Found Deceased CO - Megan Trussell, CU sudent, last seen in residence hall, FBI involved, 9 Feb 2025

[Lore Listener]

Most likely unrelated, but there has been a police pursuit of someone described only as an "armed suspect," resulting in shelter-in-place orders and SWAT response throughout Boulder today. There was an "incident" at the CU campus, and the suspect then moved to a residential neighborhood in near Martin Park, where he is currently in a standoff with police. I have seen no indication that he's a suspect in this case, but there's very little info being shared so anything is possible and I thought I'd update everyone just in case.

Shelter-in-place issued near Martin Park in Boulder as police seek to arrest armed man

A shelter-in-place was lifted near Folsom Field and reissued moments later for residents near Martin Park in Boulder as police sought to arrest a wanted suspect Monday afternoon.

www.denver7.com

 

[Ghostwheel]

This one is not sitting well with me. I looked at mile marker 40. It's a popular place, nice trail but not in the middle of the night. Something seems off.

 

[jillolantern]

This one is not sitting well with me. I looked at mile marker 40. It's a popular place, nice trail but not in the middle of the night. Something seems off.

I couldn't find it. Can you share a link?

 

[Ghostwheel]

I went to maps and typed in Boulder Canyon Trail mile marker 40. Got a lot of information about the area from there, zoomed out saw where the trail came from ,etc. Here is the website for the trail. Just a tiny bit southeast from the P marker in the middle of the map but on the north side of the road where is where mile marker 40 is located. The P is the parking across the street people seem to use to get to the trail on the north side.

Boulder Canyon Trail

bouldercounty.gov

Edited for clarity. I was confused and I wrote it.

 

[Ghostwheel]

Adding this as well because the Boulder Creek path is what she would have probably taken if she really did walk to where she was found. Because how many people walk 2.4 miles at 10 PM in somewhere between 35 and 20 degree weather?

The Boulder Creek path is popular, 5.5-mile multi-use path that extends to Boulder Canyon on the west end and Stazio Ballfields on the east end (just past 55th Street). It runs through downtown and by many attractions, including the Main Library, Civic Area Park and Boulder Dushanbe Teahouse.

Boulder Creek Path | City of Boulder

bouldercolorado.gov

 

[Ghostwheel]

In case anyone asks

Boulder February 9, 2025 Historical Weather (Colorado, United States) - Weather Spark

weatherspark.com

Fixing link

 

[Lore Listener]

Major update from the Denver Post. Megan's bag has been located.

This area is not near her dorm, nor near where her body was found, nor on the route between the two.

Bag of CU Boulder student who was found dead is discovered near U.S. 36

A bag belonging to Megan Trussell, a CU Boulder student who was found dead on Feb. 15 in Boulder Canyon, was located on Wednesday off the U.S. 36 bike path.

www.denverpost.com

"A bag belonging to Megan Trussell, a University of Colorado Boulder student who was found dead on Feb. 15 in Boulder Canyon, was located on Wednesday off the U.S. 36 bike path.

An anonymous source confirmed with the Daily Camera on Tuesday that a bag was found at about 11 a.m. Wednesday near U.S. 36, just southeast of Table Mesa Drive by the Dry Creek Ditch Number 2. The bag has since been turned over to law enforcement, according to a news release by the Boulder County Sheriff’s Office, who also confirmed that the bag was found."

Edit: Adding a pin to where Dry Creek Ditch Number 2 and the US 36 bike path intersect: 39°58'55.4"N 105°13'33.9"W

 

[Lore Listener]

From the Boulder Daily Camera:

Bag of CU Boulder student who was found dead is discovered near U.S. 36

A bag belonging to Megan Trussell, a CU Boulder student who was found dead on Feb. 15 in Boulder Canyon, was located on Wednesday off the U.S. 36 bike path.

www.dailycamera.com

Paywall free version: https://archive.ph/L76Zn

Exact same info as DP.

 

[Lore Listener]

Here is Boulder County Sherriff's press release:

UPDATE #3: Deceased Female Found Near 40-Mile Marker Boulder Canyon Dr.

UPDATE #3: Deceased Female Found Near 40-Mile Marker Boulder Canyon Dr. Boulder County, Colo. – The Boulder County Sheriff’s Office continues to investigate the death of 18-year-old Megan Trussell, who was found deceased near the 40-mile-marker of Boulder Canyon Drive on February 15, 2025, after...

bouldercounty.gov

UPDATE #3: Deceased Female Found Near 40-Mile Marker Boulder Canyon Dr.​

Boulder County, Colo. - The Boulder County Sheriff’s Office continues to investigate the death of 18-year-old Megan Trussell, who was found deceased near the 40-mile-marker of Boulder Canyon Drive on February 15, 2025, after being reported missing to the CU-Boulder Police Department on February 12, 2025.

