep. M-C-C-L-U-S-A-E-Y. Okay. Okay, and what's her date of birth? Okay. And you said the phone line went dead?

Yeah, the phone line went dead. Okay, have you tried calling her back? No, I'm sorry. The phone is not dead, but we can't... She must have dropped it. She must have dropped it, and the phone connection is still here. Do you want the number? Yes, please, open. Okay, and do you happen to know what building or room number she lives in? I'm sorry?

Do you know what room number she lives in and what building? Yes. What building is she living in? Okay. She lives on the, it's not FacePoint, but it's one of the other ones, building 830-something. Okay.

She was walking from GC 1570. Okay. To her car. To her car.

All right. And what was your name? Pardon? What's your name? My name is Matt McCluskey. Okay. Okay, and what's your phone number for you? All right. All right.

He had broken up with a boy or a man recently and he's a pretty tall black guy. Sean Fields is his name. Okay. Has he made any threats or anything like that?

Um, her, his friends were kind of harassing her a little bit. Well, they were, the Kansas police were involved with that. Yes. Okay, I actually, I have an officer right here that dealt with that. Let me talk to him for one second, I'll be right back on with you, okay? I'll still be able to hear you, but you won't be able to hear me. Okay. I know, we have to concentrate on helping. Okay.

So they stopped who's there who knows about her situation. He was telling us to just... Yeah, keep it on. Could you go up and bring my cell phone? Because I gave them my phone number. Okay? It's upstairs in my closet or on my nightstand, in case they call that number. Okay, let's focus. Hello?

Hello? Hello? Alright Matt, are you still there? Yep. Okay. Perfect. Alright, and you said she was walking to her car from what building?

From the GC, which is, what is that, something commons. Gardner Commons. Oh, someone's been talking on her phone. Hello. Hi. I have a backpack and I need a phone. Okay. Could you just stay there? I think she was mugged.

Is she okay, or did the dogs call the cops? I'm talking to the cops. Okay. Somebody picked up her backpack. Someone picked up her phone and backpack. I'm trying to get a good location. All right, where is that backpack out? Can you get a location for me? Yeah. Okay. Go ahead and get out.

Hi Matt, are you there? Oh, yeah, I think they're pretty... It's right by her apartment. It's right by her apartment. I'm sorry, repeat that again? I'm showing her apartment as... And you said it's right by that building? Yeah.

Now, keep in mind, Lauren's phone and backpack are on the ground.

And Lauren's mom Jill is still on the line, praying that her daughter will pick up the phone. But about five minutes later, they hear someone else's voice on the other end. "Hello?" "Hey, I just found this phone on the ground next to a backpack." And it was here where the McCluskeys know that something horrible happened to their daughter. Where did he take her? But they were still trying to cling on to any hope they can muster.

But as time passed, that hope would slowly fade. Jill would later tell the Deseret News that she came to the life-changing realization that "Lauren could die tonight." Meanwhile, the police are just arriving at the scene to try and piece together what happened, but more importantly, to try and locate Lauren McCluskey.

Unfortunately, they wouldn't find her for hours. Little did they know, shortly after she screamed out "no, no, no" on the phone with her mom, Melvin Rowland tackled Lauren to the ground. He then threw her into the back of his car and fired multiple shots into her body. Lauren McCluskey died in the back of that car that evening.

And I can't imagine what was going through her head in those last moments. She had tried to get help. She had been calling, begging for someone to protect her from this very moment. And they let her down.

As Lauren passed away in that backseat, the police were looking for her, but like we said, they wouldn't find her body for hours. And it was around this same time when the students at the University of Utah all received an alert on their phone. U of U alert. Shooting on campus. Secure in place. More info to come.

Everyone on campus was confused and scared, and before long they would all get word that a student had been shot and killed on campus. When Lauren's friends saw this notification, their heart sank. They knew immediately that it was Lauren. Her friend Diamond would later tell Dateline through tears, "I hated myself because I felt like I didn't do as much.

Shortly after word got out that a student was murdered, the university released an image of Melvin Rowland telling students to be on the lookout. They said he was considered armed and dangerous and should not be approached if spotted.

