Cilicia Stanton
Appearances
Nobody Should Believe Me
Introducing: Truer Crime
When Lauren returned to school, it was October 9th. It had been just over a month since she first met Sean, a man she now knew was actually Melvin Rowland. Deseret News reported that, alone in her apartment, Lauren dialed Alex's number. She poured out everything, revealing all the lies she had uncovered.
Nobody Should Believe Me
Introducing: Truer Crime
She knew she needed to end things with Melvin, and Alex agreed, telling her she should plan to call it off somewhere public. After they hung up, Lauren caught sight of something outside her window. It was Melvin, watching her. Then, suddenly, he was at her door, reprimanding her for discussing their relationship with others.
Nobody Should Believe Me
Introducing: Truer Crime
She confronted him about what she discovered, about his sex crime convictions. Ready with an excuse, he claimed that he was framed, that he was innocent and was forced into pleading guilty. Lauren wasn't buying it. She attempted multiple times to end the relationship and kept asking him to leave, but he refused.
Nobody Should Believe Me
Introducing: Truer Crime
Alex told ESPN that when she called Lauren the next morning to check in, the vibes were off. Lauren wasn't saying much and she just wasn't sounding like herself. "'Are you alone?' Alex asked her." She wasn't. Melvin had forced Lauren into allowing him to spend the night. Sometime after hanging up with Alex, she offered her car to Melvin and he left to run a few errands. Finally, she was alone.
Nobody Should Believe Me
Introducing: Truer Crime
Then, later in the day, she started getting texts from unknown numbers. Why'd you break up with the big guy? He really loves you, the first one read. But quickly, they started to get more and more ominous. One demanded that she go kill herself. all allegedly came from friends of Melvin's. She called her mom and relayed everything that had happened, explaining that Melvin now had her car.
Nobody Should Believe Me
Introducing: Truer Crime
Jill McCluskey, concerned for her daughter's safety and well-being, swooped into action. She contacted campus dispatch, hoping they could assist Lauren in safely retrieving her car. Jill informed the dispatcher that she was very upset and worried, expressing her fear that Melvin might be dangerous.
Nobody Should Believe Me
Introducing: Truer Crime
Her panic eventually turned into outright tears as she desperately explained, like any mother would, that she just didn't want anything bad to happen to her daughter. It's going to be okay, Jill, the dispatcher soothed.
Nobody Should Believe Me
Introducing: Truer Crime
And while campus security did safely escort Lauren to her car that day, Jill's call was never documented in a centralized location, meaning that campus police never had any record of Jill or Lauren's safety concerns that evening. Two days later, Lauren's phone lit up. The strange text messages had geared up again.
Nobody Should Believe Me
Introducing: Truer Crime
But this time, they were even more outrageous, claiming that Roland had died, that it was all her fault, that she needed to leave her apartment to go to his funeral. It was at this point that Lauren again called campus dispatch.
Nobody Should Believe Me
Introducing: Truer Crime
Lauren explained what happened two days prior with her car and said she'd been receiving weird text messages about her ex.
Nobody Should Believe Me
Introducing: Truer Crime
The dispatcher told Lauren that an officer would call her about the case. And shortly after, the University of Utah police opened a formal investigation. But the next day, the threatening messages continued. It was a Saturday, four days after her breakup with Melvin, and only six weeks since the two had first met.
Nobody Should Believe Me
Introducing: Truer Crime
On that morning, Lauren received a barrage of emails and texts with intimate photos of herself attached. The sender claimed they planned to publish the photos online unless Lauren sent them $1,000. According to ESPN, Lauren suspected Melvin was behind the texts, but when she reached out to him about it, he denied it outright, saying he was also being blackmailed.
Nobody Should Believe Me
Introducing: Truer Crime
Terrified and faced with what felt like limited options, Lauren caved to the blackmailer and sent the requested $1,000 through Venmo. Then, for the second time, she called campus police.
Nobody Should Believe Me
Introducing: Truer Crime
Lauren told the dispatcher she suspected the blackmailer was her ex-boyfriend, Melvin Rowland. And just like her call the day before, she was told an officer would follow up. That afternoon, though, Alex urged Lauren to visit campus police in person. The two went together and when they arrived, a pair of officers met with them in the station's reception area.
Nobody Should Believe Me
Introducing: Truer Crime
Almost immediately, the women sensed their concerns weren't being taken seriously. And, I mean, who could blame them? The officers didn't even bother to bring them to a private room to discuss what was obviously a sensitive situation. Hoping to convey the gravity of their concerns, Alex told ESPN that she Googled Melvin right there in the station's lobby, showed the officers her screen.
