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Last updated on Thursday, February 9, 2012
(BLOOMINGTON) - Robert and Charlene Spierer want nothing to do with a book of theories about their missing daughter.
The first book to be written and self-published about Lauren Spierer's disappearance is 173 pages of timelines and speculation about what might have happened to the Indiana University student who was last seen June 3.
Husband and wife authors Tony and Kim Stewart of Bloomington said they spent eight months writing "The Search for Lauren Spierer." They had planned to donate 100 percent of the book's sales to the Hillel Foundation to help with more search efforts.
But the Stewart's quickly stopped selling the book, after the Spierer's said they weren't interested in the book or its donations.
"We did not read Tony Stewart's book nor do we intend to," Charlene Spierer wrote in an email Tuesday. "The first time we heard about the book was late December. At that time we asked Mr. Stewart not to go forward with the book. He proceeded despite our request, as it was his right to do; however, we had no intentions of accepting any proceeds from it."
Tony Stewart said he sold six or seven copies then retired the book out of respect for the Spierer family.
But he said he was surprised by the Spierer's rejection. He related the book to any other charity or fundraising event in Lauren Spierer's name.
"There's nothing negative in the book," he said. "It's positive. If anything it would have enhanced the investigation. We had some theories in there that were pretty good theories. One person from Japan wanted a copy. It would have earned a lot of money, and every penny was to find Lauren."
Stewart has published eight other books about gangsters, murderers and the crime era of the 1920s and 1930s.
He said his theories about the Spierer mystery include abductions by serial killers and suspects in other local criminal cases.
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