True Crime with Kimbyr - College Student Murdered After 4th Of July Party: Part 1

Episode Date: July 12, 2025

After attending a Fourth of July party, 20-year-old college student Megan Barroso vanished—only to be found brutally murdered days later. What chilling clues were left on the roadside? In this gripping episode of True Crime with Kimbyr, Kimbyrleigha unravels the disturbing details of Megan’s final night, the eerie discoveries made by investigators, and the relentless pursuit of justice. Was she being followed? Why was her car abandoned with cryptic evidence nearby? Join True Crime with Kimbyr as we explore the haunting twists behind Megan Barroso’s tragic story. This case will leave you questioning everything. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

You know that uneasy feeling you get when you text a friend and they don't respond right away? It's no big deal at first. Maybe they're just busy. Maybe their phones are on silent. But then hours go by. And that's kind of weird. But maybe you're busy and you totally forget. And then a whole night goes by with no, sorry, just saw this text.

And no laughing emoji. Just silence. The next morning comes and still nothing. And you call and it goes straight to voicemail. Your stomach drops a little and you call again voicemail again. And that sinking feeling gets worse. For a 20-year-old Megan Barroso's friends and family, that gut punch came on July 5th of 2001. Megan had always had her phone on her.

Her friends even joked about it, calling it her lifeline. She never missed a call, always checked in. But after celebrating the 4th of July together, after hugging her best friend, Lindsay, goodbye at 2.45 in the 4th of the day. morning. Megan simply went quiet. It wasn't the missed lunch day with her dad or even the empty seat at work the next morning that set off the loudest alarm bells. It was her phone. The calls were piling up unanswered. Friends were first feeling annoyed and then worried and finally terrified because Megan, the girl who always thought everything through every what if was suddenly unreachable. When they finally discovered Megan's phone, she wasn't the one holding it.

Instead, it was sitting on a blood-smeared car seat and an abandoned rental car, idling on a median along a quiet stretch of California highway. But by the time her loved ones realized just how wrong things have gone, Megan had been missing for hours and hours. And what investigators eventually uncovered led them into a darkness that no one could have imagined, especially not an innocent 20-year-old college students. and she wasn't the only victim. Hi everyone, welcome back to my channel,

and if you've never been here before, I'm Kimberlea. It's nice to finally meet you. The first sign that something wasn't right was a little before 4 a.m. on July 5th, so right in the middle of the night of 4th of July. So it's a night when people are partying, they're drinking, and maybe some of them are choosing to drive. So it's not uncommon to hear or even see a car accident

and happen on a holiday, like this. A security guard that was patrolling near businesses in Moore Park, California, thought that he heard some fireworks going off close to a nearby overpass off of New Los Angeles Avenue. They were muffled and they were off in the distance and he wasn't really in a hurry to check them out. But while he was on his normal patrol, he's made his way over there and he thought that he was going to have to tell some teenagers to cut it out. But right away, he realized it was actually a car accident. There was a dark green Pontiac Sunfire that looked like it had veered. off the street and appeared to jump the median and get stuck.

And as a security guard got closer, he realized the car was idling, it was on, the driver's side door was wide open, the headlights were still on, and so were the windshield wipers. His first thought was this was a drunk driver who bailed on their car and ran away to avoid getting a DUI. They must have been in such a hurry. It appeared they had left their sandals behind.

She left them behind because these were women's sandals, A left sandal was flipped over on the ground outside a few feet away from the vehicle, and the right sandal was right side up, and the straps were adorned with colorful flower charms. And that one was on the floorboard, right inside the driver's side door. But as the security guard got as close as he was to be able to see the sandal inside, he also noticed something more alarming. Blood.

And I'm sure this was a lot to take in, especially in the middle of the dark, but blood was everywhere and it was still wet. The driver must have been injured. There was blood on the steering wheel, the driver's side seat, and even on the floor. He immediately called 911, and officers from the Ventura Sheriff's Office quickly came out to the scene where the green 2001 Pontiac Sunfire was awkwardly straddling the median. Detectives Rick Barrios and Tim Lorenzen were some of the first officers on the scene. And what had initially appeared to be an abandoned vehicle was now being treated as a potential crime scene. It was obvious that this car was covered in bullet holes.