Nobody Should Believe Me
Introducing: Truer Crime
This guy had a history, they insisted. He was a known sex offender with a criminal record, and now here he was acting erratically. Maybe Lauren even needed to move, Alex said. but the officers were unfazed. The texts were probably just a scam, they assured. Maybe Melvin's phone was hacked. Still, Lauren filled out a police report and the case was assigned to on-call detective Kayla Daliff.
Nobody Should Believe Me
Introducing: Truer Crime
But since Daliff was out of office that day, Lauren didn't get to connect with her directly. Later that same day, feeling unsatisfied and increasingly concerned for her safety, Lauren decided to take matters into her own hands. Maybe if she called Salt Lake City police, they would actually do something.
Nobody Should Believe Me
Introducing: Truer Crime
But when she phoned them, they explained that because she lived on university grounds, her report was under the jurisdiction of campus police. She'd have to stick with them, they said, before transferring her to campus dispatch. All right, what's going on?
Nobody Should Believe Me
Introducing: Truer Crime
Over the next several days, the harassing text messages persisted. Each time she received a new one, Lauren promptly forwarded it to law enforcement. Yet she still hadn't heard a single word from Kayla Daliff, the detective assigned to the case. With each passing day, Lauren's stress mounted.
Nobody Should Believe Me
Introducing: Truer Crime
Then, on Friday, five days after she and Alex had visited campus authorities, her worries escalated upon reading the newest disturbing text message. This time, the sender claimed they knew all about Lauren's police reports. In a panic, she called Salt Lake City PD.
Nobody Should Believe Me
Introducing: Truer Crime
The dispatcher once again directed Lauren to campus police and suggested she ask for a detective or the detective supervisor if she was concerned about how the case was being handled. Following those instructions, Lauren reached back out to campus police that same day, finally prompting a call from Detective Daleth, who provided no explanation for the delay.
Nobody Should Believe Me
Introducing: Truer Crime
According to ESPN, Lauren was forced to re-explain details about her case, information she felt the detective should have already known. That same night, remember, it's still Friday, Lauren sent a long email to Detective Dallif detailing the situation. But as the Salt Lake Tribune reported, the detective was scheduled for three days off starting the very next day.
Nobody Should Believe Me
Introducing: Truer Crime
And while she was gone, no one was assigned to cover Lauren's case. That Monday, while Detective Dallif was still out, Lauren received yet another suspicious text. This time, the sender claimed to be the deputy chief of campus police. They said there'd been a development in her case, that they had something at the station she needed to come look at. But as ESPN reported, Lauren didn't trust it.
Nobody Should Believe Me
Introducing: Truer Crime
The grammatical errors in the message matched the ones Melvin often made in his own writing. Lauren contacted campus police yet again. The message, officers confirmed, hadn't come from them. Just ignore it, they told her. That evening, Lauren called her mom on her way home from class. Despite the drama of the day, she was in pretty good spirits.
Nobody Should Believe Me
Introducing: Truer Crime
According to Deseret, she was excited about a quiz she'd done well on and was on her way home, planning to utilize the resulting motivation to finish another assignment early. As the call wrapped up, Lauren told her mom she loved her. Then, suddenly, Lauren started screaming. The sounds of Lauren yelling, no, no, no, blared through Jill's speakers.
Nobody Should Believe Me
Introducing: Truer Crime
Next, a clatter as her daughter's phone dropped to the ground. As Jill told Deseret, she was immediately catapulted to another moment years earlier when Lauren's brother was hospitalized after an aneurysm had ruptured in his brain. I had that same feeling, she said, like I knew he could die. I just felt like Lauren could die tonight.
Nobody Should Believe Me
Introducing: Truer Crime
Lauren's dad, Matt McCluskey, overheard his wife's speakerphone exchange and rushed in to help. They acted swiftly, choosing not to disconnect from Lauren's line in case she returned. Using Matt's phone, they dialed the police.
Nobody Should Believe Me
Introducing: Truer Crime
Matt tried his best to explain where Lauren lived and where her phone might have been dropped. While he was answering the dispatcher's questions, a voice suddenly came through Jill's phone. Oh, someone's talking on her phone.
Nobody Should Believe Me
Introducing: Truer Crime
Police began a campus-wide search that continued late into the evening. And as the hours passed, Matt clung to the hope that his daughter would be found and returned to them safely. He told ESPN, I'd look out the window, and as long as I didn't see any police cars heading towards us, I thought we were okay. But then, at almost 10 p.m., Jill got a call from Lauren's coach.
