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Last updated on Friday, June 3, 2016
(BLOOMINGTON) - Today marks five years since IU student Lauren Spierer went missing.
Her disappearance received national attention and Bloomington police say the case remains a top priority.
A private investigator hired by the Spierer family refuses to give up because he believes someone, somewhere knows exactly what happened to Lauren.
On the night of June 2, 2011, Spierer went out for drinks with friends in Bloomington. The group ended the evening at Kilroy's Sports Bar. Witnesses reported that Lauren was highly intoxicated and that she left the bar and went to a friend's house.
She'd eventually leave there early on June 3, 2011, never to be seen again.
The private investigation firm working on the case from New York says it's "confident" the Spierer family will someday get the closure they deserve.
"The correct information of where Lauren is just hasn't come to us yet, but we continue to work on leads that I can't talk about. There is an investigation going on as we speak" said Michael Ciravolo, president of Beau Dietl & Associates.
Lauren's parent's released this statement on the fifth anniversary of her disappearance:
"This Friday, June 3, 2016, marks five years since Lauren's disappearance. It is sobering and heartbreaking as a parent, to reflect daily on the fact that our child is still out there and we are unable to locate her. Our family continues to search for answers and we remain steadfast in our dedication to seeing justice served for Lauren. We are grateful to all who have embraced our family as they might their own, offering support and compassion since we first learned of Lauren's disappearance. We know that the Bloomington Police Department's commitment to Lauren is as strong today as it has ever been and for that we are grateful. We also thank the many people around the country, including various law enforcement agencies, that to this day, work diligently to help us find Lauren. While we have had hundreds of leads, we have not had the one which will yield the answers we desperately need." -Rob and Charlene Spierer
Charlene also wrote an open letter on a Facebook page dedicated to posting updates about her disappearance. In the letter, Charlene writes that she believes Lauren's death was an accident, but what happened after her death was a crime.
The Bloomington Police Department released the following statement:
From the time of Lauren's reported disappearance, the Bloomington Police Department (BPD) has dedicated an extraordinary amount of resources while investigating this case. Over 3,500 tips have been received, documented and investigated.
Searches involving hundreds of volunteers were organized and managed by Department personnel with those searches occurring within and outside the City of Bloomington and Monroe County. An exhaustive search of a landfill was conducted over the course of several days.
The number of regular duty hours associated with the case cannot be quantified and the Department has documented over 2,505 hours of overtime for personnel since the beginning of the investigation. Detectives have traveled to other jurisdictions within Indiana and outside the state for interviews, consultation, and other investigatory efforts. The Department has explored possible connections to a number of criminal suspects arrested in other jurisdictions for heinous crimes against female victims.
Investigators have contacted numerous agencies located within and outside the state of Indiana where bodies or human remains have been found in an effort to see if there might be a connection to the case.
BPD has worked with a variety of other law enforcement partners and other organizations with specific skills to assist with the case to include the FBI, Indiana State Police, Indiana Conservation Officers, Monroe County Sheriff's Office, Indiana University Police Department, the Indiana Guard Reserve, the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, and various search and rescue organizations.
The Bloomington Police Department made a conscious decision to be judicious in what was shared with the public through the media as the investigation progressed. The objective of the Department was to focus energy and resources on the investigation itself rather than the distractions and misinformation that can be generated or result from overexposure through the media.
Pertinent information was, in fact, released that might lead to additional tips for investigators and that proved to be helpful when that strategy was utilized. Even though it has been 5 years since Lauren disappeared, the case continues to be a priority for the investigators assigned and there is work being done on the case literally every day.
The investigation into Lauren's disappearance has never been considered or labeled a "cold case" by the Department.
The Bloomington Police Department continues to diligently investigate the circumstances related to Lauren's disappearance and will continue to do so until all avenues of investigation have been thoroughly explored. The commitment to determine what happened to Lauren was made to Lauren's family, the citizens of Bloomington and the Indiana University community. All are deserving of our best effort and they should expect nothing less regardless of the amount of time that passes before answers can be provided to those who so desperately need and deserve to know what has happened to their loved one.
Anyone with information on the Lauren Spierer investigation is urged to contact the Bloomington Police Department at 812-339-4477 or via email at policetips@bloomington.in.gov
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