While police were searching around the city for Melvin, Jill and Matt received the phone call that they had been dreading for the last few hours. It was a call from Lauren's track coach, who informed them that Lauren's body had just been found in the backseat of a car.

Matt told the Deseret News. I was just stunned. It wasn't even like I could work through any emotion at that point. I just think I said, no, no, no, no, no, no, that can't be. It was like a physical trauma. It was like being hit with a baseball bat. Later that night, shortly before midnight, a woman in Salt Lake City was watching the news and she saw Melvin's face plastered all over the media. Wanted for murder, she thought.

It couldn't be. She was just with Melvin not long before this. In fact, he had called her earlier that day and asked if she could pick him up from campus. And she did. He claimed he had just finished a workout and needed a ride. She had no idea that when he got into her car that evening, that he had just murdered someone. After picking Melvin up, the two even had a nice dinner.

And afterwards, he went to her house and took a shower, as if nothing even happened. The girl did say that she kept getting the university's alerts and every time she looked at her phone, Melvin would get anxious and ask her what she was looking at. Later that night, she dropped him off at a coffee shop and didn't really think anything of it. It wasn't until she saw the news when she learned that she had just helped him flee a murder scene.

The girl quickly called the police and not long after, they spot Melvin entering a local church called Trinity A.M.E. When the officers try to enter the building, they find that it's locked. But just before they make their way inside, the sound of a gunshot echoes through the air. Melvin would die that day inside of the church from a self-inflicted gunshot wound.

In the days after the shooting, it was revealed that Melvin Rowland was actually on parole at the time of the murder Meaning, if the University Police would have cared enough, they would have seen that he was on parole and they could have alerted his parole officer and had him arrested right away Just the harassment alone could have sent him back to jail, let alone the stalking, threatening messages, extortion, and impersonating a police officer Soon enough though, more information would reach the public

which showed that Melvin attempted to sexually assault a girl in 2004. And in 2012, he admitted to raping three women, including a teenager. And after he spent a decade in prison, he had to go back multiple times for parole violations, which included possessing pornography and failing to complete therapy. And at one of his parole hearings, he even said this. Every woman I've met were

It also became known that Melvin actually borrowed the gun from his coworker, named Nathan Vogel. The two both worked for Black Diamond Security, and Nathan knew that Melvin and Lauren had dated, but he didn't know that they had broken up. Nathan would later say that Melvin was obsessed with Lauren.

And there were rarely any conversations where he wouldn't mention her name He was also known to brag to his co-workers about how submissive she was And how Lauren would do anything he said Nathan was fired from his job just days before Lauren was murdered And because of this, he was sad and pretty low on money So when Melvin offered him $200 to use his gun, Nathan agreed Now, allegedly, Melvin said he wanted the gun so he could take Lauren target shooting Nathan claimed that he had no idea

that Lauren was the target. - And it turns out Lauren wasn't the only girl that Melvin had victimized in Utah. As word got out about Melvin Roland and what he did that day in 2018, many other girls came forward with their uncomfortable encounters.

According to the Deseret News, some girls said that he was aggressive, touchy, and always said off-putting comments. Others said he was a liar, with a number of girls coming forward saying that Melvin claimed to be a coding student at the university, or a basketball player, or member of the military.

He also used names like Logan, Sean, and Apollo. I also found this information during my research that I thought was pretty eerie, but allegedly Melvin and Lauren went to a Halloween party together before they broke up. And Melvin went dressed as Deadpool, wearing the red mask.

And after looking at the security footage on campus, they would later see a man wearing a Deadpool mask creeping around Lauren's dorm. That mask would later be found in Melvin's car, where Lauren was murdered. And after the word spread around Salt Lake City of Lauren's murder, Melvin's boss actually came forward to report that he didn't show up for work on October 15th.

When his boss asked why, he said he needed to resign from his job because he was about to get in a lot of trouble for extortion. When his boss questioned him about this, Melvin told them that he had logged into Lauren's email and saw that she was sending their messages to the police. So in his mind, it was only a matter of time until he would be arrested.

