BOULDER COUNTY, Colo. — Fundraising efforts to support the search for missing CU Boulder student Megan Trussell will now go toward honoring her memory and directly supporting her family as they prepare for memorial expenses.
On Saturday, the Boulder County Sheriff's Office said the discovery of a body in a "hard-to-reach" spot above Boulder Canyon Drive matched the description of the Trussell.
"Yesterday once they found a body matching her description, that's when we decided to change it to a memorial fund for her, same kind of thing, but basically towards her memorial obviously and then giving back to her immediate family, her parents or her sister, to make sure that they're fed and taken care of and all that, during this very, very hard time for us," Rebecca Perez, Megan's cousin and the creator of the fundraiser, explained.
Hear Perez reflect on Trussell's life, in the video player below:
Perez explained the fundraiser originally was to help with these search efforts and to support those who were traveling back and forth from Denver to Boulder to help. People handed out flyers and looked for any camera evidence that would have shown Trussell's whereabouts on Feb. 9.
Denver7 spoke with volunteers at the search party on Saturday including Judy Brocato — a family friend of the Trussells. Brocato explained Trussell's sister lives around the Arapahoe Grove area and they believe she was heading up there Sunday night.
"There's got to be someone that seen something in that area and Sunday night, and anybody that's seen any information, we want them to come forward because it's very unusual for her. She's not much of a hiker. She was wearing platform, big white platform sneakers, and it was cold that night," Brocato said.
Perez voiced similar concerns, asking if anyone near Boulder Canyon had seen Trussell or had seen anything suspicious, to please share the information as she is now left processing unanswered questions about what happened to Trussell.
"It's been really hard for our family," Perez said. "Obviously, she's like the little piece that we had, and now that piece is no longer with us."
Perez said she had not heard any additional update on Sunday other than the initial finding from the Boulder County Sheriff's Office on Saturday that a body had been found matching Tussell's description.
"I believe the biggest thing is just sending love," Perez said. "The GoFundMe is really just to make sure everyone's taken care of during this tough time, making sure everyone gets fed, make sure everyone can get to where they got to go to be with each other. I appreciate the amount of money that is coming through, but obviously no matter how much money, it won't bring her back, and that's the most heartbreaking part of it."
If you would like to support the fundraiser, the GoFundMe can be found here.
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