Lauren Spierer ** IN/NY * June 3, 2011

[Brenda]

Fashion Student Lauren Spierer Missing From Indiana University Since Friday


By CHRISTINA NG
June 6, 2011
Search parties fanned out today looking for an Indiana Univesity student with a dangerous heart condition who has been missing for four days.

Lauren Spierer is a pint-sized student who weighs less than 100 pounds and is 4-foot-11 and had just completed her sophomore year at the school's Bloomington campus.

She was last seen at about 4:30 a.m. on Friday morning walking to her apartment. The Indiana Daily Student reports that Spierer was at Kilroy's Sports Bar Thursday night and then at a friend's party. She was last seen at the intersection of 11th Street and College Avenue. Surveillance footage from her apartment at Smallwood Plaza shows that she never came home.

Her keys were found a block away from where she was last seen, but there have been no other traces of the missing student.

"Lauren is an amazing person and friend. She's artsy, fun, and different," says Becca Lefkowitz, 19, Lauren's best friend since seventh grade. "I can't imagine anyone doing any harm to her."

According to Lefkowitz, Spierer suffers from a condition called Long QT Syndrome, which is a heart rhythm disorder for which she sometimes needs medication. This disorder can cause uncontrollable and dangerous arrhythmias.

Spierer is an apparel and merchandising major and has interned with Anthropologie in New York. She planned to continue there after completing a summer course in Indiana.

Lefkowitz spoke to Spierer's mother today and said the family is "in complete shock" and wanting to wake up from this "nightmare."

Spierer is from Edgemont, N.Y., where her parents Robert and Charlene Spierer still live. They arrived in Bloomington on Saturday and her sister and uncle are on their way there today to join the search.

Friends and supporters have taken to social networking to get the word out. A Facebook page created for her has over 4,000 members, with messages like "Keep the momentum going strong!" and "I am praying every second for you all."

Spierer's mom has used the page to ask people to call in any tips to the Bloomington Police Department, "no matter how insignificant you may think it is."

A Twitter page created @NewsOnLaurenS has over 2,000 followers and continues to grow.

Blair Wallach, 20, has been Spierer's roommate at Indiana University for the past two years and they have been friends since attending camp together at the age of 9.

At home in New Jersey for the summer, Wallach says, "I just hope they find her. She's my best friend and we just need to know that she's okay. We're hoping a miracle happens."

Spierer was last seen wearing long, back stretch pants, a white shirt, and no shoes. A website in Indiana has been set up to organize volunteers and the family is asking that any tip be reported to the Bloomington Police Department at [phone].

 

http://abcnews.go.com/US/lauren-spierer-missing-indiana-university-...

[Brenda]

Missing College Student Lauren Spierer's Parent's Plead For Help
Posted: 06/ 7/11 04:48 PM ET

There are still no signs of Lauren Spierer, an Indiana University student who went missing late last week. Nevertheless, her parents continue to hold out hope that the 20-year-old fashion student will be found safe.

"Every little piece of information we get is important," Robert Spierer, Lauren's father, said during a news conference in Bloomington, Ind., this afternoon.

"We're not going to give up."

Spierer was last seen around 4:30 a.m. Friday just a few blocks from her Smallwood Plaza apartment. Earlier in the night, Spierer had visited Kilroy's, a nearby sports bar that closes at 3 a.m. When she left the establishment, she left behind her shoes and cellphone, police said.

After leaving the bar, Spierer went to a friend's apartment before deciding to walk home. A male friend was the last to see her, police said. He told police that she was walking barefoot near the corner of 11th Street and College Avenue. What happened to her after that remains a mystery. She was reported missing within 12 hours later.

"We've been interviewing everybody that was with her," Bloomington police Lt. Bill Parker said Tuesday. "They've cooperated fully with letting us search their places, their cars."

Since Friday, Bloomington police, Indiana University police, the Monroe County Sheriff's Department, Indiana State Police and the FBI have been conducting searches. Investigators have been looking at construction sites, lakes and wooded areas around Bloomington.

