Lynsie Ekelund's murder: 4 shocking details to know

Lynsie Ekelund was a journalism student at Fullerton College when she disppeared in February 2001 after a nightout with friends. The 20-year-old was picked up from her mother's Orange County home by Christopher McAmis along with two other girls, who then drove to a San Diego nightclub and back home the following day.

McAmis claimed he dropped Ekelund near her house the following day, but she never made it back and was reported missing two days later. Nearly a decade later, CCTV camera footage and a chilling confession from McAmis, who was a person of interest since the beginning, led to the discovery of her skeletal remains and a guilty plea.

This Tuesday, Dateline: Secrets Uncovered on Oxygen will delve deeper into Lynsie Ekelund's murder case in an episode titled, The Night Lynsie Disappeared. The episode will air on the channel at 6:00 pm ET on June 13, 2023. The synopsis of the upcoming episode says:

"It was a mystery that stumped investigators for years; a college student disappears after a night out clubbing; her mother thought she was at a sleepover with friends and it takes an eagle-eyed detective to find the truth buried in a pile of lies."

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Lynsie Ekelund's murder: Four things to know about the disappearance and death of the Fullerton College student

1) Ekelund was partially disabled and, according to her family, could not have run away

Lynsie Ekelund went missing on February 19, 2001 (Image via IMDb)

At the time of her disappearance in February 2001, Lynsie Ekelund was partially paralyzed from a car accident during her childhood.

Her family believed that she could not have run away on her own and survived, given her condition and the fact that she couldn't drive and did not have sufficient money on her. The Fullerton College journalism student resided with her mother at their Placentia home in Orange County.

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2) Christopher McAmis was the last person to have seen Lynsie Ekelund alive

Christopher McAmis reportedly picked Ekelund up from her Placentia home on the evening of February 16, 2001. Later, they picked up two of her girl friends and drove to a San Diego nightclub. McAmis later dropped the two girls at their houses before he claimed to have driven the 20-year-old back to her house, dropping her off Rose Drive, and driving back to his Whittier apartment the following day.

Ekelund, however, never made it home and was reported missing two days later by her mother. McAmis was a person of interest in the case since the initial stages of the missing persons investigation because he was the last person to have seen her alive and was likely involved in her disappearance.

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3) Nearly ten years later, CCTV footage was used to make an arrest

Lynsie Ekelund [left] and her killer Christopher McAmis [right] (Image via IMDb)

According to NBC, Placentia police, along with a special cold case unit from the Orange County DA's office, were able to get their hands on an enhanced ATM surveillance footage from the day Lynsie Ekelund disappeared, which failed to capture Christopher McAmis' vehicle driving up the Rose Drive in Placentia.

McAmis had initially told authorities he dropped Ekelund off somewhere in the area and that was the last time he saw her. This new piece of evidence disputed his claims and led to his arrest from Fullerton on October 29, 2010. At the time of the revelation, he was a construction worker and a married father-of-one.

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4) McAmis confessed to murdering Lynsie Ekelund all those years ago and led detectives to her remains

Christopher McAmis was arrested in October 2010, nearly a decade after he murdered Lynsie Ekelund (Image via Bonnie's Blog of Crime)

On November 3, 2010, Christopher McAmis confessed to strangling 20-year-old Ekelund back on February 2001 in an attempted r*pe at his Whittier apartment. He claimed to have driven her body to a hillside area in Bouquet Canyon Road's 29000 block, Santa Clarita, about 50 miles from his place, which was a construction site at the time.

There, McAmis dug a four-foot grave using a tractor and buried the victim's body. After confessing to the crime, he led authorities to the spot where they unearthed Ekelund's skeletal remains and clothes.

The killer was initially charged with murder with a special circumstance of allegation, but in April 2012, he pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and was sentenced to 15 years in prison.

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Oxygen's Dateline: Secrets Uncovered will chronicle Lynsie Ekelund's mysterious case this Tuesday.