Nobody Should Believe Me
Introducing: Truer Crime
Lauren had been found dead in the backseat of a car parked in a lot near her dorm. She'd been shot seven times. Watching Jill's face on the call, Matt knew immediately that Lauren was gone. The moment, he told Deseret, felt like physical trauma, like he'd been hit with a baseball bat. Melvin Roland was immediately investigators' number one suspect.
Nobody Should Believe Me
Introducing: Truer Crime
So that night, they released his photo and a description of the car they believed he'd left campus in. It didn't take long for them to track him down. And just before 1 a.m., the police followed him as he slipped inside a local church. But as they entered, Melvin shot himself, taking his own life just hours after Lauren had been ripped from hers.
Nobody Should Believe Me
Introducing: Truer Crime
Lauren's death sent shockwaves across the University of Utah campus as her community processed the unimaginable series of events that had taken the life of someone they loved deeply, someone so many students could see themselves in. At an on-campus vigil, Lauren's coach and teammates expressed their grief.
Nobody Should Believe Me
Introducing: Truer Crime
In the days following Lauren's death, a clearer picture of what had been going on over the last few weeks started coming together. Police confirmed that all of the threatening and hostile text messages that Lauren received had, in fact, come from Melvin. It's now believed that he was using spoofing technology to send fake threats from multiple numbers.
Nobody Should Believe Me
Introducing: Truer Crime
I also wondered about the messages that are referenced Lauren's police reports. How had Melvin known about those? Well, according to ESPN, that had been rather simple. Before the two broke up, Lauren had logged into her email on Melvin's phone. After she ended things, he used that access to monitor her. but that wasn't the only way he kept tabs on her.
Nobody Should Believe Me
Introducing: Truer Crime
Hi, friends, Cilicia here. Before we dive into today's episode, I just want to say a huge thank you for all the love and support that we've gotten since we announced season two of True Crime. It's been really amazing to get to hear from all of you. And before we jump in, I just have a tiny favor to ask.
Nobody Should Believe Me
Introducing: Truer Crime
Unbeknownst to Lauren, he'd also been stalking her. A review of security footage revealed video of Melvin walking around campus in a full Deadpool costume, his identity obscured. On the day of Lauren's murder, Melvin had spent much of the morning and afternoon around Lauren's residence hall, waiting for her.
Nobody Should Believe Me
Introducing: Truer Crime
When she finally returned home that night, Melvin grabbed her outside of her building and dragged her into a car where he shot her seven times. Next, he ditched the vehicle and made a call to a woman he'd met on a dating site. He asked her to come pick him up, and the two went on a dinner date. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.
Nobody Should Believe Me
Introducing: Truer Crime
If you're enjoying the show and you really believe in what we're doing, would you mind just taking a quick moment to rate and review us? You can actually do this on Apple Podcasts, or you can even just leave a rating on Spotify. I can't tell you how much every single rating or review really does help us. It genuinely helps keep the show going. It is the number one way you can support us.
Nobody Should Believe Me
Introducing: Truer Crime
Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. All of what I just shared is the tip of the iceberg. Despite the overwhelming pain of Lauren's death, the McCluskeys have been fueled by their unimaginable loss to make a meaningful difference. And still, there is so much work to be done.
Nobody Should Believe Me
Introducing: Truer Crime
And not only does it help us reach more folks, but I read every single one and it really means a lot to be able to stay connected with all of you. So if you're not sure what to write, we've got some tips on our Instagram at Truer Crime Pod. So head over there and check out the highlight called Review Help. Thanks so much. And without further ado, let's get into today's episode.
Nobody Should Believe Me
Introducing: Truer Crime
Please be aware that today's episode contains references to sexual assault and suicide. Please take care while listening. When things go terribly wrong, we're taught to take action, to find our courage, to reach out. Investigation paints a picture of a desperate college student trying to find help. But what happens when the people you trust to protect you look the other way?
Nobody Should Believe Me
Introducing: Truer Crime
In fact, another University of Utah student, 19-year-old Shifan Dong, was killed by her ex in February of 2022. less than a month after she reported to campus police that this same ex had assaulted her. As Lauren's dad told ESPN, there are so many young women like Lauren who are just as precious to their parents. Women whose stories don't get the same attention.
Nobody Should Believe Me
Introducing: Truer Crime
And for me, it's that acknowledgement that should fuel the rest of us. Lauren's legacy has and will continue to be absolutely transformative. And if a single story can spur so much action, what might be possible if we afforded every young person this same level of care and recognition? Maybe then we could understand the full picture a little more deeply.
