College Student Mysteriously Found Dead in the Snow

The family of 18-year-old college. freshman Megan Trussell, who was found. dead in the snow, are demanding the. investigation be reopened and claim. there may be foul [music] play as they. hire a private investigator, reportedly. receive promising tips and say the. circumstances of that scene don't add. up. Could there be more at play than. what authorities have concluded [music]. so far? We're going to be sitting down. with Megan's parents and also a. professional coroner [music] to maybe. get more answers. Welcome to Sidebar, presented by Law and Crime. I'm Jesse. Weber.

Now, with my job, I got to say this. I. am constantly producing so many stories. a day. I'm reporting live. I'm. exhausted. I'm exhausted by the end of. the day, and I honestly just can't wait. to get into bed. And that is why I want. to talk real quick about our sponsor, Cozy Earth. So, Cozy Earth has these. bamboo sheets, okay? They're temperature. regulating, which means you won't be. waking up sweating or freezing. You're. just comfortable all night long. And let. me tell you, the bubble cuddle blanket, it's a total game changer. It is. ridiculously soft. It has this textured. bubble design that looks amazing when.

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your happy place. And Cozy Earth makes. that happen. We know that 18-year-old. Megan Trussell died back in February, just about 6 months into her freshman. year at the University of Colorado in. Boulder. We know that. But as we talk. about her today and the update that we. need to share today, there is definitely. not a clear consensus on what happened. to her. Not all parties agree on this. Sure, authorities say one thing, but. Megan's family believes there was. something else going on entirely. And in. fact, I am going to be speaking to her. parents, Joe Trussell and Vanessa Diaz,

in a moment. And I'm going to be getting. some perspective also from a. professional coroner to get a better. understanding of what might have. happened here. But let's go back for a. second. Let's go back to February 9th, 2025. Megan leaves the campus after. reportedly getting into a fight with her. then roommate Haley Strickland, who by. the way recently spoke to People. magazine, and we're going to talk about. what she had to say. But surveillance. footage even captures Megan leaving. campus wearing these dark yoga pants, a. blue jacket, and white sneakers. Let's. remember that, the white sneakers. Now,

Megan wasn't responding to texts from. her parents. She was officially reported. missing February 12th. And on February. 15th, park rangers found Megan's frozen. body covered in snow in a remote area. near Boulder Canyon Drive by a drainage. culvert and creek outside the city and. what authorities initially described as. quote hardto-reach terrain that required. a technical evacuation, including the. need to repel. And all they could see. was her hair and her face protruding.

from the snow. You fast forward to May, the Boulder County Sheriff's Office and. the Boulder County Coroner's Office. released a joint statement concluding. that after an autopsy, Megan died, quote, as the result of the toxic. effects of amphetamine, that is, by the. way, in Adderall, which Megan's family. confirmed she had taken. Authorities. also apparently found three empty. bottles for these pills in her dorm, in. addition to a bottle that was apparently. found near her body. Each bottle can. potentially hold 30 pills. The Boulder.

County Coroner Jeff Martin said, "Our. opinion was based on several factors, including but not limited to, toxicology. results and the presence of undigested. prescription medication found during the. examination." Hypothermia, by the way, was a contributing factor here as well. Now, the manner of death was ruled to be. essentially, and I have to be careful. how I say this because of YouTube. guidelines, but essentially that Megan. died in a way that she did this to. herself. Have to be careful the way we. word it, but I think you can get the. idea. Okay? self-inflicted. Now, her.

family doesn't necessarily believe this, okay? They reportedly believe that Megan. was attacked, that she was assaulted. Her mom seemingly believing that the. scene was staged. They have highlighted. problems in the investigation. For. example, they cite how Megan's purse and. phone weren't with her body, that there. were apparently signs of physical. injuries, although I will tell you, the. coroner's office has come out and said. that those injuries were consistent with. a fall, and that fall didn't cause her. death. Now, authorities also previously.

said, quote, "We have found no evidence. to suggest that Megan was physically. harmed or killed by another person." And. by the way, going back to that phone and. purse, which is really interesting, according to the Boulder County. Sheriff's Office, quote, "On March 2nd, Megan's phone was traced to a resale. kiosk at a Boulder grocery store, it had. been sold by 50-year-old Elliot Michael. Befor, an unhoused individual who. reported receiving it from another. unhoused man. and B4 was arrested on May. 14th and he was charged with theft, a. thirdderee misdemeanor, and false.