Local law enforcement also welcomes community volunteer searchers, and those searches are being held three times daily, at 10 a.m., 2 p.m. and 5:30 p.m. Anyone interested in participating can learn more by visiting a Facebook page that has been created or a website set up by the Helene G. Simon Hillel Center at Indiana University.

"We very much appreciate the help that all the volunteers have provided," Parker said. "[Search areas] would be very hard to cover with a small group of officers."

In addition to physical searches, volunteers have distributed more than a 1,000 missing person posters with Spierer's photo, name and characteristics around the area. Digital billboards have also been carrying her information as far as Indianapolis, roughly 50 miles away.

Spierer's parents, who live in Greenburgh, N.Y., flew to Bloomington on Saturday to assist in search efforts. They are concerned not only for their daughter’s sudden and unexplained disappearance, but also for her health.

According to Rebecca Leftkowitz, Spierer's close friend, Spierer has a life-threatening heart rhythm disorder called long QT syndrome that requires regular medication.

"It's crucial that she gets that medication," Leftkowitz told the Poughkeepsie Journal.

Despite the combined efforts of local law enforcement and community volunteers, investigators today have yet to develop any solid leads in the college student's disappearance. On Monday, Parker said investigators could not ignore the fact that Spierer may have been taken against her will.

"It is not impossible that she has left on her own and gone somewhere, but at this point we feel it is unlikely. We feel there has been some sort of foul play," he said.

During today's media briefing, Parker said authorities have no suspects in the case.

"We don't have anybody that we characterize as a suspect," he said.

Robert Spierer and his wife, Charlene, are hopeful someone who may have seen their daughter the night she disappeared will come forward with information in the case.

"If anybody saw Lauren on Thursday night with anyone, please share that with Bloomington police. It doesn't matter how casual it was," Spierer said today.

He added, "She's a loving girl, very close with her mother, spoke to her mother every day."

Local media outlets have drawn parallels between Spierer's disappearance and that of Jill Behrman, an Indiana University student who vanished in 2000 during a bike ride near Bloomington. Roughly three years later, the 19-year-old's remains were found in a wooded area near Morgan County. The discovery led to the controversial arrest and conviction of a man named John R. Myers II.

Lauren Spierer is described as a white female who is 4-feet-11-inches tall with a slender build. She has blue eyes and blond hair. She was last wearing a white tank top with a light-colored shirt over it and black full-length stretch pants. Anyone with information on her whereabouts is asked to call Bloomington Police at [phone].

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/06/07/missing-college-student-la...

[Brenda]

Spierer's disappearance devastates hometown of Scarsdale, N.Y.
Updated: Tuesday, 07 Jun 2011, 9:47 PM EDT
Published : Tuesday, 07 Jun 2011, 7:51 PM EDT

By: Deanna Dewberry
SCARSDALE, N.Y. (WISH) - As the search for Lauren Spierer continues in Bloomington, 24-Hour News 8 searched for information about her life in Scarsdale, N.Y., before she started college at Indiana University.

High school friends and teachers said the IU sophomore was respected by administrators and students alike.

Bubbly, charismatic, and smart are just some of the adjectives friends used to describe 20-year-old who disappeared early Friday morning.

At 4' 11" and just under 100 pounds, the tiny 2009 high school graduate made a big impression among administrators and peers here Edgemont Junior and Senior High in Scarsdale, NY.

"She's just a great young woman," said Nancy Taddiken, superintendent of the Edgemont-Union Free District.

Taddiken described Lauren as a wonderful artist and intellectually gifted. Lauren was voted best dressed of her senior class, but her superintendent said she was more than a pretty face, noting that she excelled during a student exchange program in Japan.

Lauren's disappearance has shaken her close knit hometown where there are just 960 students at the middle and high school.

"She always seemed really happy, and everyone loved her." said Jenna Fleischmann, a high school friend. "Everyone got along with her. She was just friendly to everybody,"

Another Edgemont student, Isabella Gordon, said the turn of events has been difficult for Spierer's hometown.

"This is devastating to everyone," she said, "not only just friends of hers, but the whole community is taking this really hard."

Lauren, the youngest of the Spierers' two daughters, is very close to her parents. Her mother is a social worker and her father is an accountant.