Nobody Should Believe Me
Introducing: Truer Crime
that these stories have happened, are happening, and will continue to happen unless and until we decide to stop treating community problems as individual problems and transform systems that keep us trapped in patterns that ultimately hurt all of us. Before you jump away, just a couple more things I wanted to share with you.
Nobody Should Believe Me
Introducing: Truer Crime
One thing that really stuck out to me about today's story is Lauren's parents, Jill and Matt McCluskey, and just their commitment to advocating for folks like Lauren across the country.
Nobody Should Believe Me
Introducing: Truer Crime
I told you in the episode, but in her honor, they founded the Lauren McCluskey Foundation, whose mission is to let Lauren's light shine by supporting her passions, which were things like animal welfare, amateur athletics, and of course, by making sure that campuses across the country are a place where students are safe, supported, and have the ability to thrive.
Nobody Should Believe Me
Introducing: Truer Crime
So I really recommend that for today's action item, check out their website. They offer advocates and allies a plethora of amazing resources, even things like a student toolkit for those who'd like to push for change and create a culture of safety on their own campuses.
Nobody Should Believe Me
Introducing: Truer Crime
Much of their work also centers around forwarding Lauren's Promise, which is that pledge that basically says, I will listen and believe you if someone is threatening you. So you can make Lauren's Promise, learn how to volunteer, and donate to support the rest of their incredible work at laurenmccluskey.org.
Nobody Should Believe Me
Introducing: Truer Crime
As always, you can keep up with Truer Crime on Instagram and X at truercrimepod, and you can also find me on Instagram and TikTok at saliciestanton. And through my weekly newsletter, sincerelyslicia at sincerelyslicia.substack.com. For a full source list and links to all of today's action items, make sure to visit our website at truercrimepodcast.com.
Nobody Should Believe Me
Introducing: Truer Crime
Truer Crime is created, hosted, and written by me, Celestia Stanton, and is a production of Tenderfoot TV in association with Odyssey. Additional writing and research by Olivia Husingfeld. Executive producers are myself, Donald Albright, and Payne Lindsay. Additional production by Olivia Husingfeld and Jamie Albright.
Nobody Should Believe Me
Introducing: Truer Crime
Editing by Liam Luxen, with additional editing support by Sydney Evans and Jaja Muhammad. Our supervising producer is Tracy Kaplan. Artwork by Station 16. Original music by Jay Ragsdale. Mix by Dayton Cole. Thank you to Oren Rosenbaum and the team at UTA, Beck Media and Marketing, and the Nord Group.
Nobody Should Believe Me
Introducing: Truer Crime
For more podcasts like Truer Crime, search Tenderfoot TV on your favorite podcast app or visit us at tenderfoot.tv. Thanks for listening.
Nobody Should Believe Me
Introducing: Truer Crime
And in the aftermath of a tragedy, it's never long before the questions begin. How did this happen? Could it have been prevented? And whose fault is it that it wasn't? It's exactly those questions we'll be exploring today, because this is the story of Lauren McCluskey.
Nobody Should Believe Me
Introducing: Truer Crime
I'm Slicia Stanton and you're listening to Truer Crime. Today's story starts with the kind of night that, for me, felt deeply relatable. It was September of 2018, the warmth of summer still lingering in the air. And on this particular day, 21-year-old college student Lauren McCluskey suggested to her friend Alex that the two spend their evening at a new bar in Salt Lake, the London Belle.
Nobody Should Believe Me
Introducing: Truer Crime
And while these weren't exactly novel plans for two 21-year-olds, it was the kind of thing that Lauren would have never suggested, even just a few years prior. But now, in her final year at the University of Utah, Lauren had undergone a metamorphosis of sorts. Once focused solely on academics and athletics, she now embraced the spotlight.
Nobody Should Believe Me
Introducing: Truer Crime
She built deep friendships, sang at karaoke nights, even tried her hand at performing comedy. Now Lauren was in the homestretch, graduation just around the corner. And what better way to soak it all in than a night out with one of her best friends? When they arrived at the London Bell, the line to get in streamed down the block. But Lauren's eyes went straight to the bouncer that manned its front.
Nobody Should Believe Me
Introducing: Truer Crime
He was tall with large muscles and a sense of self-assuredness that radiated off him. Cute guy, new bar, and all had the makings of a good night. Inside, the place was packed, but then, suddenly, Cute Bouncer reappeared, finding them seats. His name was Sean, a call center worker and community college student. Something about him intrigued Lauren.
Nobody Should Believe Me
Introducing: Truer Crime
She took a chance, slipped him her number on a napkin as they left. That evening, Sean texted her. It all kicked off a whirlwind romance marked by Sean's maturity, charm, and thoughtful gestures. Nice dinners, flowers. He was the total package. For Lauren, who'd always prioritized athletics, school, and a tight circle of friends, Sean was different.
