tonight, repeated calls for help. >> i think they're trying to lure me somewhere. >> calls that just weren't enough. >> i wanted to, i called 911, because i was just concerned. >> the college track star, dating a master manipulator, spinning a web of lies, relentlessly stalking her, breaking it off with him turned out to be the breaking point. >> she just said no, no, no, no. like someone might have been grabbing her or something >> lauren on the mon the mon toe mother. tonight, opening up about the final moments after lauren's life, after 20 calls to police,

the system they say failed, and now, they are demanding accountability. >> was lauren's death preventible? >> yes. >> absolutely. >> this special edition of "nightline," the calls for help, will be right back.

"nightline." the calls for help, here now amy robach. >> hi, so ima deali'm dean'm deg

situation where i'm being blackmailed for money. >> in the last days of her life, lauren mcclusky was begging to be heard. >> i think they're trying to lure me somewhere. do you know when an arrest would be made? >> reporter: talking with police over 20 times, crying for help with her ex-boyfriend, a seasoned man seasoned manipulator who had his sights set on lauren. at first she thought he was 28, the handsome bouncer she met at a bar. his true identity, a 37-year-old convicted sex offender out on parole. >> every woman i've met, i've come across, i use my manipulation tactics to get what i want. >> reporter: now relentlessly stalking, harassing and blackmailing lauren. she was the lauded college athlete, lover of music and

animals. >> 911 because i was just concerned. >> reporter: her final moments captured on a phone call with her mother. her father immediately calling 911. >> she just immediately started saying no, no, no, no, no. like someone might have been grabbing her or something. >> reporter: what they didn't know then, their daughter was already dead. attacked and shot multiple times. that ex-boyfriend killing the promising athlete in cold blood. so the last words you heard of your daughter? >> no, no, no. >> reporter: those three words are forever etched in jill's memory, questions now about why their daughter's cries for help didn't steam to didn't seem to be heard. the university of utah. when you walk into lauren's home at her home in pullman, washington, instantly, you see all the things she loved and the kind of girl she was, a star

athlete whose talents were already being recognized even before her 10th birthday. look at these medals. quite a few. >> so she started competing nationally, as an 9-year-old. >> reporter: coming in here is still hard. >> it's nice to hook at tlook a things. lauren didn't care what you looked like. she didn't care where you came from. sort of fearless. every parent says this, but she was a very kind, very kind person. >> reporter: i noticed that she was very athletic from when she was an infant. it was on the track where lauren really shined, where she and her good friend regina snider first became close. >> we really bonded through our workouts, and then we became really great friends. one of my best friends. >> reporter: colleen first met lauren over 15 years ago. >> my dad wanted me to babysit for them.

she was spunki, she had a lot of energy. as she got older, she really blossomed. >> reporter: they all watched as she grew up and decided to go to the university of utah in salt lake city. she was a senior. >> yes. >> reporter: it was fall, the beginning of a new year, her very last one at her beloved university. she was at a bar with friends when she met a man. he said his name was shawn fields, that he was 28 and working as a bouncer. the relationship quickly grew serious. friends said he'd often visit her in her dorm. but friends grew concerned, telling housing staff lauren was in an unhealthy relationship. regina remembers lauren telling her about her relationship. >> what made me uncomfortable is how she would be calling every single time when we'd be out, and she would, she would say i have to get this. i was like, i'm not necessarily comfortable with how he's treating you. being kind of controlling. >> reporter: when did you first

hear your daughter talk about this man? >> in september. he was very charming. he tried to sweep her off her feet. i was concerned that he was a little older than her. >> reporter: you thought he was a little older than her. >> yes. yes. >> reporter: but he was actually 37 years old, something 21 year old lauren discovered when she googled him. shawn wasn't his real name either. it was melvin roland. and most horrifying of all, roland had been convicted of attempted forcible abuse and had been jailed twice. in a 2012 parole hearing he seemed to question if he was relar rehabilitated. just over four weeks after first meeting him, lauren confronted roland with what she'd learned and broke up with him but she let him spend the night and borrow her car the next day to run errands. so when your daughter tells you,

this guy i've been dating is a registered sex offender, what was your resnack. >> i said you're doing exactly the right thing to break up with him. >> reporter: were you afraid at that point in any way? >> i was concerned. >> reporter: the next day she tells her mom roland wants her to meet him to return her car. jill now worried calls campus police. >> he was lying to her. he's actually a sexual offender, and lied about his age and things like that. i'd just like someone to accompany her. >> i will give her a call. did you want me to give you a call back? or? >> yeah, if you could give me a call back, that would be good. >> okay, what was your name? >> jill. >> reporter: campus police do call lauren that afternoon. lauren tells dispatch that roland has now decided to drop the car off closer to her dorm. >> okay. do you feel comfortable with him doing that? i know your mom was really concerned about it? >> yeah, i think it's okay.

