Let us not forget the Lauren McCluskey
every year on February 12 and October 22. We will not forget the way you live
on this earth.
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Lauren
McCluskey
(February
12, 1997 to October 22, 2018)
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Lauren J. McCluskey
1997 - 2018
1997 - 2018
Lauren
Jennifer McCluskey, 21 years old, a beautiful young woman in all respects, was
murdered on the University of Utah campus on October 22, 2018. A worldwide
outpouring of grief testified to the light she brought during her life - a
light that somehow still shines during these dark days.
Lauren was born in Berkeley, CA on February 12, 1997. She moved to Pullman, WA August 1998 when her parents, Matt and Jill McCluskey, joined Washington State University as professors. From an early age, she was bright, sensitive, and very active. She fearlessly climbed trees and climbing walls.
She
entered her first Junior Olympic (JO) association track meet at 8 years old and
set JO records in high jump, long jump, and 400 meter run. At age 9, she was
told that if she qualified for nationals, she could go. So, of course, she
qualified for nationals in the 9-10 age group. She continued to compete
nationally in high jump, hurdles, and multi-events, earning USA Track and Field
All American (top 8) 19 times and setting many USATF association youth records,
12 of which still stand, and the Junior (U20) association record for
heptathlon. As she competed nationally, she made friendships with athletes,
their families, and coaches from across the U.S.
As
a high school freshman, she was WA State High School Champion in High Jump and
2nd in 100 meter hurdles. She high jumped 5'6" in her sophomore year
before pulling her hamstring. She spent her junior year training at SPIRE and
attending Andrews Osborne Academy in Ohio. She returned to Pullman for her
senior year of high school. At the 2015 WA State High School meet, she
qualified in four events, scoring in three, helping her team place third
overall in the state. She set the Pullman High record for the 100-meter
hurdles. She placed 9th at U.S. Junior (U20) Championships in the heptathlon
that year.
She loved animals and volunteered at the Whitman County Humane Society helping to socialize cats so they would be more adoptable. She had two beloved cats of her own, Fuzzy and then Victory. She completed her Pullman High School senior project at the WSU Center for Animal Wellbeing. She also volunteered for the YMCA and Special Olympics.
Lauren graduated from Pullman High with honors and accepted a Track & Field scholarship at the University of Utah to compete in the PAC-12 Conference. At Utah, she competed in the multi-events and high jump. She was a loyal Ute and rooted for them with gusto. She earned PAC-12 (hon. mention) and MPSF All-Academic Awards and is 10th on the all-time performance list for the Utes in the pentathlon.
Her work ethic, in the classroom, weight room, and on the track, was exceptional. Her teammates and coaches were inspired and amazed at how she never complained, even when the weather was foul or practice was especially tough.
Lauren has been described as quiet but, more accurately, she chose her words carefully. Her professors were delighted by how she was engaged and made incisive, on-point comments. In college, she truly blossomed.
Lauren never had an unkind word to say about anyone. She loved being with friends and was a great dancer. She had a strong singing voice, loved karaoke, and even did standup comedy.
Lauren was a Christian. She grew up attending Community Congregational United Church of Christ and in college attended Capital Church in Salt Lake City. She was a member of the Fellowship of Christian Athletes at the University of Utah.
She was a deep, independent thinker with an interest in philosophy and a strong sense of right and wrong.
She was a gifted writer, winning a high school award in her junior year of high school as the top writer at her prep school and excelling in college. Even her texts and e-mails were beautifully composed. Lauren enrolled in electives on grammar and logic for pure intellectual enjoyment. She was looking forward to graduating and finding a job in public relations or academic advising, preferably some place warm.
Lauren served as a Communication Intern at Courtland Place Retirement Community, where her grandparents live. In this internship, she designed and completed a picture directory with stories that she wrote about the residents. She enjoyed interviewing them and taking their pictures for the project. Her grandparents received wonderful feedback from their neighbors that they loved the book and interacting with Lauren.
A model student-athlete, Lauren had a 3.77 GPA and applied to graduate in spring 2019. Recognizing her academic accomplishments, the University of Utah conferred a posthumous B.Sc. Degree in Communication.