"Lauren is a child, a person who is full of life, always on the go, fun to be with, a large circle of friends, both boys and girls," said her father, Robert Spierer.

She called her mother, Charlene, every day. During the search, Charlene has called her daughter's name repeatedly in wooded areas near Bloomington. And each day that those calls are met with silence is a day that produces more pain for the family.

Tuesday night, a prayer vigil was being held at Scarsdale Synagogue Temples Tremont and Emanu-El. Friends said they'll pray the family is given strength in the days ahead.

http://www.wishtv.com/dpp/news/local/west_central/spierers-disappea...

[Brenda]

New details on hours before Lauren Spierer disappeared; parents thank searchers
1:59 PM, Jun. 7, 2011

GREENBURGH — The last known person to see Lauren Spierer was a friend with whom she'd been partying as Thursday night stretched into Friday morning.

The Indiana University student told him it was time for her to head home, and he watched from a window as she left the building they'd been in and walked to the intersection of North College and 11th Street in Bloomington.

She turned toward her apartment building, a few blocks south, and walked out of the friend's view.

It was about 4:15 a.m. and according to Bloomington police Lt. Bill Parker, "She has never been seen since."

Spierer, 20, grew up in Edgemont and just completed her sophomore year at Indiana University, where she is studying fashion.

At a news conference today at Bloomington police headquarters, Parker retraced Spierer's steps through a long night of drinking in which she lost track of her shoes, cell phone and keys—all within just a few blocks of her off-campus apartment.

"We certainly feel like there could be foul play involved," Parker told reporters.

According to Parker, investigators have interviewed everyone who was with Spierer that night. They have all been co-operative. Police do not yet have any suspects.

Police have received hundreds of tips and have been in contact with the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

Parker recounted what they knew of Spierer's night, beginning with Kilroy's Sports Bar, a large bar with several rooms and an outdoor sand area about a block from her apartment.

Surveillance video shows her and a "buddy," as Parker described him, leaving the bar between 2:30 and 2:40 a.m.

It was at Kilroy's, Parker said, that police later found Spierer's shoes and phone.

From the bar, Spierer and her friend — it is unclear if this is the same friend who later saw her at the intersection — walked to her apartment building, but stayed only briefly, without going into Spierer's apartment. Security cameras captured them entering and leaving the building.

From there they went a few blocks north to a friend's apartment and then, sometime later, to another apartment in the same building.

According to Parker, Spierer told friends, "I feel like I'm ready to go to my own apartment. I'm going."

She began the short walk home, barefoot and without a phone. Her keys were later found on the street, somewhere between the two buildings.

Police, her parents and hundreds of volunteers have been searching Bloomington for her ever since.

"At this point, we do not have a revelation, we do not have any breaking news," Parker said.

Robert and Charlene Spierer attended the press conference, held at Bloomington's police department.

Only Robert Spierer, wearing shorts and a blue T-shirt, spoke. After taking several seconds to compose himself, he thanked everyone who has helped in the search for his daughter and pleaded for their continued support.

Then he described his daughter, saying the photographs of her that have been circulated fail to convey just how blonde her hair is.

"She's full of life, always on the go, fun to be with," he said.

She volunteered with Habitat for Humanity and other organizations, he said, and spoke with her mother every day.

"She's a loving girl," he said.

Volunteer searches of Bloomington and the surrounding area scheduled to continue three times a day.

http://www.lohud.com/article/20110607/NEWS02/106070368

[Brenda]

http://www.iuhillel.org/

[Brenda]

Prayer Vigil Held For Missing Scarsdale Student Lauren Spierer
Police Suspect Foul Play In Disappearance Of The Indiana University Sophomore


SCARSDALE, N.Y. (CBSNewYork/AP) – With prayers for her safe return, friends gathered at the Scarsdale Synagogue Tuesday night with hopes that Lauren Spierer is found safe.

The 20-year-old Indiana University sophomore was last seen after leaving a friend’s apartment early Friday after a night out. Authorities said they have no suspects and little information in the case but

suspect foul play.