declaration to a pawn broker. That's. another misdemeanor, a second degree. He. has since been released on bond. On. March 5th, Megan's purse was found by a. community member near the 39.6 mile. marker of Highway 36 along the bike. path. The community member had looked. inside the purse and found an empty. prescription bottle with Megan's name on. it, leading her to call the Boulder. County Communication Center. The purse. was ultimately traced back to the same. area in Boulder Canyon where Megan's. body was recovered. Neither of the. individuals who were in possession of. her purse or phone are believed to have.

had any direct contact with Megan. In. other words, they're saying they didn't. have anything to do with her death. But. also, I'll tell you, according to the. Daily Mail, one of Megan's shoes, remember I mentioned the sneakers, one. of her sneakers that she was wearing. when she left the campus, it was never. found. Now, the family has issues with. the location of where Megan was found as. well. In fact, in a Facebook group that. is entitled Megan Trussell CU Boulder. Student Death Case Discussion Info and. Tips, Vanessa Diaz, her mother, writes,

quote, "The culvert is hidden and off. trail, a place that requires prior. knowledge to find. Megan could not. reasonably have walked roughly 3 miles. from her dorm in about an hour to a. place she'd never been, in complete. darkness, on frozen ground, wearing only. one shoe, and without a phone or. flashlight. I'm posting the video we. recorded so people can see the terrain. and conditions for themselves. These are. facts. Use your common sense and decide. what makes sense to you. And here's a. portion of that video.

Now, to be clear, no one has been. arrested. No one has been charged in. connection with Megan's death because. authorities are saying no one's. responsible. And then you go back to. Megan's former roommate, okay, Miss. Strickland, who I mentioned before. So, she provided this interview with People. magazine. And in the interview, she says. how Megan was a quote once-ina-lifetime. kind of person, how she loved her. family, how the two were close, but yes,

they had the typical roommate arguments, but it was never very serious. It would. always resolve itself. Now, she also. said that she was concerned that Megan. was developing mental health issues, even encouraging her to go to a. different therapist or get medication. And in terms of the night in question, when Megan walked off, she claimed she. came home, saw Megan and her boyfriend. being intimate. They get into a fight. Quote, "We had a whole conversation and. she said that she respected it and that. she understood. I walked in on them and. I just felt betrayed." And Strickland.

claims that she left for work and never. saw Megan again. By the way, the. boyfriend hasn't been officially. identified. It's not been implicated in. Megan's death in any way. But according. to People magazine, who apparently. reviewed the case files in this story, Megan and her boyfriend apparently got. into a disagreement and he broke up with. her. Now, Strickland claims that she. didn't immediately notify authorities. that Megan was missing in the first two. days because she thought Megan was just. at her sister's place. According to the. Mirror US, Megan's family, who hired a. private investigator, they have been.

asking the community for help here. And. this is a big update. They have. reportedly received quote four promising. tips regarding Megan's death. They are. pushing for the case to be reopened. I'm. going to get to that in a minute. However, the Boulder County Sheriff's. Office went on the defensive telling the. Daily Mail that Megan's cause of death. was determined, quote, on the available. evidence and facts related to this. investigation. A spokesperson saying. Sheriff Curtis Johnson believes that his. detectives and deputies conducted a. thorough investigation into Megan's.

death based on all available evidence. This was a tragic situation and the. family has been very involved from the. beginning. Sheriff's office employees. along with investigators from the. coroner's office and district attorney's. office met with Trussell family attorney. several times at the request of Megan's. parents. As with any case, the sheriff's. office will evaluate new evidence that. comes to light and determine if. additional investigation is warranted. By the way, there is a GoFundMe that has. been set up on behalf of Megan's mom, Vanessa, to raise funds to further this.

essentially private investigation. They're raising funds, namely for a. private autopsy, legal funds, private. investigator, experts, lab testing. It's. raised over $85,000 so far at the time. of this recording. And a change.org. petition has been set up as well. It. says in part, "The initial investigation. was marred by errors and oversightes, failing to thoroughly explore all. potential leads and evidence that could. bring clarity and justice. This wasn't. just a minor slip up. It was a. mishandling that calls for a renewed,

diligent, and transparent investigation. The community, her family, and friends. all agree that a reinvestigation is. vital to ensure every avenue is explored. with the seriousness it deserves." It. goes on to say, quote, "We are now. calling on Governor Jared Polus to take. action. As governor, he oversees the. Department of Public Safety, which. directs the Colorado Bureau of. Investigation, CBI. We are urging him to. have the CBI step in and review the. mishandled investigation conducted by. the Boulder County Sheriff's Office into.

Megan's death." All right, so right now. I want to bring in two special guests. I. am joined by Megan's parents, Joe. Trussell and Vanessa Diaz. Um, thank you. both so much for coming on. Um, let me. just start off by saying I'm so sorry. for your loss. I'm so sorry that you are. continuing to investigate this and that. you have to continue talking about this. I know this is not easy and I really. appreciate you both taking the time. Um, but it's important. It's very important.