Lauren is survived by parents Matt and Jill, brother Ryan, grandparents John and Linda McCluskey, Ross and Joyce Rudeen, uncles Jeff and Steve Rudeen, aunt Jennifer McCluskey, cousin Madison Bryant, and her cat Victory.
In lieu of flowers, Matt and Jill suggest donating to the Lauren McCluskey Memorial Fund for student athletes in track and field, https://giving.utah.edu/lauren-mccluskey/ or the Whitman County Humane Society https://www.whitmanpets.org/how-to-help/donate/monetary-donation.html.
Let her light shine.
A celebration of life for Lauren will be held on Sunday, November 11, 2018 from 4 to 6 pm at the SEL Event Center in Pullman, WA 99163.
Published in Salt Lake Tribune from Oct. 28 to Nov. 4, 2018
INTERNET
SOURCE: http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/saltlaketribune/obituary.aspx?n=lauren-jennifer-mccluskey&pid=190589650&fhid=23444
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Lauren
McCluskey
(February
12, 1997 to October 22, 2018)
[PHOTO
SOURCE: https://continuum.utah.edu/lauren-mccluskey/]
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Timeline of events in
the Lauren McCluskey case
Oct 25,
2018
The
following timeline is based on contacts University Police had with Lauren
McCluskey as well as information gathered in the case since Monday and was
shared at a press conference held Thursday, Oct. 25:
Sept.
2: Lauren met Melvin Shawn Rowland
at a local bar where he was working as a bouncer and began a relationship with
him. He visited her often at her residence hall and built friendships with
other students in the building.
Oct.
9: Lauren learned Rowland’s real
identity—including his actual age and the fact that he was a registered sex
offender. At that point she decided to end the relationship. She invited
Rowland to her dorm room and confronted him with the information. He admitted
his sex offender status but denied the age difference. Lauren told him she was
ending the relationship. He spent the night in her room and borrowed her car
the following day to run errands.
Oct. 10: Campus dispatch was contacted by Jill McCluskey,
Lauren’s mother, who requested a campus security escort to help her daughter
retrieve her vehicle from her ex-boyfriend.
University
Police contacted Lauren and she initially declined the assistance, stating that
Rowland was going to drop the vehicle at her apartment and she felt comfortable
having him do that.
A
dispatcher told Lauren she would have security officers near the building just
in case and asked her to call back if the situation changed.
Oct. 10,
5 p.m.: Lauren called back and stated her
car had been dropped off at the parking lot at Rice-Eccles Stadium and that she
needed a ride to pick it up. A security escort responded and gave Lauren a ride
to pick up her car.
Oct. 12: Lauren contacted University Police to report having
received suspicious messages that she believed were from friends of her
ex-boyfriend. The texts stated that Rowland was dead, and it was Lauren’s
fault. She was able to determine by looking at social media that was untrue.
The
reporting officer asked Lauren if she felt in danger or threatened by the
texts. She stated she did not, but that she felt his friends were trying to
lure her somewhere.
The
officer told her to not go anywhere that made her uncomfortable and to call
back if she received additional messages or contact.
Oct. 13,
9:22 a.m.: Lauren again contacted University
Police to report receiving additional messages she believed were from her
ex-boyfriend and/or her ex-boyfriend’s friends. The messages demanded money in
exchange for not posting compromising photos of Lauren and Rowland on the
internet. Lauren stated she sent $1000 to an account as demanded in hopes of
keeping the photos private.
A report
was taken, a criminal history was pulled and the case was assigned to a
detective for follow up on possible sexual extortion charges.
Oct.
19: The formal investigation of the
extortion charges began. A detective contacted Lauren to gather additional
information about the extortion, to identify all suspects possibly involved and
to seek an arrest warrant for Rowland and/or his acquaintances responsible for
the alleged crime.
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Lauren
McCluskey
(February
12, 1997 to October 22, 2018)
[PHOTO
SOURCE: https://www.sltrib.com/news/2018/11/12/let-her-light-shine/]
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Oct.
19-22: Security video showed Rowland at
various locations on campus.