Tuesday night, friend came together in Scarsdale acknowledging that there wasn’t much that they could do, but hold out hope for Spierer’s safe return home to Westchester County.

1010 WINS’ Al Jones Reports From The Prayer Vigil



“She’s a great girl and she deserves to be found,” one friend tearfully said at the vigil.

Rabbi Andrew Gordon offered prayers “asking for strength for us, for Lauren and for her family and her friends.”

One fellow Indiana University student at the vigil said family and friends won’t give up looking for the missing student.

“We’re just praying that, you know, we find her safe and still alive,” he said.

Spierer’s parents are now begging the public for help in finding her.

They were wearing their anxiety like a garment in Bloomington, Indiana, on Tuesday. Charlene and Robert Spierer of Edgemont listened to police talk about their missing daughter.

“Of course we are aware that if Lauren has been abducted, it’s possible her appearance has been altered,” said Lt. Bill Parker of the Bloomington, Ind., Police. “We’ve figured out, unfortunately, that Lauren did not have her cell phone with her because we have her cell phone.”

“At this point we don’t have a revelation. We don’t have breaking news. We are still inviting tips,” Parker added. “We have already received hundreds of tips, and we have a system in place to follow through with them.”

WCBS 880′s Catherine Cioffi reports: Bloomington Police Working With FBI, Suspect Foul Play



Spierer seemed to vanish into thin air in the hour before dawn on Friday during a walk home from a bar. The family said it needs a clue, a direction or anything.

“We beg you if you can help us with the search, that you continue to join us every day,” Robert Spierer said. “We ask that if anyone saw Lauren Thursday night or Friday morning with anyone, please share that information with Bloomington police. It doesn’t matter how casual it was.”

Lauren’s parents were out the door and en route to Indiana the moment they got the terrible news and despite the evident anguish on their faces for friends and family left behind in New York in many ways it is even worse. There is nothing but idle hours and an agonizing wait.

Indiana University is now on summer break. Spierer stayed behind to take extra course at a local community college before beginning a summer internship in Manhattan.

Dozens of volunteers met outside Spierer’s apartment building Tuesday for another round of searching. Authorities directed some teams to look for clues – a stray piece of clothing left on the ground or anything that appeared out of place or raises suspicion. Other groups, armed with rolls of tape and posters bearing Spierer’s face and physical description, fanned out throughout the downtown.

The search has sparked painful memories for residents and the parents of another student who disappeared more than a decade ago. Jill Behrman was 19 when she went missing during a bike ride near Bloomington in 2000. Hunters found her skeletal remains three years later in a remote field about 15 miles from the city.

Eric Behrman, Jill’s father, said he’s urged Spierers’ parents to stay positive, despite his dreadful ordeal.

“After a period of time – after you’ve searched, you’ve exhausted the contacts - that’s when a real feeling of fear creeps in,” Behrman said. “You realize no one knows where your child is.”

The mother of Purdue University student Wade Steffey said health problems kept her from helping search for her son when he went missing in 2007. Dawn Adams said she appreciated the volunteers who looked for Steffey, who was found fatally shocked in a high-voltage utility room on campus two months later. That’s why she and her husband came to help search for Spierer on Tuesday.

“It’s important to be here to search for Lauren and support her parents,” said Adams, a Bloomington resident. “I hope we find her. It’s really important to look.”

http://newyork.cbslocal.com/2011/06/07/scarsdale-synagogues-to-hold...

[Brenda]

IU student Lauren Spierer search: Police want more information on car

 

BLOOMINGTON, IN—

Police hope enhancement of a streetside video might provide clues in the disappearance of Indiana University student Lauren Spierer.

Capt. Joe Qualters of the Bloomington Police Department said a car, or possibly two cars, caught the attention of investigators reviewing business videos from the area where Spierer was last seen

 

 

They are working to make the video more clear in order to identify the kind of car and whether the video captured one vehicle or two similar ones.

He said the car or cars were seen in the area of North Walnut and 10th and 11th street, where the 20-year-old was last seen walking home to Smallwood Plaza about 4:30 a.m. June 3.

“It’s not a heavily traveled street that time of morning,” Qualters said. The video might depict one car circling the block, or two different cars, he said.

