Herman
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Lauren Spierer, a 20-year-old IU student, has been missing since 4:30 a.m. Friday.
The Bloomington Police Department, family, friends and local residents continue to search for her.
Spierer is 4 feet 11 inches tall, weighs between 90 and 100 pounds and has blue eyes and blonde hair just below the shoulder, according to fliers posted throughout Bloomington.
She is from Westchester County near Scarsdale, N.Y. and just finished her sophomore year at IU.
Spierer studies fashion merchandising and is a University Division scholar. She planned to stay in Bloomington for part of this summer to take a course at Ivy Tech Community College before starting an internship at the clothing store Anthropologie in New York City. Her parents and older sister live in New York.
Spierer was last seen walking south on College Avenue. She had been hanging out with friends at Kilroys Sports Bar. The bar features a sand and beach area, which may explain why she was seen walking away with no shoes, her mother Charlene Spierer said.
She was wearing a white tank top, a loose, light-colored button shirt and full-length black stretch pants.
Spierers apartment is only a block and a half away from Kilroys Sports, and the last place she was seen, the intersection of 11th Street and College Avenue, is another two and a half blocks away.
Her known locations are all within a three-block radius of her apartment. Video footage at the Smallwood apartment complex shows that she never made it home.
Robert and Charlene Spierer, Laurens parents, flew in from New York early Saturday morning.
They immediately contacted the Bloomington Police Department, filed a report and started printing fliers with their daughters smiling picture.
The police department told her parents they had custody of their daughters phone and wallet. There were conflicting reports stating the items were found in either her friends house or the bar. The Spierers stayed at a downtown hotel Saturday night.
At 10 a.m. on Sunday morning, a search group of about 20 friends and Bloomington residents met outside Smallwood Plaza.
In the group was an Eagle Scout, a local resident with his two small children and a rabbi.
Robert and Charlene handed everyone fliers and tape, then split volunteers into groups to search around lakes Monroe, Griffy and Lemon. Others drove throughout Bloomington, hanging up posters at businesses and handing out fliers.
The Spierers said BPD forces had already combed through nearby construction sites, apartment complexes and streets. The Spierers themselves had spent all day Saturday searching the blocks around Smallwood and Kilroys Sports.
Amanda Monacy, who also just finished her sophomore year at IU and knows Lauren from Smallwood, said she cant believe someone could disappear on such a popular, well-lit street in Bloomington.
Its really scary, she said. People walk here all the time and dont think twice. Something happened a block and a half away from home. Thats crazy. Were all really shaken up by this.
In the rented car driving toward Lake Monroe, the Spierers answered constant calls and text messages on their cell phones, gathering any information.
Charlene said Lauren suffers from Long QT syndrome, a heart condition that sometimes requires medicine.
Charlene said this condition makes it all the more important that anyone with information come forward, in case Lauren is somewhere she could not receive medical attention.
At about 11 a.m. they pulled off along a gravel road near Lake Monroe.They parked the car and trekked into the woods, walking separate ways to cover ground.
They screamed their daughters name for about 45 minutes, their words echoing through the woods. They came back to the car and honked the horn repeatedly.
Then they got back in the car and drove up to Boy Scout Camp Maumee. Cars pulled in as people who had heard the news wanted to help search.Even as rain started to sprinkle at 1:15 p.m., the volunteers mapped out a search plan.
They would cover as much territory around Lake Monroe as possible, hanging up fliers at all boat launches and ramps.
One man suggested they leave stick crosses at trailheads after they had already searched to avoid covering the same ground.At 3 p.m. the family decided to head back into town to meet with police.
Friends of the Spierers also created a Facebook account, Lauren Spierer Missing and a Twitter handle, @NewsOnLaurenS for anyone who wants to give or receive more information.
If you have any information regarding Lauren Spierer, contact the Bloomington Police Department at 812-339-4477.
SEARCH TIMELINE
Friday
Before 4:30 a.m. Lauren Spierer hangs out with friends at Kilroys Sports Bar and a friends party.
At 4:30 a.m. Spierer is seen near the intersection of 11th Street and College Avenue, walking south on College.
Video footage at the entrance of Smallwood Plaza that night shows she never made it home.
Saturday morning
Spierers parents fly into Indianapolis from New York after hearing their daughter is missing. They rent a car, drive to Bloomington, file a police report and begin combing the areas around Spierers apartment and Kilroys Sports. The Bloomington Police Department also starts searching with dogs.
10 a.m. Sunday
Volunteers gather outside Smallwood Plaza to create a search plan. Local residents, students, friends and family map a route to explore Bloomington and Lakes Lemon, Griffy and Monroe.
Sunday afternoon
The Spierers drive around Lake Monroe, stopping to search for their daughter. A caravan of cars drive together. At 4 p.m. The Spierers meet with BPD to discuss the next steps.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________
The Bloomington Police Department has released new details in the case of missing IU student Lauren Spierer.
At a press conference this morning, BPD Lt. of Detectives Bill Parker said Lauren was hanging out with friends Thursday night, June 2. They were drinking at Kilroys Sports, a bar on the intersection of Eighth and Walnut streets, according to friends testimonies and Kilroys cameras.
Lauren left Sports with a friend at 2:30 or 2:40 a.m. She left behind her cell phone and shoes, Parker said. The items are in police custody. Lauren likely left her shoes because there is a fenced-in beach and sand area at the bar.
The two walked to Laurens apartment complex, Smallwood Plaza, but video cameras show she did not enter her apartment. The friends stayed inside the complex for a short time and then headed north to another friends apartment.
The two met up with friends at an apartment complex on the corner of 11th and Morton streets. Police found a small purse and keys that belong to Lauren along this route. Parker said he thinks Lauren left the items on the way to the apartment complex.
The two went into one apartment, then to another apartment a few doors down to hang out with some friends.
Around 4:30 a.m. Lauren told her friends she felt like heading home to Smallwood. A male friend watched Lauren leave the apartment. He saw her last on the corner of 11th Street and College Avenue, he told police. That male friend was the last person to see Lauren, Parker said.
Police are interviewing everyone Lauren was known to hang out with that night. Parker said police are focusing on about 10 people of interest, but they have no official suspects.
Parker said police are focusing on the areas Lauren visited early Friday morning. They are using K-9 units to search between the two apartment complexes. They have no leads to other counties, he said.
Foul play is possible, Parker said. He added that he has no reason to believe this case is connected to the September disappearance and murder of local resident Crystal Grubb.
The other searches around Bloomington and surrounding areas will continue, as organized by the Spierers and IU Hillel Center, police said. Volunteers can meet each day in front of Smallwood at 10:30 a.m., 2 p.m. and 5:30 p.m. to search.
Parker held up a sign with Laurens picture and said that although she has naturally blonde hair, her hair color could have been altered if she was abducted.
The BPD has received hundreds of tips and has put a system in place to process them, Parker said, adding that the department would follow up the tips locally and call on the FBI if tips have a national scope.
Laurens parents, Robert and Charlene Spierer, stood together at the press conference. Charlene wrapped her arm around her husband as Parker spoke. After the police statement, Robert walked to the microphones. He thanked local law enforcement, the Bloomington community, family and friends for their support.
We ask that if anyone saw Lauren, with anyone, please share that information. It doesnt matter how small it is, he said. Every little bit we get is important.
Then he spoke about his daughter.
Lauren is a child and person that is full of life, always on the go, fun to be with, and with a large circle of friends, he said. Shes very close to her mother. She spoke to her mother every day.
Charlene stood behind her husband and bowed her head.
We need everything we can get, he said. We are continuing in earnest every day. We are not going to give up. And thats all I have to say.
