Colorado has enacted a law requiring public colleges and universities to use standardized protocols to report and respond to missing students more quickly.
The legislation addresses critical gaps in campus security and police response times. By mandating a faster reaction, the state aims to prevent the delays that families face when a student vanishes from a university environment.
The law was signed on March 26, 2024 [2]. It was prompted by the disappearance and death of Megan Trussell, an 18-year-old [1] student at the University of Colorado Boulder. Trussell's parents, Joe Trussel and Vanessa Diaz, said the university police failed to treat her disappearance as a serious case in its early stages.
Trussell disappeared from the campus, and her body was later found in Boulder Canyon [3]. More than one year elapsed between her disappearance and the discovery of her remains [4]. Her parents said the delayed investigation contributed to the tragedy.
Under the new requirements, Colorado public universities must now follow specific, expedited procedures when a student is reported missing. These protocols are designed to ensure that campus authorities do not dismiss reports based on assumptions about a student's age or behavior, a point of contention in the Trussell case.
Governor Jared Polis signed the bill into law to ensure that no other family experiences the same lack of urgency from university officials. The law applies to all public higher education institutions across the state, including the University of Colorado Boulder campus where the tragedy occurred.
“Colorado has enacted a law requiring public colleges and universities to use standardized protocols to report and missing students more quickly.”
This legislation shifts the legal burden of responsibility onto university administrations, removing the discretionary power of campus police to decide when a missing person case becomes 'serious.' By codifying response times and reporting standards, Colorado is creating a legal benchmark that may allow families to hold institutions accountable for negligence in student safety.