Qualters said the driver or drivers may have seen something, or might possibly have been involved in Spierer’s disappearance.

“This is a person who might have information, not a vehicle of interest or a suspect vehicle” at this point, Qualters said. “This is something that has caught our attention.”

Police are “curious,” he said, and hope to release a description of the car or cars “very, very soon.”

When asked by a reporter about rumors that Spierer may have died from an overdose of cocaine, and that panicked friends may have hidden her body somewhere, Qualters said investigators “absolutely” had “heard information along those lines.”

It is among many rumors swirling around the case. “There is a lot of information coming in, and we’ve heard a lot of other things too,” Qualters confirmed. “There’s no shortage of information. I don’t know that there’s been any possibility (about what happened to Spierer) ruled out at this point.”

Monday afternoon, an undercover BPD police car circled the area of 10th and 11th street, near College Avenue. Two young people in the backseat, a man and woman, pointed things out as the car slowly drove numerous times around the block.

Lawyer: Boyfriend has cooperated

A lawyer hired to represent Jesse Wolff, Spierer’s boyfriend of two years, said his client has cooperated with police throughout the investigation.

Bloomington attorney Joe Lozano, a former Monroe County deputy prosecutor, said Wolff called Spierer’s parents to let them know their daughter was missing and also spoke to police about her disappearance before hiring a lawyer.

“He has fully cooperated and done what the police wanted,” Lozano said Monday afternoon. “He has nothing to hide.”

Wolff reportedly has returned home to his family in New York as the search for Spierer continues.

Three other IU students involved in the investigation — Spierer acquaintances Corey Rossman, Jay Rosenbaum and Mike Beth — also have hired lawyers to represent them as the search continues.

Covering all the bases

On Sunday, an Indiana State Police helicopter scanned the area, searching downtown rooftops, waterways and along railroad tracks. “It was a secondary-type search to make sure we’ve covered all the bases,” Qualters said, adding there may be more air searches.

He also said investigators are expanding their interviews to other friends and associates who may be able to shed light on what happened to Spierer.

Qualters said initial reports of 10 “people of interest” in the case were misleading, since the number of people they are talking to who they suspect know something changes every day. “That’s a fluid number that changes from day to day,” he said, asking the media to stop reporting the number since it changes all the time.

Qualters said police are not “leaning one way or another” regarding whether they believe Spierer was abducted by a stranger or by someone who may have known her.

“We are gathering information at this point and we do not have enough to take us down one particular road as to what happened,” he said after Monday’s daily news conference updating the media on the investigation’s progress.

He said an expert from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children is in town to assist in locating Spierer, joining the efforts of special searchers who look for clues on horseback.

Robert Spierer, an accountant in New York, said that despite the search for his daughter entering its second week, “We are very much focused on finding Lauren. We obviously are not giving up hope.”

Her mother, social worker Charlene Spierer, looked into the television cameras at the news conference and told her daughter her family loves her. “Your spirit is with us. We are never going to stop looking.”

She read from an email her daughter sent her parents from a working trip to Israel over Spring Break this year.

“I’m soaking up everything. And living up every single second.”

http://www.wsbt.com/news/hto-iu-student-lauren-spierer-search-polic...

[Brenda]

Truck seen where student vanished
Published: June 16, 2011 at 5:15 PM


Read more: http://www.upi.com/Top_News/US/2011/06/16/Truck-seen-where-student-...

BLOOMINGTON, Ind., June 16 (UPI) -- Police in Bloomington, Ind., are searching for the driver of a white pickup truck seen on security video in the neighborhood where a college student vanished.

Police said the truck drove by the apartment complex where Lauren Spierer was last seen and was captured on video twice in 10 minutes, suggesting the driver was circling the block, the Indianapolis Star reported. Police released enhanced images of the truck Wednesday.

Spierer, a student at Indiana University in Bloomington disappeared in the early morning hours of June 3 after leaving a friend's apartment.

"Is there a possibility that this vehicle could be involved? Absolutely," Police Capt. Joe Qualters said. "It circles the block during the time frame and the location where Lauren was last seen, and for that reason, we think it's significant."