Yeah, so that definitely stood out right away. Most of the holes were concentrated on the front windshield of the driver's side of this car, and the window on the driver's side was completely shattered. There was glass all over the driver's seat. It was on the ground outside and sticking around the window frame and just hanging there. There was a bullet hole in the hood of the car on the door of the driver's side, as well as the back passenger side, just riddled with bullets. And considering the blood that was inside, they knew the driver must have been hit.

But what was odd was there was no trail of blood leading away from this car, only that lone sandal outside. So it really didn't make sense. They needed more clues. They began examining the exterior of the car, and they noticed a distinctive swipe mark on the driver's side that extended from about the driver's door to the back of the car. It appeared that someone had sideswiped, the Pontiac. They took a lot of pictures, and I have someone who's side-swiped.

those to show you and I've been showing you this mark on the car. It's a scratch through the Pontiac's paint on the driver's side. A picture was starting to come into focus, but they still needed more. So they looked inside the vehicle and they found a white purse with a blue zipper pole and blue sides on the passenger seat. It was open. And there was blood smeared on the zipper and the opening of the purse. They looked inside, but they did not locate a driver's license. And on the passenger side floor, they found a cell phone with a little blood on it as well. It was one of those old-style Nokia phones, but back then, that was the phone that everyone had. It was face down, and on the back, there was a worn-out sticker that read, Angry Girl. Between the sandals, the phone, and the purse,

officers assumed they were dealing with an injured female driver. But where was she? And what happened to her? They were still scouring this area for clues. It had been blocked off by the this point and crime scene technicians were fanning out to try to find any evidence on that roadside. And that's when they located five shell casings at the end of the exit ramp from the freeway. It was at the traffic light at New Los Angeles Avenue. They kept searching and they found one more shell casing about a hundred feet away in the intersection towards the direction where the car was found on the median. Now they have an idea of where this car was when it was shot out.

While I was sitting at the light about to turn on New Los Angeles, it appeared as though the shooter had followed it and then shot another shot as it turned. Now, clearly, the driver had been hit by one of those shots, and it veered onto the median, and it was as though they were ambushed in the middle of the night at a traffic light. And that was terrifying. Next, the detectives needed to find out who this victim was because they knew she was in trouble.

Had she ran? If so, why wasn't there any blood on the ground? Did the shooter target her? Were they stalking her, waiting for this moment when she was all alone on the freeway? This wasn't a rural area. It was highly traveled, very public. So the person who did this must have been very determined

because they didn't care if someone witnessed this attack. The CSI were still combing the roadside. The detectives were locating the registration from the car. And that's when they realized it was a rental car. So they call the agency, they give them the details of the vehicle, and they are informed that it was rented that week by a 20-year-old woman named Megan Barroso. The agency provide officers with a carol car.

copy of her driver's license and all her information and detectives start to call hospitals from the area. They knew from the fact there was blood inside the vehicle that Megan had been injured, but they didn't believe that she was fatal injured, at least not while she was inside that car. There just wasn't enough blood, but she hadn't been admitted to any hospitals, and that wasn't a good sign. At this point, it became clear that she had been run off the road, shot at, injured, and then taken. It was imperative for them to find her as soon as possible if they wanted to find her alive. And can you imagine as a parent getting this news that your daughter is missing? And that was the way the car she was driving was left on the road. It was terrifying for both her mother and her father to

think about. So I think it's a good time to tell you who Megan Barroso is. Megan was born on March 15th of 1981 in Ventura County, California to her parents Suzanne and Arturo, who was known as Art Barroso. She was their baby girl, their only daughter. And from her, from her, earliest days, Megan seemed uniquely observant. She had these big, curious brown eyes, and she took in everything around her, just quietly cataloging every detail. Suzanne would laugh and say that she had a busy baby, but not in a hyperactive way, but because she just seemed to be mentally taking notes all the time, watching, waiting, and fully absorbing the world around her. Art, Megan's father, was a kind of dad who made even the smallest moments count every day during his