>> because, if it's all right with you, we're here 24/7. i'm super cool. could you come hang out here and have him drop it off here. >> reporter: but lauren calls back. >> i was wondering if i could get a ride to the stadium. >> definitely. definitely. yeah. for sure. >> reporter: an officer accompanies her, and they successfully retrieve her car. dispatch calls jill back to let her know. >> thanks so much. i just wanted to make sure that was happening, because i feel like, i feel like he has a little bit of control over her. >> oh, definitely. >> that something bad could happen. >> reporter: so you felt safe at that point, like my daughter in a good place n good hands. >> right, sure. >> reporter: she'll be protected. >> absolutely. >> reporter: but things soon ramp up. just two days later on october 12th, lauren calls campus police back about texts she's received. >> i got a text about, asking if i wanted to go to a funeral, his funeral, and i think they're trying to lure me somewhere. >> reporter: campus police

begins a formal investigation this day, and an officer calls her back. but the next day lauren's situation gets even scarier. >> i'm being blackmailed for money. it's a photo of my, me and my ex-, they're starting to send it out to everyone. and he's asking for a thousand dollars. >> reporter: dispatch relays that lauren's being blackmailed to an officer who makes contact with lauren. she eventually goes in person down to the campus police station but seems unsatisfied and worried. so she calls salt lake city police. >> i wasn't sure how long they were going to take to -- >> are you -- >> reporter: but because she lives on campus and in university jurisdiction they transfer her back to campus police. >> i called 911 because i was just concerned, and i wasn't sure. >> yeah. >> i hope to speed things up.

do you know when an arrest would be made? >> you can talk to an officer if you want. i can arrange that, if you want that. >> okay. yeah, that sounds good. >> reporter: that arrest was never made. in fact, officers never even went to see melvin roland. and an investigation into the extortion charges didn't start until a week after lauren reported it. the detective assigned to her case was off. lauren told her mom she felt like she was all on her own, unprotected by those tasked with keeping her safe. >> one thing she did tell me, feels like i'm bothering them because i'm calling so much. and i remember telling her, it's their job to listen to you, you know, if you're complaining. but they weren't listening. no, they weren't. they weren't. they weren't taking her seriously. >> reporter: and lauren's friends reported to campus staff that roland had talked about wanting to get lauren a gun. but no one, including campus police knew that roland was on parole, what should have been an

automatic red flag for law enforcement. campus police wasn't sharing information with salt lake city police and the parole board never knew about lauren's complaints, a communication gap that would prove fatal. >> reporter: they missed the fact that he was on parole. >> lauren had no experience in law enforcement or computers, and yet she was able with a laptop computer to find out all this information. he was a sex offender, lied about his name and age. but yet the police couldn't make this additional leap and discover his parole status, which is public information. >> those are things that should have set off red flags. you don't know necessarily if a suspect is going to go out and commit a violent act, but the fact that you don't know if they're going to do it or not doesn't mean you leave them alone. you make sure the act doesn't occur. in this case, prevent somebody from dying. >> reporter: it's now monday, october 22nd. how concerned were you at this point? >> i had a false sense of security.

the police were on the lookout, never in my wildest dreams did i think that this individual could hang out at her dorm. >> reporter: but roland was at her dorm, seemingly lying in wait, hanging out with some of her friends. at about 8:00 p.m. that night, after getting out of class on her walk home, lauren calls her mom just to chat, like they often did. >> she was talking about class projects that she was working on, a fantastic conversation. >> next semester, classes too, she mentioned. >> reporter: she was planning her future. >> exactly. and then all of a sudden she yells no, no, no. >> reporter: next. lauren's parents, hundreds of miles away, desperate for answers. inside the police response. ♪ woman 1: this is my body of proof. man 1: proof of less joint pain and clearer skin. man 2: proof that i can fight psoriatic arthritis... woman 2: ...with humira.