Robert Spierer, Lauren's father, was at the news conference as police released a photo from a security camera at her apartment building that captured her image as she left for the evening on June 2.

"She's a happy, smiling, beautiful young lady on her way out for the evening to meet with friends. That's the Lauren we are looking for," he said. "We want to get her back just to embrace her and tell her we love her."



Read more: http://www.upi.com/Top_News/US/2011/06/16/Truck-seen-where-student-...

[Brenda]

State Police join search for missing IU student
Several Indiana State Police Troopers spent Father's Day looking for missing IU student Lauren Spierer.

By FOX 59 News Staff
Fox59
2:50 p.m. EDT, June 19, 2011

Bloomington, Ind—
Several Indiana State Police Troopers spent Father's Day looking for missing IU student Lauren Spierer.

Spierer has been missing for more than two weeks. Her parents remain in Bloomington but have not talked to the media today. They will address the media on Monday, when daily police briefings resume.

In addition to State Police Special Operations Troopers, volunteers also spent the day looking for any clues in Lauren's case. Despite the rain and it being Father's Day, the community is not slowing down in the search for the 20-year-old from New York. Volunteers 18 and older can join searches daily. Volunteers are asked to sign in at the IU McNutt Center on the campus. More information can be found at www.findlauren.com.

Lauren Spierer is described as approximately four feet, 11 inches tall with a slender build. She has blue eyes and blonde hair, longer than shoulder length. The 20-year-old had just finished her sophomore year at IU. Anyone with information should call Bloomington police at 812-339-4477.

Spierer's mother Charlene Spierer said Lauren has a life-threatening heart condition called Long QT Syndrome. Her mother has asked if anyone knows where Lauren is, to please take her to a hospital.

http://www.fox59.com/news/wxin-state-police-join-search-for-missing...

[Brenda]

Truck on Video Not Tied to Missing
Student: Police
Monday, Jun 20, 2011 | Updated 4:48 PM ED

Police investigating the disappearance of an Indiana University student from Westchester County say a pickup truck seen in the area at the time of her disappearance wasn't involved in the case.

Bloomington police Capt. Joe Qualters said Monday that investigators received more than 500 tips after releasing images from security cameras showing a white truck in the area early the morning of June 3, around the time Lauren Spierer was last seen.

Qualters says police identified the business the truck belonged to and interviewed the owner. He says investigators scoured the vehicle and found no evidence it was tied to the disappearance of the 20-year-old sophomore from Greenburgh, N.Y.

Hundreds of tips about the truck poured in after a news conference last week in which police said it was seen twice on video surveillance on the morning Spierer disappeared, indicating it had circled the block where she was last seen.

On Monday, Qualters said that the truck, in fact, had only been seen on video surveillance in the area one time. He attributed the confusion to a mechanical problem related to the time stamps on the surveillance tape.

MULTIMEDIA

PHOTOS
Massive Search for
Missing NY Student
More Multimedia
Meanwhile, searchers continue to comb areas outside Bloomington for signs of Spierer, who disappeared following a night of partying with friends.

Qualters says nothing was found over the weekend related to the disappearance of Spierer, who hasn't been seen since about 4:30 a.m. June 3 as she was walking alone to her apartment.

Investigators on Sunday searched the wooded area south of Martinsville after receiving a tip about a suspicious odor in the vicinity. Authorities found a pile of fresh dirt that might have been left by recent utility work, but no information relevant to Spierer's disappearance, Qualters said.

As she has done at most every press conference regarding the disappearance of her daughter, Lauren Spierer's mother, Charlene, issued a plea to anyone with information about Lauren's whereabouts to step forward.

"We all come to a crossroad in our life where we can take the high road or the low road," Charlene Spierer said. "I'm begging and pleading with you to define yourself as a person that's going to help with this. Our only goal is to find Lauren."


http://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/local/Truck-on-Video-Not-Tied-to-Mis...

[Brenda]

Mom Of Disappeared Indiana Student Sets Up P.O. Box For Tips

June 22, 2011 7:33 PM


Bloomington, Ind. (STMW) — The mother of an Indiana University student who vanished more than two weeks ago says the family has set up a post office box for anonymous tips.