he would drive home just to hold his baby girl for a few moments. And as soon as she would hear the familiar sound of the front door opening, Megan's little legs would kick because she was anticipating her dad coming through that door. Even years later, just smelling the scent of baby shampoo would bring art back to those moments. It was the nostalgia. It was those early days, those cherished afternoons when nothing else mattered but time with his little girl. Been growing into a childhood, Megan was the kind of girl who captured attention without even trying. Her aunt Susie always recalled a particular photograph of Megan. She was just two years old, standing quietly in the yard,

holding a single daisy up to her face. She wasn't posing or smiling. She was just existing in the moment. She was just in her own thoughts. And that quiet intensity, that thoughtful presence that she had, became one of Megan's most defining qualities. Even though Megan was Suzanne and Art's only daughter together, she did have an older brother named Arturo,

Joe or AJ, and their relationship was a bit complicated. It was the kind of sibling tension that neither one of them could really overcome. They just kind of bumped heads. AJ really felt like Megan would manipulate her mother to get more attention and draw Suzanne closer to her while pushing AJ away. Megan, meanwhile, felt that AJ was cold and distant and really unsupportive of her. A lot of times we hear that siblings get along so wonderful, but I wanted to show you that it's not always the case.

And you know what? That's okay. You grow out of these things when you get older. But despite their differences, there were moments that these siblings truly bonded with. And one of them was that they did not like one of their babysitters. So at least they had that in common. And like I said, usually siblings outgrow this. From the outside, though, the rows of families seemed picture perfect. Two caring parents, two healthy children, a comfortable suburban home. The life behind closed doors is rarely that simple. Eventually, Megan's parents divorced. She was still young, and while the breakup did change her daily routine, her parents made sure that it didn't fracture their family entirely. Megan mostly stayed with her mom, but her dad made sure that he was involved in his daughter's life. He would

frequently check in, and he was determined to maintain a stable presence. Suzanne, seeing her daughter's quiet, graceful nature, enrolled Megan in dance classes at seven years old. It was actually Irish stepdancing and clogging, and it quickly became Megan's passion. Dancing was where Megan truly shined. She found a place where she could channel all of her emotions, her creativity, and all of her energy. Suzanne had also been a dancer when she was younger, and it ran in the family, and she and Megan even performed together, mother and daughter. Their matching outfits, their dance, their shoes, tapping, and rhythm. It was a bond that expressed their passion and their love for one another as well, something that they bonded over. Through dance with the Santa Rosette

cloggers, Megan found her best friend Cricket Esther, and they were paired up early in class by Cricket's mom, Carol, because she thought the girls would just click and they did. The relationship grew stronger and stronger with afternoons filled with laughter, imagination, and countless hours on the phone talking to one another until their parents said, you need to go. And each of them would end in a very playful argument, which was like, who should hang up? You go first. No, you go I remember doing that when I was a kid. But Cricket described Megan as pure, contagious energy, her laughter, her witty jokes, her endless optimism. And together, they choreographed dances, they performed at local events, and mentored younger dancers.

Megan wasn't just another dancer. She was someone younger girls actually genuinely admired. And as Megan entered her teenage years, dance remained a significant part of her life. But her world slowly expanded. She attended high school alongside cricket, and their friendship deepened even more as they navigated the complex landscape of adolescents together. Hours spent studying, or often, you know, hours talking about crushes, future dreams, school gossip, and just life.

It's the kind of friendship that just feels like you're inseparable, the kind you expect to last forever. But during the summer before Megan's senior year, life threw her an unexpected curveball. Both Suzanne and Art lost their jobs at the state hospital. where both of them were still working, and this forced Suzanne to relocate several hours north to Templeton. Megan couldn't even think about leaving her school, her routine, or friendships all behind, especially not her best friend Cricket. And they thought about it.

And Megan moved in temporarily with Cricket and her family so she could finish high school. But life rarely follows perfectly laid out plans. I mean, I think we know that by now. And Megan began to struggle. Her grades were dropping. The stress was mounting. and eventually she had no choice, but to move north to Templeton and live with her mother.

