Wednesday, June 8, 2011

The Search Intensifies for Missing IU Student



Indiana University Sophomore, Lauren Spierer [20], went to Kilroy’s Sports Bar in Bloomington, IN, last Thursday night/early Friday morning (6/3/11) and has been missing ever since. Surveillance video at the bar shows Lauren drinking with a bunch of friends, and then leaving the bar with no shoes and without her cell phone at about 2:30a.m. Lauren then returned to her apartment building about a block away.

A search warrant was served to the Smallwood Plaza Apartments—where Lauren lives—at around 8:00p.m., Monday night. Oddly enough, even though the police had a search warrant handy, no one in charge at the apartment complex was willing to open the security room for them. So, police used a battering ram to brake down the security room door, where they removed three computers used to record and store information from the security cameras that record the surveillance video outside the complex.


Police say that they do have surveillance video from Lauren’s apartment showing her entering and leaving her apartment around 2:40a.m., on the morning of her disappearance. Police are searching the remainder of the surveillance footage to see if there is any other video of Lauren after that 2:40a.m., departure time. Lauren was with a friend at the time. After leaving Lauren’s apartment, Lauren and her friend headed 3 blocks north to another friends apartment. Lauren left there at 4:30a.m., and hasn’t been seen since. She was wearing black leggings, a white shirt, and no shoes.

Her purse was found in the dirt-riddled alley way that connects her apartment to her friends place. It is not known whether the purse was left there before she went to the friend’s place or after she left, according to Lt. Bill Parker, who supervises the investigation division in the Bloomington Police Department. “We believe the chance that there was foul play is very great because if not Lauren would have made contact by now,” Parker also said. Police have spoken to all of the friends that Lauren was with that night, they even searched the cars of her friends, and they have found nothing. Some credit cards were also missing from Lauren’s purse; a check has been made and none of the cards have been used as of yet. Her keys were also found on a railing near her apartment in downtown Bloomington.


Lauren’s parents, Charlene and Robert Spierer, held a press conference yesterday asking for people to continue praying for Lauren’s safe return and calling for anyone who has any information to come forward. “If anyone saw Lauren on Thursday night with anyone, please share that information with Bloomington police,” her father Robert said. “It doesn’t matter how casual the sighting was; we need to know when you saw her; where you saw her; every little piece of information we get is important.”

Hundreds of people have since converged on Bloomington to help in the search. Police, and volunteers, have canvassed the entire downtown area and they are sending more squads out a bit further, but as of now there is no specific area that police are asking people to search. Police also announced that the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children have assigned a field officer to assist with the volunteer searches.

Social media outlets, such as Twitter and Facebook, are being used by many to help locate Lauren. The hashtag (#FindLauren) has been a top trending topic in recent days on Twitter.

Meanwhile, today on Twitter Indianapolis Colts owner Jim Irsay pledged a $10,000 reward for “serious info that SOLVES Lauren’s Missing Persons…Contact Bloomy Police!!!!!”

Lauren Spierer is a white female who is 4-feet-11-inches tall, a slender build, with blue eyes and blond hair. She was last wearing a white tank top with a light-colored shirt over it and black stretch pants. Police are asking those who have any information on Lauren’s whereabouts to call or send an anonymous email or letter:

Bloomington Police
220 E Third St
Bloomington IN 47404
812-339-4477
police@bloomington.in.gov

PART 2

PART 3

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