Charlene Spierer said during a Wednesday news conference she was disappointed that more of 20-year-old Lauren Spierer’s friends hadn’t contacted police with information. She says the family set up the post office box to protect anyone who was reluctant to come forward. WBBM’s Lisa Fielding has more.

LISTEN: Newsradio 780′s Lisa Fielding Reports



Police reported no new developments in finding the Greenburgh, N.Y., woman.

Bloomington police Capt. Joe Qualters says investigators will now compare notes and determine what steps to take next after interviewing a second round of witnesses. He says searches in Bloomington and the surrounding southern Indiana countryside will continue.

http://chicago.cbslocal.com/2011/06/22/mom-of-disappeared-indiana-s...

[Brenda]

Lauren Spierer's parents issue new plea
The parents of missing Indiana University student Lauren Spierer held a news conference Friday and delivered a desperate plea to the parents of Lauren's friends

By Anne Yeager
Fox59
5:01 p.m. EDT, July 1, 2011

Bloomington, Ind.— The parents of missing Indiana University student Lauren Spierer held a news conference Friday and delivered a desperate plea to the parents of Lauren's friends.

Lauren Spierer, 20, vanished without a trace June 3 and weeks later, investigators still don't know what happened to the woman.

Since her disappearance, Charlene and Robert Spierer have expressed frustration that Lauren's friends haven't come forward to police. With the Fourth of July holiday near, the Spierers want the friend's parents to pressure them to talk to detectives.

"Help your children find the courage to come forward, " said Robert Spierer, Lauren's dad. "Help them find their moral compass. They need your guidance and your strength to do the right thing."

The news conference was held two days after police dogs searched two Bloomington locations where Spierer's friends lived, the 5 North Townhomes on 11th and Morton Streets and the 600 block of Ninth Street.

Corey Rossman, Mike Beth, Jason "Jay" Rosenbaum and Jesse Wolff are considered persons of interest in the case.

Lauren was last seen walking home from the 11th street location at 4:30 am.

Even though volunteer searches have ended, the Spierers plan to stay in Bloomington to help in the police investigation.

They say they are as dedicated as ever to find Lauren.

Her mother spoke with intensity Friday, as if she was talking to someone behind the barrage of camera lenses.

"If you think that our hope and determination to find Lauren has changed, it has not, "said Charlene Spierer, "We are just as determined today as we were day one."

The Spierer family called the past four weeks a "nightmare".

Thursday while Lauren's dad listened to old voice messages on his cell phone, Charlene heard a familiar voice through the speaker phone.

"Hi Dad, it's me," said Charlene, in Lauren's voice. "And I just want to say Hi Lauren, it's mom. We are not going anywhere. We are here for you. We just want you to come home."

The tipline is 812-339-4477.

http://www.wsbt.com/news/wxin-lauren-spierer-lauren-spierers-parent...

[Brenda]

Parents Of Missing College Student Lauren Spierer Hold Searchers Reunion To Thank Volunteers


BLOOMINGTON, Ind. (CBSNewYork) – They parents of Lauren Spierer, a missing Indiana University college student from Westchester, are holding a searchers reunion Saturday to thank volunteers who have been working hard to help find their daughter.

WCBS 880′S Catherine Cioffi reports: More Than A Month Since Lauren Spierer Went Missing

The reunion is called Laps For Lauren. On the family’s website, www.findlauren.com, they write “We would love to see everyone who is helping us continue our efforts to find our dear sweet Lauren.”

The reunion is to thank the thousands of searchers who have helped look for Spierer since she disappeared on June 3 and to keep up the effort to find the missing 20-year-old.

Police say they’ve received nearly 2,000 tips since she went missing.

Large scale public searches were called off last month, but police said they would continue to investigate.

A badly decomposed body that was found last week in Fall Creek, Indiana, about 50 miles away from Bloomington where Lauren goes to school, was determined not to be that of the missing 20-year-old.

http://newyork.cbslocal.com/2011/07/09/parents-of-missing-college-s...