And she finished high school through home study. But when Megan graduated, the sense of loss was still lingering. She was missing something. She already missed her senior year, the prom, and graduation with friends. It was everything that she had imagined happening for her, and it didn't.

So this move, it created this painful drift as well in Megan's friendship with cricket. It wasn't an argument or a dramatic falling out together. They just had this like natural separation. And Megan didn't want that. She wanted to bridge that gap. So that's why she ended up moving back to Ventura County because she was determined to build a life that reflected her independence

and what she wanted to do. Megan got her first apartment. It was a tiny place, but she was really proud of it, like we all are when we do something on our own because it symbolized her independence and the things that she'd always wanted. She enrolled part-time at Moore Park College. She was ambitious.

She was exploring possible majors and dreaming of transatlantic. to a four-year university, eventually wanting to study something similar to her mother, who was finishing her master's in social work. Meanwhile, she was working at Grimichi, a clothing company in Oxnard, and she maintained a balance between school, work, and her social life. And in this phase, Megan's personality and social life was blossoming. Her friends even joked that she was inseparable from her cell phone because she was always wanting to make sure she was there to answer her friend's call.

She was one of the first people to always have her phone right there, ready to chat, ready to help. It sounds like many of us now, but remember, this was in the 2000s. And when we were in our 20s, I'm sure most of us did that even if it was a landline. I mean, I had a cell phone by then. But Megan always thought ahead constantly. She was always looking at the worst case scenario that could happen and preparing herself for every what if, every moment that you can think of. Like, could it go this way? Could it go that way? And she had this cautious side about her. But that didn't mean she wasn't still fun and spontaneous and outgoing, and she was still even so innocent that she affectionately called her mom mommy

and had the same worn-out blankets since childhood that she called her Blanky. And like most of us, she had her quirky habits as well, like eating ice cream out of coffee mugs, forgetting cartons on the counter, accidentally leaving cabinet doors wide open, guilty as charged. But those charming details reflected Megan's gentle and slightly scattered yet pretty endearing personality. And then music was another one of her passions. Hours spent downloading tracks from Napster, and if you know, you know, and I read some comments. Some of you said, when you say that, I don't know. And I feel like you feel a little bit left out. So I'll let you in on the nostalgia.

Back then, we didn't have Apple Music or Spotify or any of that. Instead, we had to basically steal music from the internet and wait hours and hours for one song to download. Yeah, that's why we took so much pride in our burned CDs that we created, even at the risk of possibly infecting our PC with a virus or the FBI knocking at our door. So that was Napster. And Megan would carefully create these playlists of her favorite songs, and she could lose herself in the Moody Radiohead songs. One of her favorites was how to disappear completely, which is haunting looking back. But she also liked to sing along two cheerful songs like Wham and Billy Idol, music. Music was her emotional outlet, a way that she could capture her feelings without having to say anything.

Megan remained extremely close to her family this entire time. She cherished her visits with her dad art, and she loved spending time with her newest sibling, a little baby, Christian, from her dad's new relationship. And even though there was a 20-year age difference, Megan was so happy at being a big sister. She would drive to her dad's just to spend her lunch breaks holding Christian and just sharing these precious moments, the sibling connection. And let me know if you have a big age gap. My siblings are 15 and 17 years younger than me. And of course, I just had a new baby and I have a 13-year-old age gap between my other daughter. But let me know if you do as well. I feel very connected even to my siblings that have the age gap. And Megan was very attached to her siblings as well,

and she was deeply connected to her mother, Suzanne. Suzanne even gave Megan a clatter ring. And this is a symbol of love and loyalty. And I'm sure you've seen this before. It's one of two hands holding a heart with a crown on top. I've seen them in movies. I've heard about them being called friendship rings. I've heard them called Promise Rings, that you flip it one way, and it means that you're single and flip it it the other way, and it means that you're taken.

Let me know if you've ever heard of this ring, if you wear it, and what it means to you. These were very popular, especially in the early 2000s, and Megan wore hers every day. This was a reminder of her mother and their connection that they had. When her mom gifted to her, she said, When you look at this ring, remember how much you are loved. And Megan never left home without it on her finger.

