Kaylee Anne Sawyer was a 23-year-old woman from Bend, Oregon. At the time of her death, she worked as a dental assistant at Awbrey Dental and was a student at Central Oregon Community College (COCC).
Sawyer disappeared early in the morning of July 24, 2016. She had just returned from a bachelorette party when she got into an argument with her boyfriend and left their shared apartment again to take a walk alone. She continued texting her boyfriend for a time but did not want to talk further, sending a final message that her phone was running out of battery. Sometime after, Sawyer got into the car of Edwin Lara, a COCC campus security officer who had a car, uniform, and equipment resembling those used by police. Lara took her to a parking lot in an isolated part of the college campus, where he raped and murdered her.
Two days later, Sawyer's body was found off Highway 126 near milepost 100 in the Dry Creek area of Redmond, Oregon. Her death was determined to have been caused by blunt force trauma.
The day after the murder, Lara fled to Salem, Oregon, where he carjacked and kidnapped a woman at gunpoint. He told her he was a police officer and showed her news reports about what he had done to Sawyer before forcing her to travel with him toward California. Along the way, Lara stopped at a hotel in Cottage Grove, Oregon, where he handcuffed the woman, forced her to take sleeping pills, and made physical advances that led her to believe she had been sexually assaulted. Growing concerned that law enforcement was closing in, Lara left the hotel and continued toward California, stopping at two rest areas to look for another vehicle to steal. In the early morning hours of July 26, 2016, he stopped at a motel in Yreka, California, approached an elderly man near his vehicle, and shot him in the abdomen when the man would not comply with his demand for the vehicle. Lara then forced his kidnapping victim to a nearby gas station, where he threatened two young men and their grandmother at gunpoint, entered their vehicle, and forced them to drive off; he told his victims he had an "urge to kill" and had already murdered a young woman in Bend and shot a man in Yreka. He later released the three California victims on the side of the road and continued driving south with his original kidnapping victim before California law enforcement caught up with him and arrested him.
In January 2018, Lara pleaded guilty to Sawyer's murder and was sentenced to life in prison. In April 2019, he received a second life sentence for kidnapping and carjacking after pleading guilty to related federal charges arising from the California crime spree. In July 2020, Central Oregon Community College agreed to pay $2 million to Sawyer's family, settling a federal lawsuit the family had filed against the college. The lawsuit argued that COCC had issued its security officers vehicles, equipment, and uniforms similar to those of police without conducting an adequate background check on Lara, and that Sawyer had gotten into his car because she mistook him for a police officer.
On May 25, 2019, Oregon Governor Kate Brown signed Senate Bill 576, known as Kaylee's Law. The law bans campus security personnel from using equipment and uniforms similar to those of law enforcement and requires campus security vehicles to include cameras, monitored dispatch systems, or GPS tracking.
Kaylee Sawyer disappears after leaving her Bend, Oregon apartment on foot; she is abducted by Edwin Lara, a Central Oregon Community College security officer posing as a police officer, who takes her to an isolated part of the campus and rapes and murders her.
2016-07-25
Lara flees to Salem, Oregon, where he carjacks and kidnaps a woman at gunpoint and forces her to travel with him toward California, later stopping at a hotel in Cottage Grove, Oregon.
2016-07-26
Sawyer's body is found off Highway 126 near milepost 100 in the Dry Creek area of Redmond, Oregon; her death is determined to have been caused by blunt force trauma.
2016-07-26
In Yreka, California, Lara shoots an elderly man who will not give up his vehicle, then carjacks a second vehicle with three occupants at a nearby gas station before California law enforcement arrests him.
2018-01
Lara pleads guilty to the murder of Kaylee Sawyer and is sentenced to life in prison.
2019-04
Lara pleads guilty to federal kidnapping and carjacking charges arising from the crime spree and receives a second life sentence.
2019-05-25
Oregon Governor Kate Brown signs Senate Bill 576, known as Kaylee's Law, restricting campus security's use of police-like equipment and uniforms and requiring tracking or monitoring systems in campus security vehicles.
2020-07
Central Oregon Community College agrees to pay $2 million to Sawyer's family, settling a federal lawsuit over the college's security-officer vehicles, equipment, uniforms, and background-check practices.
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Truly Criminal / 37 min
A Frightening Crime Spree: The Murder Of Kaylee Sawyer
People
Edwin Lara
CONVICTED
Central Oregon Community College campus security officer who, posing as a police officer, abducted, raped, and murdered Kaylee Sawyer on July 24, 2016, then carried out a two-day kidnapping, carjacking, and shooting spree across Oregon and California; pleaded guilty to Sawyer's murder in January 2018 (life sentence) and to federal kidnapping and carjacking charges in April 2019 (second life sentence).
Kaylee Sawyer
VICTIM
23-year-old Central Oregon Community College student and dental assistant from Bend, Oregon, who was abducted, raped, and murdered by campus security officer Edwin Lara on July 24, 2016.
Roles reflect public records and court outcomes at the time of writing — supporting citations are on file under Sources.
Kaylee Sawyer, a 23-year-old Central Oregon Community College student from Bend, Oregon, was abducted, raped, and murdered on July 24, 2016, by Edwin Lara, a campus security officer posing as a police officer, who then led law enforcement on a two-day, multi-state crime spree before his arrest in California. Lara later pleaded guilty to Sawyer's murder and to related federal kidnapping and carjacking charges and received two life sentences.
Where did the murder happen?
Bend, Oregon, United States.
Who was convicted?
Edwin Lara (Central Oregon Community College campus security officer who, posing as a police officer, abducted, raped, and murdered Kaylee Sawyer on July 24, 2016, then carried out a two-day kidnapping, carjacking, and shooting spree across Oregon and California; pleaded guilty to Sawyer's murder in January 2018 (life sentence) and to federal kidnapping and carjacking charges in April 2019 (second life sentence).).
