Family of Colorado college student found frozen in snow demand answers from cops after hundreds of tips

Family of Colorado college student found frozen in snow demand answers from cops after hundreds of tips 18-year-old Megan Trussell was found after three days of searching, miles away from her University of Colorado Boulder dorm room, in an area she had never been to before The family of a college student whose body was found frozen in the snow is calling for an independent review as they demand answers from police after receiving hundreds of tips about her death. 18-year-old Megan Trussell was last seen on February 9, 2025, having left her room at the University of Colorado Boulder. Three days later her mum, Vanessa Diaz, texted her to ask how she was but got no response. She checked the family's account with their mobile provider, T-Mobile, which showed that her daughter's phone had not been active since 9.45pm on February 9. Seeing this, Vanessa, 53, called the police to report her daughter missing. After three days of searching, Megan's body was found around three miles away in an area of Boulder, Colorado, she had never visited before. An investigation found no foul play and Megan's death was ruled as a suicide caused by taking amphetamine, with hypothermia listed as a contrbuting factor. The case has recently been reviewed by the Colorado Bureau of Investigation (CBI), with help from the Cold Case Review Team, and found that the original investigation by Boulder County's Sheriff's Office was "reasonable, substantial, and supported by the available evidence." But after Megan's family opened a tip line and hired a private investigator, Vanessa says she has been flooded with tips and is now calling for an independent review of Megan's autopsy. She has also hit out at police for not being "transparent" and claims officers have refused to give her access to her daughter's files. The school principal from Denver, Colorado, said: "I want an indepdent review of Megan's autopsy. The police are not being transparent with me at all. The police think there is no crime to solve, but if there is nothing to solve, then let me prove it. Give me access to everything you have and show me that you are right." Megan left her dorm room at 9.36pm on February 9 last year after getting into an argument with her roommate, according to authorities. She was said to be heading in the direction of her sister's flat off campus, but never arrived. She was last seen on a campus CCTV camera, with the footage showing a vehicle circling her. There was no footage of her leaving campus. "On Tuesday, I had sent Megan a text, but she didn't reply or even read it, which I thought was weird," said Vanessa. "It was a new semester at school on Wednesday (February 12), and Joe had texted me to see if I had heard anything. I called her, but had no answer. I went on our T-Mobile account and saw there was no activity on her phone since February 9 at 9.45pm." On February 12, Vanessa reported Megan missing which led to a search for the student by campus security. The last visual confirmation of Megan came from security footage, showing her at 9.52pm, while her phone was located three miles away from her dorm. "I got into my car and drove straight to Boulder," said Vanessa. "When I got to her dorm, her sister was there, and so was her roommate. It was the worst thing I have ever experienced in my life. The next few days were sheer misery." Three days after Megan was reported missing, on September 15, more than 100 people gathered to search Boulder Canyon Drive, and at around 10.30am, a park ranger found Megan in a hard-to-reach part of the canyon. According to the coroner's report, Megan had a blood amphetamine level of 1,900 ng/mL, while the concentration in her stomach was 1,700,000 ngl/mL. The blood amphetatmine level for someone prescribed the drug for treatment of conditions such as ADHD or narcolepsy is 20 to 110ng/mL. Concentrations of over 200 ng/mL in the blood are considred toxic. The report also made note of blunt force injuries on Megan's body, including bruising, abrasions and a broken tooth - though the injuries were considered consistent with a fall rather than a homicide. Megan's phone and purse were both found miles away from her body, which her family believe could point to foul play. Vanessa said: "The police are misleading. They say in their report that she had 'chipped teeth', but in the photos she is missing teeth, and some are completely broken. When we have asked for the autopsy documents, they tell us no because they don't want them to get into the media - which is absurd. My question is, what are they hiding?" On September 5, 2026, the CBI announced its findings of an independent review of the initial investigation by Boulder Countu Sheriff's Office into Megan's death. The findings of their review stated that the response and investigation from the police and partner agencies were "reasonable. substantial and supported by the available evidence." But, Megan's family say this review has raised more questions than answers, and are still calling for an independent review of Megan's autopsy. Vanessa said: "I believe treating Megan's case as a conventional cold-case review was the wrong process for the purpose of the statute we invoked. "This review was possible because of Colorado's Missing and Murdered Indigenous Relatives statute. I expected the review to examine not only individual investigative decisions, but whether the kinds of bias, assumptions and systemic failures that led Colorado to create this mechanism affected the investigation of Megan's disappearance and death. "During the discussion about Megan, Detective Ryan Morris raised the hypothetical possibility that maybe Megan had been walking toward her sister's home to get help. That leaves me with a fundamental question: What affirmative evidence establishes that Megan intended to die? "Even assuming for the sake of CBI's theory that Megan voluntarily ingested the amphetamine, ingestion and suicidal intent are not the same thing. There was no reported history of suicidal ideation or attempts. If someone's behavior after doing something dangerous can be relevant to determining whether that person intended to die, then I want to know how that possibility was evaluated for Megan." Since opening a tip line and hiring a private investigator, Vanessa said her family have been inundated with tips about Megan's death. They are hoping their calls for an independent review of the autopsy will bring them closure - and much-needed answers. Vanessa said: "We get so many tips; we get tips from people saying that they know who did it and they want justice. "Everyone I talk to will mention Megan's case and hope we get justice because something doesn't add up. Fighting for a second independent autopsy is all we want, but the police aren't giving us anything - I feel powerless." Family advocate, Haey Gray, who was in the meeting between Vanessa and the CBI, said: ""My biggest concern, aside from how Megan's family was treated, is that the review process seems fundamentally flawed. CBI was asked to determine whether the original investigation was thorough, but they were limited to reviewing the same files created by the investigation in question and could not independently interview witnesses, test evidence, or investigate what may have been missing. "Then, when we raised specific gaps, we were told things that simply did not make sense. An investigator said intent was not necessary for Megan's death to be classified as suicide, after saying he did not believe Megan actually intended to die. We were also told there was no need to re-interview a man who lied to police about possessing Megan's missing phone because his lies 'made sense.' If this process is supposed to provide families with meaningful independent review, I believe it needs to be seriously reevaluated, otherwise, all other reviews will end in the same result and heartache for the families." Boulder County Sheriff Curtis Johnson said: "We recognise that none of these findings lessen the profound grief felt by Megan's family and loved ones. We also recognise the importance of independent review to her family and the community, and we hope it brings some measure of closure and understanding. We thank the CBI's review team for the many hours their experts spent reviewing the case." For any tips that could be relevant to Megan's case, please email: [email protected] OR Text or Call: 678-636-9771 For mental health support, contact the Samaritans on 116 123, email them at [email protected] or visit samaritans.org to find your nearest branch.