Lauren McCluskey, a 21-year-old University of Utah student, was shot and killed by her ex-boyfriend on October 22. McCluskey, from Pullman, Washington, was found dead in a car in her parking lot.
She broke up with her ex-boyfriend, Melvin Rowland for lying about his age and criminal past. McCluskey broke up with Rowland on October 9 after a month of dating because she found out the truth. She learned that Rowland lied about his identity and was in jail for nine years for sexually abusing a minor. He also lied about his age.
On the night of October 22, McCluskey was returning home from a night class and was on the phone with her mom Jill McCluskey when her ex-boyfriend abducted her.
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“Suddenly, I heard her yell, ‘No, no, no!'” her mother recalled to BuzzFeed News in a statement. “I thought she might have been in a car accident. That was the last I heard from her.”
Jill kept calling her daughter back while her husband called 911. “I kept the line open,” Jill said. “and in a few minutes, a young woman picked up the phone and said all of Lauren’s things were on the ground.”
University police responded to a possible abduction in the parking lot. They found McCluskey’s body in a parked car near the Medical Plaza residential hall. She was fatally shot.
At 9:56 P.M. the university sent out an alert that there was a shooting on campus near the Medical Plaza residential hall. A short 13 minutes later they sent out another alert describing the suspect as a “black male, 37 years old, 6’3″, 250 lbs, wearing a gray beanie, black pants, white shoes and a white hoodie.”
It wasn’t until right after midnight on October 23 that the suspect was located. The Salt Lake Police Department chased him on foot. Rowland ran into a nearby church then they heard a gunshot wound and found him dead.
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In the family’s statement, they said that Rowland lied about his name, age and criminal history to McCluskey. Once a friend told her about his criminal past she broke up with him. Following their breakup, Rowland was harassing McCluskey. She blocked his and his friends’ numbers and complained to the University of Utah police multiple times about the harassment. McCluskey filed two harassment complaints against Rowland on October 12 and October 13.
In 2004 Rowland was convicted on felony charges of enticing a minor and attempting forcible sexual abuse.
McCluskey was a senior at the university and part of the track team. She was majoring in Communications and was expected to graduate in May 2019.
The University of Utah canceled classes for October 23 and offered support services to students.
