On October 22, 2018, the body of 21-year-old University of Utah student Lauren McCluskey was found in the trunk of a car close to her dorm.
The case will be featured on an upcoming edition of 20/20, set to air on March 31, 2023.
What was Lauren McCluskey’s Cause of Dea†h?
McCluskey began receiving threatening texts from an unknown number in October 2018. She initially assumed that her ex-boyfriend Melvin Rowland and his buddies were behind the texts. A few weeks ago, McCluskey and Rowland had a brief romantic relationship that ended when she found out he had lied about his identity and age.
The track star found out that her boyfriend, who she thought was 28-year-old Sean Fields, was 37-year-old Melvin Shawn Rowland, a convicted s*x offender. Rowland initially seemed to accept the breakup and it appeared to be amicable; however, after reading the text conversations, her feelings changed.
According to the school’s website, the sender of the texts accused McCluskey of murdering her ex and demanded money in exchange for not publishing intimate images of the two of them online. McCluskey reported the texts to campus police, but the institution eventually conceded that they lacked the personnel and equipment to properly investigate the thr*at.
Her friend Alex recounted in an interview with ESPN that she was ‘extremely frightened and scared.’ What do I do? Like, is this real? I don’t know. On October 22, 2018, McCluskey’s body was discovered and sh0t to dea†h in her vehicle.
Her parents sued the university after she passed away, claiming that the school had not taken their daughter’s complaints about her treatment seriously.
“They seemed to exhibit no curiosity about this person who had lied about his age, his name, his… he was a s*x offender,” her father, Matt McCluskey, told ABC News. Afterward, they learned that he is a criminal as well.
It was his opinion that an investigation should have been conducted. If they had made just one phone call, they could have learned his parole status immediately, and we wouldn’t be here right now.
The university paid the McCluskey family $13.5 million to end their lawsuit against them in October 2020, admitting that they had mishandled McCluskey’s case.
Read on for more content linked to the topics of death and dying that we’ve addressed in previous articles:
- Ryuichi Sakamoto Cause of Dea†h: How Did the Famous Japenese Musician Die?
- Douglas Mike Day Cause of Dea†h: How Did the US Navy SEAL Die?
Why did Lauren McCluskey’s Boyfriend Melvin Rowland kill Himself?
Her father, Matt McCluskey, called the police just minutes after Rowland confronted McCluskey in the parking lot, fearing for his daughter’s safety.
“All of a sudden, I hear her yell, ‘No, no, no!'” Jill recalled during an interview with ESPN aforementioned.
“And then I sort of hear her being dragged away and her phone fell.”
Officers were dispatched to the parking lot, Jill’s dorm, and the surrounding neighborhood after Jill described what she had heard on the phone seconds earlier. In addition to the suspect’s description, the institution issued a campus-wide secure-in-place alert.
Rowland was spotted by police in Salt Lake City near Trinity A.M.E. Church at 12:46 a.m. and a foot chase ensued. When police caught up with him inside the church, he fatally sh0t himself.
If you want to know any more information related to the case then you can join us on our Twitter account.