Um, so thank you both so much. Um, I. wanted to start off by asking both of. you how you're doing um, at this point. Uh, Vanessa, I'll start with you. How. are you doing? How are you holding up? Um, I'm doing okay. Um, good days and. bad, of course. Um, I took a pretty long. leave of absence from my job and now I'm. back this for the new school year. And, you know, it's it's good to be back, but. you know, Joe and I are both now working. two full-time jobs running the. investigation and also, you know, doing.

our jobs to pay the bills and. >> Yep. >> And and Joe, how about yourself? >> Doing okay. you know, I I think that the. the grief from what happened is. something that'll be with us forever. So, um I don't have any. um any illusions that any of this is. going to take that away. So, I'm dealing. with that on my own time, but this case. is a problem to be solved and it. requires a lot of focus. This is DIY. Me. and Vanessa are learning as we go,

drinking from a fire hose, trying to. figure out how an investigation works. and what we can do to get this thing. solved. And I've laid out a lot of this. uh already and I'm hoping uh that you. both can fill in some of the pieces um. as we have these new developments and. where the investigation may go. Before I. get into any of that, if you can just. I'll go to each of you. What was Megan. like and what was your relationship like. with her? Uh Vanessa, I'll start with. you. >> Megan was an incredibly creative and.

thoughtful, kind, considerate human. being. Um, she was my favorite travel. buddy. She was bilingual in English and. Spanish like me. And um, yeah, we just. did we did a lot of things together. We. were we were very close and I miss her. so much every single day. Her smile, her. laughter. She always had a joke. Um, she's always making people laugh and she. had a gift for making people feel like. they were the most important person to. her, like she was their favorite. And.

there's a lot of people who are really. hurting since she's gone. I've gotten. that sense when I've been uh researching. this whole story and researching more. about your daughter. I got that sense of. um how special she was and how she. affected so many people's lives and how. invested people are in in trying to. figure out what happened here. Um Joe, how about yourself? >> Um you know, Megan, she was cool. She. was just a great person to be around and. um she had a a real uh kind of intuitive. flare for humor. She could read a room.

She knew exactly what joke would hit and. what wouldn't. She was a pop culture. genius. She, you know, her taste in. movies and music and literature and art. was far beyond her years. She was. extremely advanced in that respect and. it made her really fun to be around. And. and that's really what I miss, you know, is being able to bounce movies off of. her, bounce music off of her and get her. opinions uh her very strong opinions um. about that kind of stuff. Uh uh it's a. it's a big hole to fill, you know, and.

we we never will. >> I'm sure. I want to get a little bit. more into the case and I want to get a. little bit more into the investigation. I laid some of this out, but I want a. little bit more clarity here. Um. Vanessa, what is your theory of what. happened to Megan? I understand that you. believe that she was attacked. What were. the circumstances that you believe at. this point that she left the campus? How. she ended up? Where she ended up? At. what point was she attacked? I mean, if.

you and and and what we should be. thinking about this. >> Yeah. So, um, she had a disagreement. with her roommate. Her roommate was. actually Megan was having some alone. time with her boyfriend in her dorm. Her. roommate was supposed to be at work. until 11:30. the roommate surprised them. and came back into the dorm at I think. around 9:00 and isn't really supposed to. leave work for her 15-minute break, but. did and so she surprised Megan and her. boyfriend got upset that he was there. and you know that they were engaged in.

an intimate moment and there was no like. physical altercation but it was you know. words were exchanged. the boyfriend. basically didn't want to be involved in. drama and so he said he wanted to take a. break and he left and um you know she. was pretty sad about that. I don't doubt. that at all. So since I think even since. the last time we did an interview I've. actually been able to review the the. video recordings of her on the CCTV on. campus. One detective had reported that. she looked distraught that she was.

walking around like just halfhazardly. and that's not true. I saw the video and. she's walking normally. She's not wiping. tears. She's not looking at her phone. And then she left campus. The last image. of her was going down something called. the Buff Walk in Boulder. And that's the. last image of her. The reports state. that she walked along either Rapjo or. Walnut cuz her phone was pinging there. Police actually Boulder CUPD um knocked. [clears throat] on all the doors, asked. for video footage from any of the.

businesses in that area. Nobody saw her. on cameras. There were street cameras, like traffic cameras. Nobody, she was. never detected on any cameras. So, what. I think happened is that she was. attacked either on the buffwalk or right. after the buff walk. Um, [clears throat]. her purse was ripped, which that that. seam that was ripped out, I know that. was a very strong seam because I sewed. that purse for her myself as a hobby. I. have a special sewing machine that can. sew through 15 layers of denim. So I.