Once she was back in Ventura County, she was back into her old routine with her friend Cricket, and it was like they were never apart. They were still the best of friends talking every day, hanging out for hours, but then she built some new friendships, including her friend Lindsay Gross, who described Megan beautifully, a real-life blend of Snow White and Marissa Tomei,

the soft light skin, the dark hair, plus the witty humor. Megan was someone who could just lift your mood just by entering the room. She was beautiful with a big personality. And by early July 2001, Megan's life felt in control. She was independent.

She was surrounded by friends and family, and she had clear plans for her future. She was approaching her 21st birthday, and she was ready for everything the life had in store. Kind of. Because no one, especially Megan, could have known that everything she carefully built,

Everything she loved was about to be tragically interrupted. Her presence, her humor, her reassuring voice on the other end of countless calls would soon become something that everyone desperately missed. But at the beginning of that summer in 2001, she was simply Megan, young, happy, and surrounded by friends. Before she vanished on that roadside, she had been enjoying Fourth of July celebrations completely unaware that within hours, her world would change forever. That is what makes this case terrifying. That's why I'm talking about this case,

because it's how quickly things can change. When Art got the news, it wasn't a phone call. The detectives were merely confirming that the number they had on file was his. They showed up at his house to deliver the news in person. And Art felt his heart drop immediately. Detective Varioz described the scene that they'd found, and he did it carefully because this was a sensitive thing to say to a parent. But he had to tell him the truth.

The bullet holes, the blood. The unsettling silence of Megan's car left running but empty. Art was instantly in a panic, in disbelief, and in terror. This was Megan. She was responsible. She was reliable. This seemed way too confusing. Why would anyone want to hurt Megan?

His mind was racing. He was searching desperately for explanations. that were less horrifying than the most obvious one. Her mother, Susan, received the same news and the same shock. Megan was her whole world, not only her daughter, but her best friend. So that fear hit her really hard, and she felt it physically. She was nauseous, and she was realizing that her desperate attempts to keep calling Megan's phone over and over again that went unanswered, this was why.

They had been looking for Megan since the night before, because she usually kept in touch. And even an hour without a message from her was unusual. Lindsay had slept in longer than usual after their late night July 4th celebration. And she reached for her phone half asleep, expecting to see a quick text or a miss call for Megan, but there was nothing. And initially, Lindsay just shrugged it off.

Megan probably slept in like she had. But when afternoon rolled around and Megan still hadn't responded, that casual confidence started to feel like concern. Detective wasted no time contacting Megan's friends, piecing together her last known movements. Art and Suzanne told the detectives that Megan's social circle was tight. It was made up of longtime friends and people she trusted

and no one that would ever put her life in danger. They knew she had plans staying out with Lindsay the night before. So detectives decided to start there. They made contact with Megan's worried friend and told her everything they knew so far. When Lindsay heard this, she screamed. She told them she wanted to help them any way that she possibly could. because she knew time was of the essence.

So she recounted their entire day. July 4th, 2001, started exactly like you would expect a summer holiday in Southern California would. Warm, clear skies, crowded streets, lots of celebrations. Megan spent the entire afternoon at Lindsay's parents' house. They were hosting a backyard barbecue, and Lindsay explained that it was only her mom, her dad, her aunt, uncle, and her grandparents in attendance beside Megan. It was very low-key. And when asked what she was wearing,

Lindsay remembered that Megan was in white Capri pants, a fitted green t-shirt, sandals, and an army green-colored bomber jacket with an orange lining from the gap, a white and blue purse and that distinctive cloddering that she always wore. And there was nothing out of the ordinary about that afternoon. Lindsay's house was a place where Megan always felt comfortable, almost like it was her second home. She'd been there so often that she didn't even knock or ring the doorbell. She would just walk right in, and she'd just join the festivities that day. Outside in the backyard, there were hot dogs and hamburgers on the grill, watermelon slices piled high, bowls of potato salad, and chocolate chip ice cream that was already softening under the sun. Lindsay recalled Megan, grabbing a burger, and immediately doing something that made her smile because it was just so Megan. It was something unconventional, which she was, and she was always herself, and she was proudly adding fresh avocado slices.