But little did he know the University Police weren't even doing much about it. In fact, after the murder, the department faced a lot of scrutiny about how they handled Lauren's case. For one, it was discovered that after Lauren reported the blackmail of this convicted sex offender who was on parole, it took the University Police an entire week to even start their investigation.

Now, I understand that the department is small and they don't have a ton of resources, but Lauren had called them a number of times and it was clear that she was afraid of him. His past convictions alone should have warranted more concern. And like we mentioned, he was on parole. Why on earth wouldn't they have contacted his parole officer? The U of U police chief, Dale Brophy,

had to answer to this. And here was his response. Why didn't University Police contact Adult Parole and Probation on October 13th after learning he was a registered sex offender? And that's a fair question. And the police, my police department, we were investigating what we understood at the time was an extortion case.

And I completely understand that law enforcement has to gather evidence, but they had an explicit picture of Lauren that came from Melvin's phone.

And she Venmo'd him $1,000 afterwards. So how they came to the conclusion that somebody hacked his phone is just beyond me.

And Lauren's parents would later say that Dale Brophy's police force was quote, "unaccredited, untrained, unconcerned, and unresponsive to Lauren's reports." And after this, Dale would eventually retire from the university's police department. Another disturbing part of this case is that in 2020, it came out that the officer who was handling Lauren's extortion case

A man named Miguel Duras actually went around and showed people Lauren's nudes that Melvin was threatening to post So I guess when Lauren was telling the police what happened, she sent over those images because they were evidence in her extortion case And Miguel's colleagues said he showed them to people on four different occasions Two times before she was murdered And two times after

Now, no charges have ever been brought about with this because Miguel claims he was only showing them to other officers because he was confused on how to handle it as digital evidence. But the images were on his cell phone and his colleagues claimed he made comments like, "I can look at these whenever I want." So, take with that what you will. In the weeks after Lauren's murder, there was a collective sadness throughout the University of Utah. In response,

Ruth Watkins, the president of the university, said this in November of 2018. I would just want to note, this is, of course, a very sad time at the University of Utah. And even as we grieve, we are aware that our grief pales in comparison to that of the McCluskey family. But her condolences were not enough.

People wanted answers. And in December of 2018, the university ordered an independent review to look over Lauren's case and figure out where it all went wrong. The review was eventually posted and it revealed that the university police did not take the right steps to ensure Lauren's safety. It pointed out that the housing officials never reported the fact that Melvin was trying to bring a gun on campus.

even though her friend Diamond sent the email informing them. It also brought up the fact that on detectives off days, Lauren's case should have been given to another officer so they could keep working on it. Instead, it just sat in their office while Lauren continued to be harassed. The review also made recommendations that the university should take in the future, including increased training,

requiring detectives to work with victim advocates, hiring more police and counselors, and making it to where important emails are addressed in a timely manner. But even after the review was posted, President Ruth Watkins had to say this. The report does not offer any reason to believe that this tragedy could have been prevented. The

"Individual responsible is Melvin Sean Rowland, an evil manipulative criminal." And for Lauren's parents, hearing this was frustrating, for lack of a better word. Matt McCluskey would later tell the Deseret News, "Overall, the tone of the report sort of bent over backwards, to be gentle on the university. But the facts themselves are pretty damning. They found an amazing number of failings.

And then for them to say we're going to implement these changes but it wouldn't have made any difference in preventing Lorne's murder? That's a very convenient, legal fiction and blatantly false. The McCluskeys did not think that the university was taking enough responsibility and they wanted to make sure this would never happen again.

So in response, they decided to file a lawsuit against the University of Utah. The McCluskeys also wanted to make it very clear that they do not wish to profit from this lawsuit. Instead, they want to hold the university accountable, honor Lauren's memory, and donate the money to make campuses safer across the nation. After this lawsuit was announced, the university came to a settlement.

and they were ordered to pay $10.5 million, all of which the McCluskeys donated to the Lauren McCluskey Foundation, which according to their website, quote, "is to let Lauren's light shine by supporting her passions, including animal welfare, amateur athletics, and by making campuses across the country a place where students are safe, supported, and have the ability to thrive."