super reinforced that seam right there. and that was ripped out completely and. it was super heavy duty thread as well. It was like a very thick polyester. So. for that to be ripped off would take an. enormous amount of of pull. And so. there's that. She has injuries. Most of. her injuries are on the left side of her. body. Her right shoe is missing. So when. you think about how she might have been. pulled away. She's also the left sleeve. of her jacket is ripped. So, you know, somebody's pulling to the left, yanked.

out of her shoe, she falls, gets those. injuries, and um, you know, this is the. part I absolutely have no idea on what. happened to her after. But people don't. commit suicide and break their teeth and. rip their purse and rip their jacket. sleeve. That's just not something that. happens. The injuries that they're. describing are not consistent with a. suicide. The amount of aderall that she. has in her body and in her bloodstream. in her stomach and esophagus and in her. bloodstream doesn't make any sense. It. wasn't a lethal level. It was actually. on the lower end of toxic for somebody.

who has been taking aderall for the last. 4 years. It's also extremely rare for. somebody to commit suicide on only. infetamine at all. In fact, you can't. even find statistics on it. I think the. only one I found now is Megan for. Boulder County. So, we don't know how. she got up to the canyon. We know that. her phone pinged at the park around. 10:36 and then there's a discrepancy. between when her phone pinged farther up. the canyon. The same detective who said. she was she looked distraught, he has. conflicting times of when her phone last. pinged. So actually requesting that data.

specifically from the FBI. When people. talk about that the FBI was helping CPD, all they did was help them with the. phone location data. There were no. people here, boots on the ground. It was. all email between CUPD and the FBI. So. CUPD isn't very forthcoming with that. information right now. Not sure why, but. they're telling me I have to request it. directly from the FBI. So we have a. victim's advocate who's actually helping. with that right now because, you know, it's hard to put a timeline together. when there's inaccuracies in the police.

reporting and they won't share the. actual data. There's a lot of other. issues, but I don't we don't I don't. know how how long we have, but. >> No, I understand. And and obviously. there's conflicting because they they. say the authorities say that her. injuries were consistent with the fall, right? And that it wasn't consistent. with being attacked. Uh Joe Joe, before. I get to you, just Vanessa, when you've. expressed your concerns, when you've. expressed that this doesn't make sense. to authorities, what is the response generally you've.

been getting? Other than maybe being. stonewalled, like you said, they're not. providing the information you need. Have. they just said, you know, again, we're. sticking with our theory of the case, you're wrong. Um, have they ever enter. do are they taking what you're finding. and what you're saying seriously? >> No, they're they're not listening at. all. Um, the last time we actually. talked to the forensic pathologist was. on June 4th. Um, we had asked. specifically about the injuries and you. know, you want to know what she said? She said, I'm not going to speculate,

but it didn't contribute to her death. >> Mhm. >> So, she wasn't going to speculate. She. said it was it was a fall, but it's not. like a single plane fall, you know, which is what a different forensic. pathologist told me when I went to Crime. Weekly. It's all over her body. They're. all over her body. So, it's impossible. for them to tell me it was from a fall. But then when pushed, she said she. wasn't going to speculate. And my. thinking is, isn't that your job? Isn't. your job to tell me what happened? Isn't. that your job to to explain how those. injuries happened instead of just. guessing about what they saw in her.

stomach and esophagus? which by the way. there was so much that it caused. hemorrhaging in the lumen of the. esophagus which you know these are all. terms I never knew before any of this. >> and when you actually quantify it's. simple math I had a friend who's a. pharmacist look it over for me and. whatever's in her stomach is 3 to 5%. that pathologist during that same. meeting specifically said that she ruled. it a suicide based on the sheer volume. of pill material in her stomach and. esophagus that it was an an act of. valition like she meant to kill herself.

well here's Here's the thing. When you. calculate it, when you do the math, it's. 3 to 5% of whatever that whole volume is. of whatever it is. So, there's no other. substances in her system. There's. nothing else that showed up on. toxicology. And they assured me that. they checked for novel drugs that are. new or anything that would be out of. scope of the normal, you know, drugs. that people abuse, which, you know, I. have questions about that, too. They. also have no curiosity. Like if they. they told me if I wanted to know what.

was in that mask that I could have it. sent out for testing myself. But my. point is actually I don't care what's in. it. You told me that it was all based on. the sheer volume of pill material, but. it's like a 100piece puzzle and five of. the pieces are aderall. What's the rest? And so you based a suicide ruling on a. guess on something you looked at and. eyeballed and like oh yep it's suicide. It's not science. Now, Joe, it's being. reported that the family has received.