Nobody Should Believe Me
Introducing: Truer Crime
Lauren confided in her mom Jill about her budding romance. It was clear to both of them that Lauren was smitten. Jill was excited that her daughter was so happy, but felt a little wary when she discovered Sean was 28, seven years older than Lauren. But ultimately, she decided to trust Lauren's judgment.
Nobody Should Believe Me
Introducing: Truer Crime
She was an adult now, and she wanted her daughter to feel like she had the freedom to navigate her own life choices. But soon, it wasn't just Jill who felt wary of the new character in Lauren's life. Alex, who'd been with Lauren the night she met Sean, had grown increasingly skeptical of her friend's rapidly intensifying relationship.
Nobody Should Believe Me
Introducing: Truer Crime
According to Deseret News, within days of their first meeting, Sean became a near permanent fixture at Lauren's campus apartment, spending almost every night there. But there were other signs, too. Red flags that proved increasingly difficult to overlook. Alex told ESPN about one occasion early on where Lauren said something like, Sean told me I could invite a few friends to meet him on Thursday.
Nobody Should Believe Me
Introducing: Truer Crime
Alex found the phrasing bizarre. He told her she could? Later, Lauren's explanation of her outfit raised more eyebrows. Sean told me to wear a T-shirt and jeans, so that's why I'm wearing this, she said. Another friend remembered that whenever Sean called, Lauren was adamant about answering.
Nobody Should Believe Me
Introducing: Truer Crime
And when she did, he peppered her with demanding questions, always wanting to know where she was and with who. Once, while in class, she missed his call. Later, he accused her of cheating. Soon, he started dictating her whereabouts, telling her not to go places where there might be other men. So, you know, everywhere. No parties, no friends' houses, no nights on the town.
Nobody Should Believe Me
Introducing: Truer Crime
Lauren withheld judgment, though. She had empathy for Sean. He'd been cheated on in the past, or so he told her. Plus, he justified his actions as protection. What would she do if a man came on to her? She needed to buy a gun, he urged. And while all these developments were shocking and scary to learn about, I think what surprised me the most was just how quickly they unfolded.
Nobody Should Believe Me
Introducing: Truer Crime
It had only been three and a half weeks since the pair had met. And so on September 29th, when Alex met up with Lauren at her apartment, she was taken aback to see her friend in such a state of disarray. She looked nothing like the bold, passionate woman who'd taken her to the London Bell earlier that same month. She was thinner, tired, worn down.
Nobody Should Believe Me
Introducing: Truer Crime
Alex knew it was time to take action, so she and a couple of friends reported the situation to campus housing authorities. According to the Salt Lake Tribune, they shared that Lauren was in an unhealthy and controlling relationship with a man who was constantly staying at her apartment, that he talked about bringing guns to campus, that he pressured Lauren even to buy her own.
Nobody Should Believe Me
Introducing: Truer Crime
Not softening their fears, they emphasized their worries, that Lauren might end up seriously hurt.
Nobody Should Believe Me
Introducing: Truer Crime
But instead of reporting what was shared to campus police or the school's behavior intervention team, whose job it was to deal with cases of alleged abuse, the housing coordinator focused on the part of the story that indicated Lauren might have violated the campus housing guest policy, saying that she would chat with Lauren about that.
Nobody Should Believe Me
Introducing: Truer Crime
The next day, housing officials determined that report should be filed, but because their computer system wasn't working, it never did get filed. Ultimately, the housing team concluded that because Lauren was an adult, it was probably best for them to not get too involved.
Nobody Should Believe Me
Introducing: Truer Crime
Lauren, meanwhile, remained loyal to Sean, hopeful that as time went on and their relationship strengthened, his trust issues might fade. But then, according to ESPN, right before fall break, Lauren caught a glimpse of Sean's ID. It was weird because the name listed wasn't one he'd ever told her about. She kept it to herself.
Nobody Should Believe Me
Introducing: Truer Crime
And then, when she was back in her hometown for break, she tapped the name into her Google search bar. As she sifted through the pages of results, a sense of unease swept over her. Her boyfriend wasn't Sean. He was a man named Melvin Rowland, and he wasn't 28. He was 37. But there was something else, too. A picture of Melvin, face serious, eyes sullen.
Nobody Should Believe Me
Introducing: Truer Crime
It was a discovery Lauren found particularly unsettling, because it was a mugshot. Melvin Rowland had just left a 10-year stint in lockup, punishment for multiple sex crime convictions.