End quote. Here is what Lauren's mom, Jill, had to say about this. 10.5 million comes from the insurance, the company that insures the University of Utah. And we are hopeful that this will cause insurance companies worldwide to view campus police who do not respond to women with urgency as a risk. And we hope that that changes policy dramatically.

nationwide. The university also donated $3 million to campus safety programs. The McCluskeys also created Lauren's Promise. Here is Lauren's dad, Matt, explaining what it is. So I don't have much to say after Jill summarized it very well. I will say that Jill was the leader for the Lauren's Promise, which is where professors,

voluntarily put a promise on their syllabus to help any student who is threatened, to help them find the resources they need. And this has not only become nationwide, it's actually worldwide. And this was totally Jill's initiative and it's catching like wildfire across the world.

The Lauren McCluskey Foundation is based on three missions. Two of them celebrate Lauren's life, and that is she really cared about animals, and so animal welfare is one part, and we've already made the Lauren McCluskey Cat Wing in Pullman, Washington, which has greatly expanded the number of cats and kittens that can be sheltered there.

The second part of Lauren's life that was very important, as was mentioned, is amateur athletics. And so here at the University of Utah, actually, there's a very large scholarship named after Lauren. And so we're continuing to do scholarships in Lauren's name. And the third part, which is very important, is campus safety.

And this is the part that requires the most planning and thought. And I think this is what we are most, in some sense, interested in talking to the experts and making sure that the money is very well spent and that it will save lives. And I think it's amazing that Lauren's parents took the absolute worst experience of their life.

And they used it to make a difference so that other parents don't have to go through what they go through every single day. And I read this article by Gillian Friedman with the Deseret News who spoke to Lauren's mother about six months after her death and she read a Mother's Day note from Lauren when she was just 11 years old. It read, quote,

Jill McCluskey said that it breaks her heart that Lauren will never get the chance to be a mom one day because she was robbed of that.

She also said that Lauren is in her dreams a lot. And in these dreams, Lauren actually isn't dead. She's just off somewhere, hiding, safe from the dangers of this world. But then when she wakes up, she comes to the realization that it's just a dream. Lauren isn't hiding. She wasn't safe and she was taken from them.

ABC asked Lauren's parents in an interview, "What would you say is the greatest tragedy surrounding your daughter's death?" Her dad's response was quote, "The unfairness of it." I know the word gets used a lot, but I'm going to have my 50th birthday and I don't think I deserve to see 50 when Lauren couldn't have a long beautiful life. I don't want to be in this world. I don't want to be in a world without Lauren, but I'm stuck.

And I think to wrap up this episode, I think it's important to talk about the prevalence of this issue. There are so many people out there who are in the same situation Lauren was in.

And there are other people that are going to reach out for help and not get the help they deserve. And this is especially prevalent in young people. According to HealingAbuseWorkingForChange.org, college-aged women between the ages of 16 and 24 have the highest per capita rate of intimate partner violence.

21% of college students report having experienced dating violence by a current partner and 32% of college students report experiencing dating violence by a previous partner. And a lot of people don't want to come forward because they don't feel supported. And in Lauren's case, she did come forward. She did everything she was supposed to do and in the end, she still wasn't protected.

We have to create a safer environment for women on these college campuses and for women everywhere of all ages. We have to listen to them and believe them when they come forward. And lastly, we have to hold their abusers accountable for their actions. Luckily with organizations like the Lauren McCluskey Foundation, we are taking steps in the right direction.

If you or a loved one are suffering from domestic abuse, please call 800-799-7233, the National Domestic Violence Hotline.

Hey everybody, it's Colin here. Thank you for listening to this week's episode of Murder in America. I know Courtney really went in depth with the research on this case and it's such a harrowing story. It's such a sad story. Please, if anybody in your life is in a relationship like that, like the one we just described, call that number. We want to get everyone the help that they need and together we can solve this issue.

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We will see you next week. Happy October, everybody. We love you. And yeah, we'll catch you on the next one. Thanks for listening.