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"nightline," the calls for help. here again, amy robach. >> i called 911. >> it's been 13 days of hell for lauren. she'd been on the phone with police more than 20 times. >> i'm being blackmailed. >> reporter: pleading for help with her ex-boyfriend. >> they're trying to lure me. >> reporter: but on this night, october 22nd, she was on the phone with her mom walking home from class. >> it was a fantastic conversation. >> reporter: little did lauren know her ex-, melvin roland, was waiting for her. >> and then all of a sudden she yells no, no, no. and then the line was still open. and, and then nat called 911. i yelled to him, and he called

911. >> hi, my daughter lauren was talking to her mom, and then she just started saying no, no, no, no. and like someone might have been grabbing her or something. >> okay. how long ago was this? >> this was just two minutes ago. >> my whole focus was i'm not sure what's happening, but i have to just give him all the info i can. >> reporter: you were trying to save your daughter's life in that moment. >> absolutely. >> we have to concentrate on helping, okay? the officer is there who knows about her situation. and he's telling that to dispatch. >> reporter: melvin roland grabbed lauren and threw her into the back of a car, driving her to another part of the parking lot. there he shot her, time after time. >> i hoped that she somehow ran away. and that we'd find out.

hey, we found lauren, she's a little bit bruised, but we've got her. but they never did. >> reporter: chillingly, roland leaves her body in the car in that deserted parking lot. moments later, a woman roland has just met picks him up, and they go out on a date. hours later, police find lauren and are now in pursuit of roland. they chase him to this church, where he shoots and kills himself. >> her mom texted and said we lost her. and i was like, what do you mean lost her? and she said she got, she got shot. >> reporter: what would you say is the greatest tragedy surrounding your daughter's death? >> the unfairness of it. i know that word gets used a lot. but i'm going to have my 50th birthday, and i don't think i deserve to see 50. why couldn't lauren have had a long and beautiful life? >> reporter: are you angry?

>> mostly sad. >> sadness is so complete, i don't have room for anger. maybe i should be, but i'm just not. >> we do want change. >> i would just want to note, this is, of course, a very sad time at the university of utah. and even as we grieve, we are aware that our grief pales in comparison to that of the mcclusky family. >> reporter: the university ordered an independent review. >> the individual responsible is melvin shawn roland, an evil, manipulative criminal. >> it's a statement that was probably written by a lawyer, and it defies logic. >> it's a ridiculous position. >> if you look at the police reports that are public and you read the report, make your own judgment. >> reporter: the report pointed out where campus police fell short and made 30

recommendations, which the university now tells abc news it's working to implement immediately, including increased training, hiring more police and counselors, requiring detectives to work closely with victim advocates and putting into practice procedures to ensure critical e-mails and voice mails are addressed in a timely manner. it's not enough for the mccluskys. >> matt and i only realize thad the only way to improve safety is to file a lawsuit. this is our last resort to effect positive change. the university must pay a large amount so that they realize it is in their interest to believe women and act with urgency when their female students ask for help. >> reporter: the university responded that while there are differences how they would characterize some of the events leading to lauren's murder, they share the family's commitment to

improving safety. they say no money will go to them. instead, it will go to a foundation in lauren's name. why is it important for you to have lauren's name live on, for people to remember your daughter? >> i think, i don't want to be in this world, okay? i don't want to be in a world without lauren, but i'm stuck. so what are we going to do? and this is, you know, a way to do two things. one is to honor her legacy, and the second is very practical, it's just to do as much good as we can, but there are actual people out there who are going to be helped by this. ms followi? for adults with moderately to severely active crohn's disease, stelara® works differently. studies showed relief and remission, with dosing every 8 weeks. stelara® may lower your ability to fight infections and may increase your risk of infections and cancer. some serious infections require hospitalization. before treatment, get tested for tb. tell your doctor if you have an infection or flu-like symptoms or sores,

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lauren mccluskey's life ended at just 21 years old, killed by her ex-boyfriend, a grim reminder of the violence young women face. nearly three women are murdered every day in the u.s. by current or former romantic partners. the university is now spending $1 million to implement safety recommendations from a campus safety task force. they're also investing an additional $6 million on safety. but for the mccluskeys, it's not

enough. jill mccluskey saying the university's principle problem was the lack of response to a female student's request for help. lauren's parents don't want anyone else to feel this pain. >> the lauren mccluskey foundation is going to be a public charity to focus on campus safety, celebrating her life, which is athletics, reflecting her love of animals. >> i feel if we can do something good and make a difference it will at least take our minds off the sadness.

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