I mean, I think it's pretty normal, but Lindsay had two laugh. And the two friends were sitting side by side on lawn chairs, talking about Lindsay's upcoming trip, she was taking the very next day to Northern California. They were just playfully teasing each other, they were talking about random things, just a typical best friend banter. The detectives asked if anything eventful occurred.

And the only thing Lindsay could think of was Megan pulling her aside in confidence and telling her, I started my period. And she's like, oh, it's the worst time. I'm wearing white pants. Lindsay told her, don't worry. There's only a small stain on them. They went inside.

Megan took off her caprice. in her underwear and put on a pair of Lindsay's sweatpants while Lindsay ran to get some spray and wash stain remover. And the girls gently scrub the caprice and the underwear, which Lindsay remembered teasing Megan about, calling them granny panties. It was just funny moment between friends, nothing unusual at the time, just part of their day. But she was telling them every little detail because she didn't know what would end up being important. And I'm going to let you know something right now. That detail about her undergarments would become important. and that is why I am mentioning it.

Even though the girls were having a great time at Lindsay's, they already made plans for the evening. So as it got later into the afternoon, they wrapped up what they were doing with their visit with Lindsay's family and Lindsay's friends called. She had known them since high school, and they planned to go to a house party on Silver Strand Beach.

They were going to watch the fireworks display over the water in Oxnard. And even though it was a 45-minute drive, it would be way better over there than Inland in Newbury where Lindsay's house was. The houses on the ocean were big, and the parties were always a lot of fun. Plus, they didn't have to worry about driving because they were getting picked up by two of Lindsay's guy friends. In that case, Megan left the car she was renting at Lindsay's house.

The car that she usually drove was in the shop that week. And they arrived at Lindsay's friend John's house on the beach. Now, this wasn't a huge get-together. There were maybe 10 of them all together, including Lindsay, Megan, and Lindsay's two friends, Carissa and Chelsea. The house was decorated for the 4th of July, and the vibe was relaxed, but fun. Megan didn't know anyone, but Lindsay knew John and her two friends, and they talked, they lit sparklers, they drank some beer, but John had a bit more to drink, and it showed. You know, when you can tell that someone should have been cut off a little while ago,

that was John. He pulled Lindsay aside, and he asked, can I be introduced to your friend, Megan? Clearly, he was interested, so of course, she did. Lindsay knew, though, there was no way Megan would be interested in John. But of course, Megan was friendly and cordial, thanking him for allowing them to hang out at the house and hosting the celebration. But it wasn't long before John was pulling Lindsay aside one more time, and this time asking if she thought he had a chance with Megan.

Lindsay almost said no, no way, like immediately. But she just explained to detectives at least, that Megan had really high standards. She wasn't the type of girl to casually hook up with someone, and Lindsay knew exactly. what John was interested in that night. Lindsay was protective over Megan. She already started getting a little annoyed

by the fact that John had been flirting so hard with her, kind of bombarding her. It was a little much. Megan was too nice. She wasn't going to tell someone to get lost, but Lindsay let John know. Don't waste your time. Just don't. She won't be interested. And the four girls, Megan, Lindsay, Carissa, and Chelsea

walked out to the back of the house and down to the beach around 8.30 p.m. to watch the fireworks show. And in the distance, they saw two police officers on horseback coming their way. Megan didn't even hesitate. She went right up and she asked the officers what the name of the horses were. It was Zeke and Dakota. They were calm and friendly, and the cops even let Megan and Lindsay pet them. And they stood there asking the cops questions about the horses

and making lighthearted jokes. And that's who Megan was. That was part of her personality. She was outgoing. And then they walked down to the water. And they took their shoes off and they walked on the shore, letting the waves come up to their ankles. Then they sat.

down on the sand together and Lindsay described it as a beautiful moment when everyone was just quietly staring up into the sky taking in the gorgeous sight of all the lights over the sparkling water. There's no way anyone could have expected what would happen that night. It was such a contrast to this happy, festive atmosphere. The fireworks ended and things were winding down around 1030 p.m. And after that they left John's house with the same two guys that drew them over there but they weren't ready to call it a night. So they stopped at one of the guys houses in Newberry Park to make mint chocolate chip milkshakes, and they hung out till around 2 a.m.

