Courtesy of University of Colorado Police
University of Colorado student Megan Trussell. (Courtesy of University of Colorado Police)
A petition seeking to reopen the law enforcement investigation into University of Colorado student Megan Trussell’s February death hit 1,700 signatures less than three days after the University of Colorado Police Department case report for Trussell’s case was released.
The Change.org petition asks the Colorado Bureau of Investigation and state Attorney General Phil Weiser to start fresh with the Trussell case. Trussell, 18, died in February. Her body was found near the 40-mile marker of Boulder Canyon Drive. The Boulder County Coroner determined her death was a result of the toxic effects of amphetamine and exposure to a cold environment, or hypothermia and ruled the manner of her death is suicide.
Rebecca Perez, Trussell’s cousin and the petition’s organizer, echoed Trussell’s family’s claims that the investigation by the Boulder County Sheriff’s Office was mishandled in the petition.
“The initial investigation was marred by errors and oversights, failing to thoroughly explore all potential leads and evidence that could bring clarity and justice,” the petition reads. “This wasn’t just a minor slip-up; it was a mishandling that calls for a renewed, diligent, and transparent investigation.”
The petition, which was posted Tuesday, directly asks Weiser for a response, a feature of the Change.org platform.
Boulder County Sheriff’s Office representatives did not comment in time for publication.
Trussell’s mother, Vanessa Diaz, who said that she still believes BCSO mishandled the case, said that the continued show of support in the form of the petition gives her hope.
“When I hear about support like this, it just makes me feel so uplifted and hopeful,” Diaz said. “It feels validating.”
CUPD’s case report, which came out Monday, sheds light on how the sheriff’s office concluded that Trussell walked from her dorm building, Hallett Hall, to where her body was found near Boulder Canyon Drive. Trussell’s family has alleged that she could not have been alone while getting up Boulder Canyon.
The data showed she traveled from campus to the area where her body was found near the Boulder Canyon Trailhead over the course of an hour and 15 minutes, according to the CUPD case file.
Hallett Hall, Trussell’s dorm building, and the area of the 40-mile marker of Boulder Canyon Drive are about three miles apart.
According to a Boulder County Sheriff’s Office release in May, investigators discovered that Trussell was seen leaving her dorm at 9:36 p.m. Feb. 9 and walking alone on campus.
According to the university police department’s case report, at 9:51 p.m., Trussell’s phone data showed her on campus. She was last seen on campus security footage at 9:52 p.m. that night. Her phone pings show her traveling along Walnut Street, Boulder Canyon Drive and Arapahoe Avenue before her phone pinged west of Eben G. Fine Park at 10:46 p.m.
At 11:06 p.m., her phone pinged again in the area where her body was later found, according to the case report.
Trussell’s cell phone pings are consistent with someone walking from Hallett Hall to the 40-mile marker of Boulder Canyon Drive via Walnut Street, according to GPS mapping software.
Lawrence Pacheco, a spokesperson for the AG’s office, said earlier in August that the case is under the jurisdiction of the Boulder County District Attorney’s Office when asked if the Attorney General’s Office is investigating or reviewing Trussell’s case.
The DA’s office has already reviewed the investigation, according to Shannon Carbone, a spokesperson for the DA’s office. In the review, the DA’s office sought to determine if more information was needed or if further investigation was needed. The review also included determining whether Trussell’s case warranted criminal charges, Carbone wrote in a statement.
“Our review included the Coroner’s determination as to the cause and manner of death, the autopsy findings, the police reports and witness interviews, evidentiary information about the pill bottles recovered from her room and the scene where her body was recovered, video evidence, cellphone data/analysis, and so forth,” Carbone wrote. “The authority and role of the District Attorney is to determine solely whether a criminal offense has been committed that requires further investigation.”
Criminal charges have not been filed in connection with Trussell’s death.
Trussell’s family does not believe her death was a suicide. Diaz has said she thinks foul play was involved because Trussell’s purse was found almost 6 miles from where her body was found and because her body was found missing one of her shoes.
“Megan was so vibrant and just a happy, happy child,” Diaz said in May after the suicide ruling was announced. “Anybody who knows her knows she was not suicidal. She wouldn’t kill herself. She’s never had any history of that.”
Diaz said she is continuing a private investigation into Trussell’s death, and has retained a private investigator, a lawyer and a forensic pathologist. She said her private investigator has discovered “inconsistencies” in BCSO’s report, but she declined to go into detail Wednesday.
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