four promising tips regarding what. happened to Megan. I don't know if. you're a liberty to share what those. are, but whatever you can tell us about. what these potential tips are. Um, what. can you tell us? Well, I you know, it's. important to note that we've gotten. hundreds of tips and and you know, all. of them have to be vetted and some of. them are kind of on the the wild side, but um we've been doing an outreach to. the unhoused community in Boulder. Um. not because necessarily we believe that.

that anybody from the the homeless. community was involved, but because of. where Megan's body was found, it's a. known kind of homeless encampment. So, we started last summer going up and. handing out care packages. We've got. this great support system. People. donated all this stuff. So, we could go. up, meet the unhoused community in. Boulder, and see if they know anything. And that's where several of the tips. have come from, which we're working on. now. We're not not at liberty to talk. about them at this point, but we do feel. like uh in the past month, we've reached.

some kind of a turning point. It's. really hard to tell over the months as. things develop. I mean, it's a curveball. every day. seems like something else. happens, but we feel like we've moved. into a new direction here and some of. these tips might prove to be very. valuable. So, um, we're just looking for. resolution. Two things. Megan didn't. kill herself. Somebody's responsible. Those are the only things I care about. in this whole thing. We've got all these. layers of stuff that we're dealing with. otherwise, but the opportunity to help. out the unhoused community in Boulder, you know, give something, get something,

um, uh, might might help us out here. >> And just to be clear, you don't have to. give me names. Do you have your own. potential list of suspects, identifiable. people that you have shared with law. enforcement that you know at this point. but will not share? >> Well, it it's important to note that law. enforcement considers this a suicide and. that the case is closed. >> Right. >> So, when I say DIY, this is us, our. private investigator, our attorney, our. support group, support system. We're the. ones who are doing this. It is not law.

enforcement. >> Sure. >> So, we're having to do this. independently. We're having to I don't. know how to do this, but we have a. really good PI who does know how to do. it. >> I was going to ask you about the PE the. private investigator that you hired. What what can you tell us about the work. the private investigators doing? >> Uh he is extremely enthusiastic and. motivated and I think that's the most. important thing. He's uh he's he's got a. really strong set of goals. He is very. much aligned with what we want to do. Vanessa's talked to him more than I. have. She could probably provide some. insight on that. >> So I also want to preface this that we.

don't know what we're doing. You know, we had a private investigator previously. and turned out just wasn't doing the. work that we needed, which me and some. of my friends are very good at like. digging into the data and looking at. analytics, right? We need somebody who's. boots on the ground, who's willing to go. out and talk to people, knock on doors, tail people if they need to. And you. know, when I interviewed him on the. phone, and he said he was all in, and. he'll send over the contract before I. even signed the contract, he was up. there at the location. And to me, that's.

like half the battle is getting people. to the location because once people go. there and see it, they realize there is. no way that she got there on her own. Like people who are from there can't. find that spot. So the fact that this. man like jumped in his car and went up. there and asked just based on a pin and. then he called me to be like, "Okay, I. think I'm here, but I don't know if I'm. here." He's driven by curiosity. He. absolutely doesn't think it was a. suicide. and you know, he's he's in. contact with me through text. There's a.

couple of other tips or concerns that. have come in that I don't really want to. share quite yet, but he's all over it. You know, we had a little bit of a. hiccup. We didn't get going as fast as. we we would have liked, but I think. we're off and running now. Um he's got. those four leads that he's already. working on. >> I wanted to ask you both about there's. this it's an update. Um it's about. Megan's roommate, Haley Strickland. Um. she provided an interview to People. magazine. Um she made comments regarding.

uh Megan, her relationship with Megan, the last time that she saw her. Um she. also made comments that Megan may have. been struggling with mental health. issues. Um I don't know if you had an. opportunity to see uh to read what she. uh said in that interview. Um but Joe, I. wanted your thoughts on um her speaking. out. >> Well, first off, Haley is u um she has. every right to say whatever she wants. Um, and I welcome whatever comment she. has. However, I do have to say that that. article was completely inaccurate. Um,

not a whole lot that I can verify, but. as I read through it, I thought none of. this makes any sense. Um, you know, Megan and Haley knew each other for 5. months. Um, that's it. So, some of the. insights that Haley provides in the. article are inaccurate. They just don't. make sense. Um, you know, not to get get. into Haley too much, but um, she never. reported Megan missing. um she never uh. helped us with the search. She didn't. help hand out flyers. Uh nothing like. that. So, you know, we've had very.

