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Pretty Lies And Alibis

Did They Get It Wrong? The Megan Trussell Case: Part 1

Pretty Lies And Alibis

GiGi McKelvey

True Crime, Society & Culture, Daily News, News, Documentary

4.6 • 1.6K Ratings

🗓️ 28 January 2026

⏱️ 22 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

In this episode of Pretty Lies & Alibis, we start a deep dive into the mysterious death of 18-year-old UC Boulder student Megan Trussell, whose body was found near the 40-mile marker of Boulder Canyon Drive in Colorado after she vanished from the University of Colorado Boulder campus 
Authorities ruled her death the result of amphetamine toxicity combined with exposure to cold, classifying it as self-harm — but Megan’s family strongly disputes that conclusion.

We walk through who Megan was, the close-knit family she came from, and the timeline leading up to her disappearance on February 9, 2025.

The episode covers troubling roommate dynamics, unanswered texts, empty prescription bottles, and campus police delays before federal agencies became involved. It also explains how law enforcement used Stingray technology to track Megan’s phone as it appeared to move miles away from campus into a dark, icy canyon late at night.

Part One ends with the discovery of Megan’s body near a drainage culvert, unusual clothing damage, a missing shoe, and physical evidence that has left her family — and investigators — with more questions than answers.

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Transcript

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0:00.0

Welcome to Pretty Lies and Alibis. Let's seek the truth and travel the long road to justice together.

0:08.6

What you know, alibiers. Welcome to another episode of Pretty Lies and Alibis. I'm Gigi. Good to have you here. It's Tuesday, January 27th. We're going to jump into the case of 18-year-old Megan Trussell. I'm going to tell you Megan's

0:23.6

story here in a second, but before we do, I was looking at my analytics on YouTube. And get this,

0:29.9

45% of people who watch my videos aren't subscribed. So if you like my content, consider

0:36.3

subscribing. It's absolutely free.

0:38.3

Helps put my channel out to more people and consider giving this video a like.

0:43.3

That's the best things you can do to support the podcast, and I appreciate you so much.

0:48.3

I've been wanting to get to this story for quite a while, but you guys know after

0:52.3

CrimeCon, I was taking care of Grammy, and then with

0:55.9

her passing, I took a few weeks off. So I'm glad that I'm able to finally tell you Megan's story,

1:02.1

because I have a lot of questions, and I think by the end of this, you guys will as well. So let's jump in.

1:09.2

Megan was found dead near the 40-mile marker on Boulder Canyon

1:13.5

Drive in Colorado on February 15, 2025. So not even a year ago. The Boulder County Coroner's

1:21.0

office determined the cause of death was toxic effects of amphetamines combined with exposure to cold,

1:27.2

and they classified the manner of death as self-harm.

1:30.1

Now, Megan's parents do not believe these findings. But let's first break down who Megan was in a timeline of the case.

1:39.1

Megan was born September 12, 2006 to Vanessa Diaz and Joseph Trussell.

1:45.4

I'm telling you guys, these are some of the most beautiful, kind, yet broken-hearted parents I've ever met.

1:52.5

Megan also has an older sister, Lindsay, and they were raised in a very tight-knit family in beautiful Denver, Colorado.

1:59.9

Even though her parents were divorced, they all

2:02.0

remained close, and her parents co-parented in a very healthy way for their girls, and even traveled

2:07.6

together. One road trip was from Canada to Baja Mexico in a VW van. Megan also loved traveling

...

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