At 4:00 pm Saturday, November 22, 2003, Sjodin, a 22-year-old college student at the University of North Dakota, finished her job shift at the Victoria's Secret store at the Columbia Mall in Grand Forks. Sjodin shopped for and bought a new purse from Marshall Field's. She then left the mall and began walking to her 1994 Oldsmobile Cutlass. During this time, Sjodin was speaking to her boyfriend, Chris Lang, on her cell phone. Ten minutes into the call, Lang reports Sjodin said "Okay, okay" before the call ended.