(BLOOMINGTON) – IU student Lauren Spierer disappeared eight years ago today following a night out in Bloomington.
Despite thousands of tips and eight years later, her family is still hoping for that one piece of information that will bring their nightmare to a close.
Spierer, a 20-year-old sophomore from New York, vanished from downtown Bloomington after a night of partying as she was walking home to her Smallwood Plaza apartment around 4:30 in the morning on June 3, 2011.
Her disappearance received national attention and Bloomington police say the case remains a top priority.
Her body has never been found and police have not made any arrests in the case.
In a Facebook post, Lauren’s mother, Charlene wrote about reliving the day her daughter disappeared eight years ago:
Eight years after Lauren’s disappearance and we are no closer to finding her or getting answers.
The expression, “the more things change the more they stay the same” seems apropos. We continue living in the past and in the present.
No one escapes this life unscathed. Everyone has struggles and somehow, we all survive but it is not without costs.
As every June 3rd approaches, I am faced with the dread of reliving all the horrific minutes of that day and the days which followed. I now know of course, despite how desperately I wanted to believe the words “we will find her”, it just wasn’t meant to be.
Our timeline has no end. It begins with a phone call from my husband who heard the news that Lauren was missing from our older daughter, Rebecca. In an instant, our family was irrevocably changed.
The not knowing is almost unbearable.
Over the course of these last 8 years we have tried our hardest to get answers but the brutal truth, the only truth, is that any resolution depends on someone willing to come forward with information.
Despite everything, something propels us forward. Of course, it is hope. Hope that today someone will have the courage, to tell the truth, or send an email or make a call or post a lead on social media.
We still have a PO box in Bloomington, just waiting to receive a letter with words which will lead us to the truth. It remains unfilled. Another dead end. No tips or leads have ever been sent which took us one step closer.
Logically you think…it’s anonymous…what you don’t realize is that the monster responsible for Lauren’s disappearance simply does not care.
Hope, is a strange bedfellow. Some days you want to abandon all hope but our desire to bring Lauren home whether literally or figuratively is a strong motivator.
To those responsible, you’ve moved on, but we have not. We will never give up. There is always someone actively working to find you. SOMEONE IS ALWAYS LOOKING FOR YOU.
How ironic, just as we are looking for Lauren, we are just as diligently looking for you. I have to believe that someday you will let your guard down. You will need to share your truth and it will just be too big for the person you’ve told to keep it to themselves. That is what we hope for.
Missing you Lauren. Loving you with all our hearts.
Eight years later…. Just as determined as day one.
Hoping today is the day.
Charlene Spierer
Tips can be sent by email to helpfindlauren@gmail.com or by contacting the Bloomington Police Department at 812-339-4477 or private detective Beau Dietl & Associates 800-777-9366 or mailed to Find Lauren P.O. Box 1226 Bloomington, IN 47402-1226.
