Christopher McAmis: How was Lynsie Ekelund's case solved after a decade and where is her killer now?

Nearly a decade after Lynsie Ekelund, a Fullerton College student with disabilities, went missing after a nightout with friends, Christopher McAmis was arrested in October 2010 for Ekelund's murder, after enhanced CCTV footage contradicted his claims of what that happened the night she went missing.

McAmis eventually confessed to strangling 20-year-old Ekelund in an attempted r*pe at his Whittier apartment in February 2001. Afterwards, he dumped her body in a four-foot grave at a Santa Clarita hillside, which was then a construction site. He then led authorities to the location where the victim's skeletal remains were found. In 2012, the accused pleaded guilty and received a 15-year prison term.

According to the California Department of Corrections, Christopher McAmis is now serving his sentence at the Correctional Training Facility in Soledad.

Oxygen's Dateline: Secrets Uncovered chronicles Lynsie Ekelund's case from over two decades ago in an episode titled The Night Lynsie Disappeared. The synopsis states:

"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."

The episode will air on the channel this Tuesday, June 13, at 6:00 pm ET.

Over a decade later, Christopher McAmis pleaded guilty in Lynsie Ekelund's case, following a chilling confession

According to reports, detectives used crucial CCTV footage from an ATM which contradicted Christopher McAmis' account of the night the journalism student from Fullerton College, Lynsie Ekelund, disappeared. The video failed to show McAmis at the Rose Drive in Placentia, where he claimed to have dropped off Ekelund before driving back home.

McAmis, along with Ekelund and two of her friends, headed to a San Diego nightclub on the evening of February 16, 2001. The former claimed he dropped off the 20-year-old near her Placentia, Orange County, house the following day, but she never made it to her home and was reported missing by her mother two days later.

Since the beginning, McAmis was a person of interest in Ekelund's disappearance and was only arrested on October 29, 2010, from Fullerton, after a years-long investigation. He was then confronted with new evidence, and later, he confessed to strangling her to death in an attempt to r*pe. He then dumped her body at a construction site, about 50 miles from his apartment, where he worked at the time.

McAmis reportedly led authorities to the gravesite on a hillside area in the 29000 block of Bouquet Canyon Road in Santa Clarita, from where the victim's skeletal remains and clothes were unearthered on November 3, 2010.

Where is Lynsie Ekelund's killer Christopher McAmis now?

A Whittier Daily News report states that Christopher McAmis, a 31-year-old construction worker and married father-of-one, was initially charged with murder with the special circumstance allegation, which could have resulted in a death penalty. However, McAmis entered a guilty plea to second-degree murder in April 2012 and was sentenced to 15 years in prison.

Following the sentence hearing, Lynsie Ekelund's mother Nancy said that although the ruling was not going to bring her daughter back, she was satisfied with the result:

"He's going to be incarcerated and not able to hurt another young woman."

According to the California Department of Corrections, Christopher McAmis is currently serving this sentence at the Correctional Training Facility in Soledad.

Lynsie Ekelund's disappearance is set to feature on Oxygen's Dateline: Secrets Uncovered this Tuesday at 6 pm ET.

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