little contact with her. Um her. motivation for speaking to People. magazine is entirely her own. Um so, yeah, I I don't know what to do about. Haley, honestly. >> And I I just want to add that Haley is. the only person that actually knew. Megan. You know, there's a bunch of. armchair detectives who chime in on our. articles. We've learned to not read any. of people's comments, but um she is the. only person who actually knew Megan. who's saying suicide and they knew each.

other for a full 5 months and that. relationship was very rocky from the. perspective of her entire family and her. friends and her boyfriend will even tell. you that. >> That's an important point, Vanessa. And. I want to clarify the record when she. talks about or alludes to these idea. that Megan had mental health struggles. and needed to see a new therapist or. needed a medication. From your. perspective, friend's perspective, is. this totally outside anything that. you've ever observed with Megan? I'll. start with you, Vanessa.

>> Yes, absolutely. >> Um, and you know, Megan didn't need a. new therapist. Megan loved her. therapist. They had a great. relationship. She was on maternity. leave. Actually, that Saturday, February. 8th, she had sent Megan an email saying, "All right, I'm back. We can start. therapy again." And I promise Megan. could have been happy about that. Like, she loved her. They had a good. relationship and Megan got a lot of. comfort and, you know, was working. through it was at first it was, you. know, girl stuff at school and then, you. know, when Joe and I split, she worked. through that with her therapist. And.

there's no shame in having a therapist, by the way. Everybody should have a. therapist if you ask me. Mental health. is something that needs to be cared for. and taken care of. >> Megan's therapist, she started therapy. when she was a minor. So, her therapist. was a mandatory reporter. Meaning, if. Megan had ever had any any ideas about. self harm, suicidal ideiations, anything. like that, the therapist would have had. to report it. And she didn't because, you know, Megan went through, you know, what's rough for any teenager. You know, her parents splitting up and she never. took the easy road. She faced everything.

really upfront and was very healthy. about it. So, you know, that kind of. goes back to the idea that Megan, she. just wasn't suicidal, wasn't her way, and she had a really good relationship. with her therapist. So, for a freshman. psych major to provide an evaluation of. Megan's health to People magazine is a. little bit out of bounds. >> And and additionally, in the police. reports, she was adamantly she told them. in her interviews that Megan was not. suicidal, that Megan had never said she. was suicidal. She said something about. Megan was upset about politics which you.

know Megan was known to rant about some. political things happening but suicide. over that I mean. >> it's just out of the question and it's a. reach you know it's a reach for somebody. who who wants the spotlight for a minute. is really what I that's my opinion but. >> so Joe this people who are watching this. if they want to help if they whatever. information you can get Um, and I and I. mentioned this before, the GoFundMe has. been set up. There's a change.org.

petition uh that was set up. Um, a lot. of people contributing money. Uh, gives. you a sense of how expensive legal funds. are and expert analysis and lab testing. Um, how is the fund doing, Joe? And how. is the change.org uh petition going? >> The uh the the GoFundMe is going well. You know, I mean, you know, from what. we've learned, the the Boulder County. Sheriff's Office took um DNA or DNA.

samples, swabs, rape kit, all that. stuff, uh evidence from the crime scene, and never tested any of it. Um so then. we run into, you know, they said we we. can take possession of that stuff and. test it, but then that messes up the. chain of custody if somebody's ever in. uh if you know, somebody's ever accused. Um, so we've had trouble with that. But. also, you know, DNA testing, it's 25. grand to get in the door. Um, if you. look at the the sheer volume of evidence. that we would have to have tested, we're. we're talking about $100,000 or more.

Um, you know, I don't have that in my. back pocket. So, the GoFundMe every bit. helps, you know. Um, the donations for. the unhoused community in Boulder, that's that's really helping out a lot, too. Um the the petition uh you know. started off really strong and continues. kind of to have a life of its own. Um, one interesting thing is, you know, after a lot of friends and family signed. it, um, word got around the C Boulder. campus and a lot of students have come.

forward, a lot of upset students who. feel like not enough was done and. they've been signing the petition and. that to me that's really important um. because the students need to know about. what's happening. >> And Vanessa, the goal is to have this. investigation reopened, right? I mean, is the goal at this point? If you get. new information, if you have new. information, you could present it to law. enforcement. If you could present it to. CBI, they may take a look at it. Can you. tell us what where what the status of. that is? >> Yeah. Um, so, you know,

following other cases, right, like the. Ellen Greenberg case and knowing that. they don't nobody's going to do anything. until the suicide rulings changed. In. fact, the the Boulder DA has already. told us that he wasn't going to. investigate the investigation. um because of the suicide ruling. Um the. four empty bottles of Adderall and like. he said that was significant when it's. like it's frustrating because people. don't seem to do any research on that.