Megan’s purse was recently recovered; however, we will not be releasing additional details about the purse (location, contents, etc.) as this is still an ongoing investigation.

Although the cause and manner of death has yet to be determined by the Boulder County Coroner’s Office, we still have no reason to believe that there is, or was, a threat to the community.

The incident has been documented under Boulder County Sheriff’s Office case report #25-00778.

 

[Ghostwheel]

I have seen this before. Words like "Although the cause and manner of death has yet to be determined by the Boulder County Coroner’s Office, we still have no reason to believe that there is, or was, a threat to the community." do not rule out foul play. It can mean that they have their eye on someone, so no threat to the community. Total opinion on my part. This one has had me waiting for more news. It went so deathly quiet and it didn't make sense.

 

[Ghostwheel]

Major update from the Denver Post. Megan's bag has been located.

This area is not near her dorm, nor near where her body was found, nor on the route between the two.

Bag of CU Boulder student who was found dead is discovered near U.S. 36

A bag belonging to Megan Trussell, a CU Boulder student who was found dead on Feb. 15 in Boulder Canyon, was located on Wednesday off the U.S. 36 bike path.

www.denverpost.com

"A bag belonging to Megan Trussell, a University of Colorado Boulder student who was found dead on Feb. 15 in Boulder Canyon, was located on Wednesday off the U.S. 36 bike path.

An anonymous source confirmed with the Daily Camera on Tuesday that a bag was found at about 11 a.m. Wednesday near U.S. 36, just southeast of Table Mesa Drive by the Dry Creek Ditch Number 2. The bag has since been turned over to law enforcement, according to a news release by the Boulder County Sheriff’s Office, who also confirmed that the bag was found."

Edit: Adding a pin to where Dry Creek Ditch Number 2 and the US 36 bike path intersect: 39°58'55.4"N 105°13'33.9"W

Are you sure it's on that end, not the other end?

39°58'43.6"N 105°13'39.9"W

maps.app.goo.gl

ETA: Something called CU Boulder South is located in this area

 

[Ghostwheel]

This is just a reference, being as this nearby where the bag was found. www.colorado.edu/cubouldersouth

Home

Why Here? Why Now?In September 2021, Boulder City Council annexed CU Boulder South, a 308-acre property the university has owned since 1996. The annexation

www.colorado.edu

 

[Lore Listener]

<modsnip - quoted post was unapproved social media>

‘There was a struggle’: Mother of dead CU Boulder student says she was found missing a shoe - Boulder Daily Camera​

‘There was a struggle’: Mother of dead CU Boulder student says she was found missing a shoe

Paywall-free: https://archive.ph/XnN4Q

On Tuesday, her mother, Vanessa Diaz, took to Facebook to say her daughter was found wearing only one 3-inch platform tennis shoe.

Diaz wrote that she and trusted friends searched the area that Trussell was found in, this weekend and the other shoe was not there.
The Boulder County Sheriff’s Office confirmed Tuesday that Trussell’s purse was found. An anonymous source confirmed with the Daily Camera on Tuesday that the purse was found at about 11 a.m. Wednesday, March 5, near U.S. 36, just southeast of Table Mesa Drive by the Dry Creek Ditch Number 2, at least two miles from where her body was found.
Diaz wrote on Tuesday night that the side seam on the purse was found ripped out and, having sewn the purse herself, she said she knew the seam was reinforced “very thoroughly.”
<modsnip - snipped for copyright>

 

[Lore Listener]

Wow. BCSO just published an update #4.

UPDATE #4: Deceased Female Found Near 40-Mile Marker Boulder Canyon Dr.

UPDATE #4: Deceased Female Found Near 40-Mile Marker Boulder Canyon Dr. Boulder County, Colo. – We understand and appreciate the community’s concerns regarding the investigation into Megan Trussell’s death. As with all death investigations, we are conducting this case with the highest level of...

bouldercounty.gov

“As with any major ongoing investigation, certain details cannot and should not be released to protect the integrity of the case,” said Detective Commander Jeff Pelletier. “We understand the community’s interest and the desire for information, but we must maintain a careful balance. Based on the circumstances known at this time, foul play is not suspected. However, the case remains open, and under investigation.”
bbm

The Denver Post also published another article 45 minutes ago including the update and the recent statement by Megan's mom, Vanessa Diaz.

