Crime talk timestamp-8:50 It was October 22nd 2018, when 21-year-old college student Lauren McCluskey was on the phone to her parents catching up & talking excitedly about her classes. Suddenly her parents hear her shouting “No no no“ and what sounded like someone being dragged away, before the phone line goes completely silent. As they shout out her name hoping for a response from their daughter they are met by silence on the other end.

Terrified they call 911 & as police swarm the campus frantically searching for her a tragic discovery was made.

This promising, bright young track star from Pullman, Washington had been fatally shot by her boyfriend, 37-year-old Melvin Rowland.

He had been blackmailing her,stalking her & lying all along about his true identity . Even though Lauren was already afraid of him she hadn’t known the man she’d been dating was really a dangerous sexual predator & a criminal. And now he was also a cold blooded killer .

Today’s heartbreaking case raises many questions. Could Laurens death have been avoided?

As it became clear she had taken every correct precaution she could to try & get help from the campus police & had tried repeatedly to get effective protection against Rowland. Yet despite her caution & pre-emptive thinking, still nothing was done by police to save her, & her life was taken.

To this day, her parents whilst mourning their beloved daughter have channelled their grief & loss to bravely fight & campaign about much needed law changes on campuses .

They want to prevent any other senseless murders from happening to another innocent young girl just like it did to Lauren.

And they want to help students feel safe & protected in college as they very much have the right to be .

Sadly, it was too late for Lauren who could not be saved, but hopefully she didn’t completely die in vain.

Hopefully her tragic story which highlights epic campus police failures can raise awareness & help save other students lives in the future.

Today’s case details how the people & the institutions responsible for protecting her failed her at every turn….

This is episode 58, Lauren McCluskey. Sources: Desert news/ daily mail.com/ Wikipedia / need.utah.edu/ espn investigates/

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