medication. Um she had ADHD. She was. kind of a slob. She didn't throw her. bottles away. There's a lot of people I. know like that. So, you know, him basing. the assumption that nope, they did a. thorough investigation. The coroner said. it was a suicide. So, until that's. changed, um, we're kind of pausing on asking the CBI. to to to investigate because once that's. changed, then we can make that request. We can make that request to the. governor. Um, he is the one who can um.

or from my understanding, he's the one. who can who can ask the CBI to do that. However, you know, I don't feel like. anybody's going to do that until suicide. rulings changed. Although, you know. what, Hunter S. Thompson, they just made. the announcement in Colorado that. they're going to take another look at at. his suicide ruling because the wife. asked. So, [laughter]. it's kind of like, well, I guess Joe. better Joe better start producing more. books so that he can be Hunter S.

Thompson level to have that kind of. clout to have somebody reinvestigate a. suicide ruling that nobody was. questioning. Um, but this is very. Megan's suicide ruling is very. questionable. There's no suicide note. There's no history of it. There's no She. has injuries that that you you beat. yourself up when you take a bunch of. pills and then the pills you die before. they're even absorbed into your body. it. None of it makes sense. And it's. it's baffling to me that people aren't. questioning it more strongly that that.

very intelligent people who happen to be. elected officials though are just so. nope, it's suicide when they don't they. haven't looked at any of the details or. considered any of the discrepancies, nor. do they listen to him. >> Well, I'll tell you this much. Um Joe. Vanessa, you might not be Hunter S. Thompson. You might not be the wife, but. what I will tell you is in my experience. when a story gets a lot of traction and. a lot of people are focusing on it, that. is when you do see some sort of update,

some sort of change. So, I will just. tell you, we are thinking about you, both of you. Our hearts and our prayers. are going out to you and the family. We. are going to keep an eye on this. Um, we. have put up um the change.org petition. We've put up the GoFundMe as well. and. anybody who sees this if they want to. contribute to your investigation to get. more answers uh they're encouraged to do. so. But Joe Trussell, Vanessa Diaz, thank you so much for coming on and. again I'm so sorry for your loss and I'm. so sorry for what you're uh continuing. to go through.

>> Thank you for your time today. We we. truly appreciate it. Every bit helps and. uh this is this is huge. Thank you. All. right. So, now I want to bring on. somebody that we always like to call on. when we have these kind of mysterious. maybe these cases where there's two. different sides. We're trying to. understand it. I want to bring on Dr. Nita Rutherford who's the Richland. County Coroner. Um, thank you so much. for coming on to talk about this from. your perspective. And obviously you. didn't do the autopsy here. You're. looking at the reporting here. You're. looking at the circumstances, but you.

have the experience. You've seen a ton. of these kind of cases. Is there. anything that you see that would suggest. potential foul play here? >> Yes, there is. So, the fact that some of. her items were missing certainly raises. suspicion in my mind. The fact that. she's missing a shoe. Why is she missing. a shoe? Um, so I am 100% in agreement. with the family that something about the. death does seem suspicious, but you.

can't make things up and you can't. speculate. And so then we have to go to. the evidence that we have, what the. autopsy shows us and does the story, the. way the body was found, regardless of. the thoughts we may have in our mind, does it make sense? And I think that's. where sometimes families who are. grieving will sometimes get caught up in. some of those details. But as a medical. professional, as someone who does death. investigations, some of those details.

get cancelceled out because it doesn't. match up with with what we found at the. autopsy. >> Let me go to this. What do you make of. the cause of death being from. empetamines, right? That hypothermia was. a contributing factor here. I guess it. would be that she wandered off, that she. was, you know, feeling the toxic effects. of this medication and, you know, they. talk about the injuries are not. consistent with her being attacked, but. from a fall. Do you have a sense of what.

the theory is behind her death? >> Yes. So, whenever we see a toxicology. report, we start to look at the numbers. So, it's not enough for us to just have. a confirmatory test that this medication. or this substance is in someone's body. What we're also looking for is the. quantity of those things. And then. again, not just the information that's. found in that serum or the blood sample. that we have. What did we see at. autopsy? So, were there pills or pill.

fragments in the throat area, in the. stomach area? Was there anything that. would have been consistent with this. kind of intentional ingestion of these. medications? And so when we look for. foul play, especially in something where. we have maybe toxic effects of a of a. drug or medication, what we're looking. to see is are there signs of foul play. around the mouth or the throat? Could. someone have forced her to take this. level of medication to get to a toxic. level? So we would start with looking at.

