It's been more than three years since college student Kaylee Sawyer vanished.
The 23-year-old disappeared in the early morning hours of July 24, 2016, after a Saturday night out with friends and an argument with her boyfriend. Soon after, her family and boyfriend went to police to report her missing.
Search efforts intensified the following Monday morning, when Sawyer didn’t show up for work in Bend. Then, the wife of a campus public safety officer went to police and told them her husband, Edwin Lara, confessed to killing a woman Saturday night by accident. Police determined that the woman was probably Sawyer.
By then, Lara was on the run.
KGW anchor Ashley Korslien spent months digging into the case. Now she's telling the story of what happened that July night and how Lara kidnapped another woman following Sawyer’s murder in the new podcast from KGW and VAULT Studios, "Urge to Kill."
Korslien also discusses the investigation in a new episode of VAULT Studios’ weekly podcast "True Crime Chronicles," on which she gives further insight into various aspects of the case.
The episode will be available Monday, when you'll be able to listen to it in the player below. You also can download and subscribe to "True Crime Chronicles" on any podcast platform, including Google Play, Spotify, Stitcher and Apple Podcasts.
“I actually read her name on the morning news. I was a morning anchor and it was the summer of 2016 and initially this all started as a missing persons case and so that’s where our coverage started,” Korslien said.
Lara eventually told investigators his motive was simply that he had an “urge to kill.”
“Friends and family say he was very into church. In fact, he played music at church. Detectives found a Bible on his nightstand in his house. And so for me, that’s what I can’t wrap my brain around (it) to be honest. I just don’t understand,” Korslien said.
You can listen to the latest episode of "Urge to Kill" in the player below. You also can download and subscribe to "Urge to Kill" on any podcast platform, including Spotify, Stitcher, Podbean and Apple Podcasts.