Missing Freshman Was Found Frozen, Hair Peeking Out in the Snow. Police Saw a Suicide, but Parents Saw a Murder Mystery

Megan Trussell was just a week into her freshman year at the University of Colorado in Boulder at the end of August last year when she texted her dad.

“I just had my first film class, and my assignment is to watch a movie and then comment on it,” wrote the 17-year-old, who had a creative streak and a playful personality. Megan was a bass player, adept at mimicking a teacher’s Scottish accent, and she enjoyed writing movie reviews, including a scathing critique of Ben Stiller’s Reality Bites.

In Boulder, she seemed to be thriving.

“COLLEGE RULES,” she texted her father, Joe Trussell, that August day.

Six months later, on Feb. 12, Joe was surprised when he couldn’t reach Megan. He texted her and her older sister to ask if they wanted to meet for lunch that weekend, but Megan, who had just turned 18, didn’t respond. That’s when the family realized no one had seen her for three days.

Three days later, on the morning of Feb. 15, two park rangers discovered Megan’s body just outside the city, where the orderly grid of streets gives way to Colorado’s mountainous terrain.

She was frozen, lying on a slope near a drainage culvert and creek, partially covered in snow. Only her face and distinctive red hair were visible. Megan was pronounced dead almost immediately. In late May, authorities ruled her death a suicide caused by “toxic effects of amphetamine,” with hypothermia listed as a contributing factor.

Her parents, Vanessa Diaz and Joe Trussell, dispute that conclusion. They have conducted their own investigation and are pressing authorities for a deeper look, convinced that Megan’s death wasn’t a suicide.

“She wasn’t suicidal,” they insist. “It doesn’t make sense.”

This account draws on interviews with Megan’s family and friends, statements from local authorities, and a review of available reports, including the autopsy, revealing a complex and sometimes contradictory portrait of Megan’s final days.

A spokesperson for the Boulder County Sheriff’s Office said, “Sheriff [Curtis] Johnson believes that his detectives and deputies conducted a thorough investigation into Megan’s death based on all available evidence.”

Her parents disagree.

“I would be willing to accept a suicide finding if you had definitive proof,” Joe, 54, says. “But there is too much evidence against it.”

“The circumstances are very suspicious,” adds Diaz, 52. “She’s missing a shoe that has never turned up.”

The last time Megan was seen

Megan was last captured on campus security cameras leaving her dorm around 9 p.m. on Feb. 9, wearing yoga pants, a sweater, jacket, and tennis shoes, carrying a round blue purse with a large pink star. Diaz says Megan had sewn the purse herself, inspired by a character from the Scott Pilgrim series. Megan and her older sister often dyed their hair in coordination — one red, the other blue — as a nod to Sonic the Hedgehog.

Before leaving her dorm that night, Megan had a fight with her roommate and new boyfriend after the roommate discovered them being intimate. Megan and the boyfriend then argued, resulting in a breakup, according to case reports.

Soon after, Megan wandered around campus and disappeared from view.

“It was unusual for Megan to walk anywhere; this behavior was out of character,” a detective later wrote.

No one realized she was missing until Feb. 12.

Three days later, on a below-freezing Saturday, volunteers searching for a homeless encampment found some of Megan’s belongings outside the city, including a backpack full of clothing and a bottle of Adderall. The man who found the pills said his “heart dropped” when he realized who they belonged to.

What the autopsy found

The county coroner issued two autopsies, in May and July, with the updated report including tests on Megan’s stomach contents after her parents pushed for further examination. Both concluded Megan died by suicide due to the toxic effects of amphetamine, a key ingredient in Adderall, which she had been prescribed. Hypothermia also contributed.

Deputy Coroner Kolleen Hancock said Megan’s body was found about 20 feet down a steep, rocky slope, with blunt force injuries consistent with a fall.

Dr. Priya Banerjee, a forensic pathologist unaffiliated with the case, reviewed the records for PEOPLE and agreed with the suicide determination. “She had a stomach and throat full of pills,” Banerjee said. “That to me is very intentional.”

However, Megan’s family disputes the circumstances. They argue that being partially in the wilderness, at night, alone, and found injured without her phone or purse does not indicate suicide.

Life was going well — or so it seemed

Authorities interviewed Megan’s older sister on Feb. 18. According to reports, Megan “really liked college, she was dating someone she liked, and the only thing she didn’t like was her roommate.” She had been looking forward to a cousin’s birthday party, and her sister believed Megan would never have taken her own life.

Megan had no history of suicidal behavior, and no note was left behind. She struggled at times with school and her parents’ divorce two years earlier, but her father says she “handled it extremely well.”

Wanting more from investigators

From the start, Megan’s parents criticized the law enforcement response. Diaz called the sheriff’s office “callous” and accused them of bias. The family felt that a focus on suicide may have overshadowed other evidence.

Some unusual developments added to their concerns. Megan’s missing phone was found in a resale kiosk on March 2, traced to a homeless man accused of theft and false declaration — though neither he nor another homeless man was accused in connection with Megan’s death. Megan’s shoe, however, has never been recovered.

Her parents believe she was attacked after leaving her dorm to get a Diet Coke. Diaz says Megan may have been intercepted on the way, her purse taken, and the pills found in her system used to cover up the attack.

Joe and Vanessa say authorities never fully explored these possibilities.

“The official conclusions seem like an extremely elaborate way for somebody with no history to commit suicide,” Joe says. Megan even disliked hiking.

Sheriff Johnson’s office declined an interview, noting it is standard practice to limit public comment on suicides.

A future cut short

Megan’s parents have hired a private investigator and are offering $6,000 for information leading to an arrest. They’ve also launched outreach with the local homeless community and a Change.org petition urging her case be reopened.

“The goal is, No. 1, to clear Megan of having her name associated with suicide, because I don’t think it’s true,” Joe says. “No. 2, to catch whoever is responsible. Somebody played a part in this, and they’re still out there.”

Megan’s father says the second autopsy raised more questions than answers.

“She was so loved,” he says. “This is not going to be resolved this week or next week. If it takes the rest of my life, this is what we’re going to do.”