the prescription. When was it. prescribed? How many days ago did she. pick up this prescription? How often did. she pick up her prescription? Who was. prescribing this to her? Did she have. multiple sources where she could get. this medication from? We run something. called a scripts report and they approve. that report and send it to us. And so we. look at the providers who provide that. medication. Could she have had enough to. create this toxic effect? and the level. the quantity of what was in her system,

does it match up with like an accidental. or a kind of intentional ingestion from. someone? So, when we start seeing super. high levels, we start to think. intentional ingestion. How difficult. would it be to stage a scene like this. if we're listening to what some of the. family has been saying that you know. it's possible the scene was staged the. pills were forced maybe either down or. throat and put afterwards to make it. look like something other than it maybe. was to be staging a scene be difficult I. guess the question is would it be.

obvious? >> Well here's what I would say to that. What was the state of the pills and how. they were found? Were these just whole. pills that looked like they hadn't been. metabolized by the body at all? then. maybe that would be indicative of. something, right? Cuz I could take water. and or some sort of fluid and put the. pills in it and pour it down your throat. afterwards. But it doesn't stop the fact. that you had to be alive enough to. metabolize the medication in order for. it to have a toxic effect. And I think.

that's what the family may be missing is. that there was some ingestion of. whatever this substance was. Could. someone have forced it on her? Sure. Could they have crushed it and put it in. a drink? Sure. But when would they have. had time to do that? She goes missing. She's not seen on camera and then she's. found. Just her falling asleep outside. someplace would have made her. susceptible to being a victim. But. again, hypothermia is something that can. that can cause death. So, I mean, there.

just so many different little things. here that that raise the red flag but. don't necessarily equal a kind of a. smoking gun, if you know what I mean. What about the injuries where you have. the family believing that she may have. been attacked, but the injuries from. authorities seem to suggest that it was. from a fall. In fact, uh deputy coroner. uh Colleen Hancock says that Megan's. body was found about 20 ft down this. steep rocky slope that there was blunt. force injuries, but they were all. consistent with falling down. That that. didn't cause her death or contribute to.

her death. Thoughts on that? So if the injuries, if the blunt force. injuries would have been contributo to. her death, the autopsy would have stated. that. So she could have had a brain. bleed, but if it was not severe enough. then to be ruled in as a cause of death. statement on her death certificate, then. it's not anything. And were the falls. consistent with post-mortem damage or. were they consistent with premortem. damage? So again, those are details in. the autopsy report that I haven't seen.

to state where we believe these injuries. occurred along the timeline of her life. because we have people who fall because. they're under the influence of. something, but the fall and all the. scratches and the bruising and the blunt. force injuries did not cause their. death. >> And doc, before I let you go, the. location of where she was found, um the. family has emphasized that this is and. it's true, it's a remote area. Um, you. know, it's dark. It's strange to be. there. It's outside the city limits.

It's a weird place to find a body. It's. a weird place to find Megan. Does that. absolutely stand out to you? >> It does stand out to me because what it. says to me is that there's the. possibility of a secondary crime scene. So, again, I'm with the family 100% when. they say that something seems. suspicious. Again, that missing shoe. would bother me as a mother. It bothers. me as an investigator. Where's that. other shoe? If if people are going to. steal your shoes, they're going to steal. both of your shoes, right? If they're.

trying to stage something, why would. they just take one? Why wouldn't they. take both? So, could this be the. secondary crime scene? Possibly. And. that's where I think investigators have. to dig a little bit deeper. I'm totally. with the family in them saying just look. a little bit deeper to see if there's. anything else that could possibly be. wrong here. >> No, that's a good point. And doctor, before we wrap things up, anything that. our audience should be thinking about in. terms of this? >> If you truly believe that someone forced. uh someone to take pills, you want to.

look for signs of injury about the. mouth, the tongue, the gums. Look to see. if there's any defense wounds on the. hands because it would be very difficult. to get even a semic-conscious person to. just swallow pills. They would choke. And so I would definitely want to know. in that autopsy report, what signs of. struggle could there have been that. could have forced her that could have. been indicative of someone forcing her. to take that number of pills?

>> Dr. Nita Rutherford, thank you so much. for taking the time. Really appreciate. it. >> Thank you so much. >> And that's all we have for you right now. here on Sidebar. Everybody, thank you so. much for joining us. And as always, please subscribe on YouTube, Apple. Podcast, Spotify, wherever you should. get your podcast. You can follow me on. [music] X or Instagram. I'm Jesse Weber. I'll speak to you next time.