Then the guys dropped Lindsay and Megan off back at Lindsay's house, where Megan had parked her green Pontiac Sunfire rental car. Lindsay told Megan just spend the night, just stay over. That's because it was almost 3 a.m. by this time. But Megan said it was fine. She had to work the next day, and she just wanted to go home. We've all been there. We're just like, you know what? I think I'm I think I just want to be in my own bed. But Lindsay was going out of town the next day, and they wouldn't see each other for a few days. So instead of the normal wave goodbye,

Megan ran up and she jumped on top of Lindsay. She gave her this big hug. But when she was doing that, she spilled Lindsay's purse on the ground. And now she was picking everything up. Megan accidentally held on to Lindsay's phone. It was a habit. She didn't notice.

She probably tucked it under her arm. We've done that so many times before and just walked away. But as she drove, It didn't take long for Lindsay to realize, and she called it from her house phone to let Megan know. Megan picked up Lindsay's phone at this point and told her, oh my gosh, I'm so sorry, I'll bring it right back to you. Now, a few minutes later, Megan called again. She had taken a wrong turn.

She briefly got lost, and Lindsay was outside patiently waiting for her to reappear for her headlights to come around that corner, and at 2.45 a.m., Megan finally returned. She handed Lindsay the phone back. Megan told Lindsay to have a great trip, bring back some earrings for her if you remember, and added, kiss a redwood for me, because she was going to see the Redwoods.

Then Lindsay waved goodbye as she watched Megan get back in her rental car and drive away, completely unaware that she had just witnessed the last time she would ever see her best friend. I can't even begin to imagine that reality. It's devastating. And Lindsay felt guilty because she kept thinking, what if I hadn't called her from my phone?

If she hadn't turned back around, then maybe she wouldn't have crossed paths with a monster. And I say this because no one in Megan's life said that anyone they knew would want to hurt her. So the only thing they could imagine was that some psycho attacked her and was probably holding her captive. But the detectives weren't so sure.

The John guy sounded a little sketchy. He was too pushy, too interested in Megan. He'd know where she was. going that night and maybe he followed her. So they immediately tracked him down and they speak to him. John admitted he thought Megan was attractive and he was interested in getting to know her, but he firmly stated that he never left the party that night. It was held at his house and multiple guests backed up his story placing him there throughout the night and into the next morning. Detectives conducted a thorough background check on him and they found nothing linking John to

Megan's disappearance. In the end, he was ruled out as a suspect. Now this was still July, 5th. The same day the Megan's rental car was found early that morning. And now additional law enforcement personnel and volunteers joined the search effort. The perimeter was widened, the teams were going into field, ditches, and roadside areas, and beyond the initial crime scene now, and they couldn't find any clues. Canine units arrived, a tracking dog named Diro sniffed Megan's rental car, quickly locating the scent from the abandoned sandal. But then, oddly, the dog just paused, like he was confused, because the scent just vanished. And there was no more indication of Megan going anywhere.

And this meant to them that she was grabbed, probably right out of the driver's seat and taken away in another vehicle. I mean, she did have a swipe mark on the side of her car. So putting all the clues together, it seemed like someone was trying to get her to pull over at some point, and she wouldn't. So they went so far as to shoot her car to get her to stop? That sounded really extreme.

And speaking of extreme, when Detective Barrios looked at the shell casings, he realized they were green-tinted shells, unlike any he had seen before, and near a patch of broken glass lay a metal rod. Now, they didn't know what this was at first. They were collecting everything, and they realized that this is a cleaning rod that you typically find in a rifle case or in a rifle itself. It wasn't the type of thing that you just find dropped casually on the ground. And now they realized they were dealing with someone,

that was using what they believed was in AK-47. This is in the family of assault rifles. And I'm sure you have seen these before. They are intended for combat, for soldiers. This wasn't a handgun. It was used for speed and precision, for hunting. And it was becoming more and more clear that poor Megan had been hunted.

