The Boulder County Coroner’s Office (BCCO) published an updated autopsy report on July 16 with the results of tests done on Megan Trussell’s stomach contents, ruling again that amphetamine caused Trussell’s death and that the manner of death was suicide.
Trussell was a CU Boulder student who was found dead on February 15. Trussell’s death was investigated by the Boulder County Sheriff’s Office (BCSO) and the BCCO, and the offices announced on May 27 that the investigation had concluded and her death was ruled a suicide; she died as a result of toxic effects of amphetamine and exposure to a cold environment.
The decision to test the contents of Trussell’s stomach after the conclusion of the investigation comes after Trussell’s parents, Vanesssa Diaz and Joe Trussell, expressed dissatisfaction with the result of the investigation and the manner in which it was conducted.
“The circumstances surrounding Megan’s disappearance, along with the condition and location of her body, make it hard to reconcile suicide as the cause of death,” Diaz and Trussell said in a joint statement last month. “Megan deserves a full, thorough investigation — one that addresses every red flag. So far, we have not seen that from the BCSO.”
The contents tested by the BCCO, according to Issue Wire, include “a softball-sized mass of gray granular material found during autopsy.” Issue Wire reported that a pathologist involved in the case noted that the mass was “larger than anything they had seen in 3,800 autopsies.”
Trussell’s father, Joe Trussell, said that the additional information released by the coroner last week provides “no definitive answers” and “only raises more questions.”
“We will continue to investigate Megan's case independently until we find answers for the many unresolved questions surrounding her death," he said.
Trussell’s parents, Joe Trussell and Vanessa Diaz, have been working with agency Vigilante PR, which has contacted numerous media outlets describing how there is “glaring evidence pointing to homicide” within Trussell’s case, including things that were “ignored” by the BCSO, like Trussell being found missing a shoe; having sustained “significant physical Injuries inconsistent with suicide,” like severe head trauma and newly chipped teeth; her phone having been sold/pawned by an unhoused individual in the Boulder area; amongst other pieces of evidence.