Mother of CU student found dead in Boulder Canyon says she was missing a shoe: “There was a struggle”

The body of Megan Trussell, 18, was found dead Feb. 15 in “hard-to-reach” terrain near the 40-mile marker of Boulder Canyon Drive.

www.denverpost.com

Paywall free: http://archive.today/2025.03.12-210...russell-found-dead-boulder-canyon-cu-student/

"Diaz wrote on Tuesday night that the side seam on the purse was ripped out and, having sewn the purse herself, she said she knew the seam was reinforced “very thoroughly.”
“Megan called her purse her ‘security blanket,’ and she would not have ditched it along with the prized possessions that she carried inside it. Someone ripped this purse from her,” Diaz wrote in the release.
“The damaged purse and the missing shoe lead me to believe there was a struggle, or, at the very least, another person with her when she died,” Diaz added."

 

[uteliaisuus]

I have lived in the area for a good portion of my life, but did not know Megan. My $.02 are as follows:

• The area they found her in, and the area they found her purse are most easily accessible by walking or bicycle
• It's highly unlikely someone would walk between the two places in platform shoes on a cold night, especially if she wasn't known for this type of thing
• Something is suspicious in how it's being presented to the public, and many of us know it
• Given where her purse was found, as well as her body, it's possible there was a string of unfortunate events and this was self-inflicted but it seems unlikely from the circumstantial evidence
• Boulder has had several less commonly known murders since Jonbenet which are still noteworthy though the ones I'm familiar with have all been solved. In most cases, however, the police are somewhat dodgy on details until they have arrested someone
• They have not made any statements about the boyfriend or roommate and truecrime stories seem to indicate these folks should be top of mind for the police
• Many people are understandably on edge given Boulder "feels safe" but also grapples with some amount of violence from our homeless population and frat parties near campus but being told there's nothing to worry about in this case feels wrong (though legally probably correct)?

 

[vls12345]

Something has felt off about this case from the beginning. Imo.

 

[Ghostwheel]

This is me speculating. "Foul play is not suspected". If someone slips off the edge of a high place and falls and dies, would that not look the same as if someone was pushed off of the edge of a high place and falls and dies? Or if someone was chased to a high place for fear of their life and falls and dies? Or if someone was forced to go to a high place with the threat of a gun and falls and dies? Seems to me the results would all be the same.

There was snow. If it snowed between the time she went missing and when she was found, footprints could have been covered.

If by "foul play" they only mean that there was not a visible assault on her body physically, it still leaves the possibility that someone else might be involved. JMO.

 

[Ghostwheel]

Body found in 'hard-to-reach' spot above Boulder Canyon Dr matches description of missing CU Boulder student

A body found in a "hard-to-reach" spot above Boulder Canyon Drive matches the description of missing CU Boulder student Megan Trussell, the sheriff's office said.

www.denver7.com

This was posted above by LoreListener, but I wanted to put the words that meant something to me on a page.

"The body was found in a "hard-to-reach" spot that required rappelling to reach, the sheriff's office said. No other information was available at the time, but Denver7's Adria Iraheta, who spoke with volunteers of a search party for Trussell earlier in the day on Saturday, reported that authorities were working to recover the body in the same general area that the volunteers had been previously searching."

"Judy Brocato, a family friend of the Trussells, was helping with the volunteer search on Saturday and told Denver7 earlier in the day that Trussell's phone had pinged in the canyon around 10:45 p.m. Sunday. It last pinged in the canyon at 11:55 p.m. that night. Investigators believed her phone was still there throughout the week, Brocato told Denver7."

 

[uteliaisuus]

There is, imho, obviously more to the story here. This shows the distance between where her purse was found vs where she was found (credit /u/fucklehead). Although there is a bike path kind of connecting the two locations, it's unlikely someone not into being super active outside, who somewhere lost her shoe, traversed between the two locations. Additionally, where the purse was found, along with where she was found, are not super close to where a car could easily have transported them (my information might be wrong).

For even more context, Megan could have rented a Lime to get somewhat across Boulder, there are pockets where the Limes won't go which means she would've needed to ditch several to travel this distance, or have a bike, or someone else was involved. (Well or this all happened over 3-4 hours). The purse was found about equidistant from her dorm and her body, in opposite directions. This, in turn, means that if she walked steadily, stopping almost not at all, it would've been a 3 hour trip to go dorm -> purse -> Mile Marker 40 *at best* (I am not clear which dorm she was in).

This coupled with her roommate not noticing she was missing (?) and an unknown boyfriend in the mix, I am very skeptical this all transpired without another person noticing, but more likely taking part.

 

[uteliaisuus]

I don't mean to keep posting, however I learned:

• Her dorm was Hallett hall
• Her last phone ping was around where her body was found
• But the ping was 40 minutes after she was last seen at her dorm

Her dorm to her purse location - about an hour, then another hour back to near her dorm and yet another to where her body was found. To me this means she was not traveling on foot and probably her purse was transported post-mortem. It's possible this was accomplished by someone random finding her purse, but it would've likely had to have been before she was at her final resting place given it required rappelling to get to her body.

So, I can't honestly see an explanation which *didn't* involve another person, but I'm all ears.