She had been precisely attacked with intention and with violence. Detectives knew they weren't dealing with an amateur. They believed this person had done this before. Now helicopters were flying overhead and they were using infrared technology and they were scanning the terrain for body heat, but nothing came up. Detective soon discovered something, though. Megan's rental, her Pontiac, was equipped with an event data recorder. This is a crash data retrieval system. It's basically a black box.

It captures data from this car, how fast it was going, how fast it was traveling at different times, how far, for how long, when it stopped. And this was a feature that was designed to. capture the moments before a collision and the moments afterward. It was installed for airbag manufacturers, automakers, and even a rental car agency so they can keep track of drivers and incidents that occur. When they looked at what the car was doing right before it landed on the median, the data revealed that five seconds before impact, the car had been stopped at the off ramp, probably at that red light, before suddenly flooring the gas pedal to 100% throttle.

She was stomping on the gas. It was like pedal to the metal speeding away, but we know she didn't get far. After a sharp turn, the car began to swerve and landed on top of the median. Megan was in a panic. It supported the theory that someone began shooting at her while she was stopped. The casings were in that location. The bullet holes were in her front windshield, where her head would have been, and two more at both of her sides.

They needed an accident and ballistics reconstructed specialists at this point to come in and examine these bullet holes. So senior deputy Godfrey with the Ventura County Sheriff's Office conducted a detailed walkthrough of this location. He was taking appropriate measurements and calculations, and he recorded where the shattered glass was across the roadway. He marked the location of the shell casings and the bullet fragments. Where Megan's Sandal was, it was three feet from where the driver's door had been, and how far the rifle cleaning rod was found. When using laser analysis, another doctor, Dr. Jim Roberts, was able to pinpoint the trajectory, of each and every bullet, which I have to say is pretty cool.

This was very high-tech. They arranged these red laser beams in the holes and are able to calculate the height, the speed, and the direction they come from. Crazy. And I do have some pictures to show you what I mean and why I'm saying it's so high-tech. I'm sure by now the technology is even more advanced,

as well as 2001 after all. But you can see how these holes were in the Pontiac and it's frightening to think that Megan was inside, literally dodging these books bullets. But this showed with the presence of where the bloodstains were. That one of those bullets struck Megan somewhere in her abdomen or her chest area. And detectives used that data to build a computer animation of the likely sequence of events. You can see that two of the bullets went straight through the front windshield and to the left of the driver's seat, probably missing Megan by just

inches. Another one went to the left of the driver's seat and one hit the hood. Then there were two on either side of the car. The computer technology showed that the The bullet on the passenger side was most likely the first shot. From the animation, the scientist believed someone in another vehicle that was taller than the Pontiac, side swiped Megan on the driver's side, attempting to push her off of the road. When that didn't work, they drove to the passenger side and they shot at her to try to get her to stop. But she kept going.

They believe at that point the attacker sped far enough ahead of Megan, and she probably thought this was some crazy fit of road rage and maybe it would be over. But instead, the calculations proved that the shooter positioned themselves 60 feet from where Megan was stopped at that light. And as she came off that freeway, she made a complete stop five seconds before impact.

That black box recorded that. Four shots were fired as the attacker came closer to Megan, now believed to be on foot. And he approached her car shooting into the windshield, but he missed. And Megan, floored her car to try to escape. But as she passed the shooter, he shot one more time into the driver's side door. And this bullet struck Megan, causing her to swerve and land on the median.

The blood inside showed that Megan had leaned over her center console and was most likely trying to reach inside her purse to get her cell phone. She grabbed a hold of it. They know that because of the blood, but it came out of her grasp and landed on the floorboard. This is why there was blood on the zipper of her purse, it was opened, and there was blood on the phone. And it probably landed just out of reach. Her seatbelt buckle also had blood on it, showing that she attempted to release the strap to escape or to reach over for the phone as it was laying on the floor. But with the driver's window shattered, the attacker was able to unlock her door and grab her and pull her out and carry her back to their vehicle, explaining why there was no blood trail. If this doesn't terrify you, I don't know

what would because this is so sudden and so scary it can happen to anyone. And the detectives had theories as to why someone would do something like this, most of which were anger and intoxication, but they didn't disclose any of that publicly.