Oct. 22,
10:39 a.m.: Lauren
emailed police to report having received an additional text from a spoofed
number claiming to be Deputy Chief Rick McLenon requesting she come to the
police station. University Police now believe the text came from Rowland with
the intent of getting Lauren to leave her dorm room.
Oct. 22,
3 p.m.-6 p.m.: Rowland
spent the afternoon waiting for Lauren with some of her friends in the
residence hall.
Oct. 22,
8:20 p.m.: Rowland
confronted Lauren, who was on the phone with her mother, in a parking lot outside
her residence hall. In the altercation, she dropped her cell phone and
belongings. He dragged Lauren to a different spot in the parking lot where he
forced her into the back seat of a car he had driven to campus. He shot her in
the car multiple times.
Oct. 22,
8:23 p.m.: Dispatch
received a call from Matt McCluskey, Lauren’s father, stating he believed his
daughter was in trouble, relayed what her mother had heard on the phone, and
requested that officers respond.
Oct 22,
8:32 p.m.: Police
responded to the parking lot, located Lauren’s belongings and began searching
her dorm, surrounding area and the parking lot. Additional resources were
mobilized.
Oct. 22,
8:38 p.m.: Rowland was picked up by an
acquaintance and leaves campus.
Oct. 22,
9:55 p.m.: During a search of the parking
lot, police discovered Lauren’s body in the backseat of a vehicle.
Oct. 22,
9:56 p.m.: A
secure-in-place alert was sent campus wide that stated there had been a
shooting on campus.
Oct. 22,
10:09 p.m.: Alert sent with suspect information.
Updates were sent approximately every 30 minutes reiterating the secure in
place order.
Oct. 22,
11:46 p.m.: Alert sent lifting
secure-in-place order after University Police determined suspect had left
campus.
Oct. 23,
12:01 a.m.: Alert
sent identifying shooting suspect as Melvin Rowland.
Oct. 23
12:46 a.m.: Salt Lake
Police located Rowland and engaged in a foot pursuit. He entered Trinity A.M.E.
Church, 239 Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd., and as police entered the church he
shot himself.
Oct. 23,
1:47 a.m.: Alert sent saying Rowland had
been located and is no longer a threat.
Additional
Information:
Q. Where
did Rowland get the gun used in the attack?
A. University Police have learned Rowland borrowed the
gun from an acquaintance under false pretenses. The acquaintance is fully
cooperating with law enforcement. According to the acquaintance, Rowland said
he wanted to borrow the gun to teach his girlfriend how to shoot. It is not
anticipated that any charges will be filed.
Q. Who
picked up Rowland on Monday night after the shooting?
A. Rowland called a woman he had met on a dating site
and asked her for a ride, saying he had just finished a workout at the U. She
agreed and picked him up. They went to dinner at a local restaurant, drove by
the state Capitol and then went to her home in downtown Salt Lake City where
Rowland took a shower. She later dropped him off at a coffee shop downtown.
Subsequently, she saw news reports about the shooting, recognized photos of
Rowland and contacted police. The woman is fully cooperating with the
investigation and it is not anticipated she will face charges.
Q. How
did University Police identify Rowland as the suspect in the shooting and
determine he had left campus afterward?
A. University security cameras recorded him in the
parking lot outside the residence hall. Another video showed him getting into a
vehicle that left campus. Police also had the information relayed by her
parents.
Q. Why
didn’t University Police contact Adult Probation & Parole on Oct. 13 after
learning Rowland was a registered sex offender?
A. University Police were investigating what was
understood at that time to be an extortion case and did not yet believe there
was enough evidence to share with other law enforcement. The current
investigative process is to gather evidence that supports the claim and then to
make contact with a suspect. It’s during this phase that police would have
reached out to AP&P.
Q. Why
didn’t University police assist Lauren in getting a restraining order?
A. Rowland was threatening Lauren financially and
reputationally, but there was no indication to University Police from Lauren
that he was threatening her with physical harm.
INTERNET
SOURCE: https://unews.utah.edu/timeline-of-events-in-lauren-mccluskey-case/ |
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Lauren
McCluskey
(February
12, 1997 to October 22, 2018)
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