IN - Lauren Spierer, 20, Bloomington, 03 June 2011 - #13

[cluciano63]

One (sad) thing I have noticed that is so different with this family is hearing the parents, you can tell they are considering that Lauren could well be dead and that they just need to find her and take her home. Most parents we've seen almost never come to that grim realization, even after many months or years. I don't know if this is due to something LE has told them, or just an acceptance of the unfortunate circumstances they are facing.

How I wish they could find her before they feel they have to return to NY. They have been there in Bloomington for a month and I am sure they are beside themselves with grief to know they will probably be returning without Lauren.

 

[British]

Let's see... JW is the boyfriend. Rumors have it that there was some sort of falling out with LS that caused him to request she re-friend him on FB on May 30. LS is out and about hanging out with CR, and apparently "friends of JW" are upset enough to throw some punches. JW tries to hook up with LS all evening but is unable to. The next day he declares that she is missing after less than 12 hours, and has LS's two girlfriends go to LE and make the report. After initial statements to LE, he leaves town and lawyers up. And, interestingly enough, people claiming to be friends of his are on the internet badmouthing CR and JR.
Now, tell me again, why we should just not bother even considering him?
LE continues to claim that none of the POIs are cleared.

For a few simple reasons. 1. He was not with her that night. That is not unusual. Not everyone is constantly with his girlfriend. 2. There is no evidence that has come out that he had any sort of contact with her that night or any of the other POIs that night. 3. His actions the next day seemed to be consistent with a really concerned innocent person. He looked for her and went to her apartment to see if she was there and he called her parents and/or LE.

For all these reasons I believe he is totally unrelated.

 

[elmomom]

There is nothing whatsoever to suggest involvement of JW.

We know that you feel strongly he is innocent, but this statement was what I was speaking to. He had obvious potential motive. He had opportunity, as we have no information other than hearsay about any alibi, and to top all of it off, statistically he is the highest probability. You may make the leap to believing that all that is "nothing", but I certainly can't.

 

[cluciano63]

For a few simple reasons. 1. He was not with her that night. That is not unusual. Not everyone is constantly with his girlfriend. 2. There is no evidence that has come out that he had any sort of contact with her that night or any of the other POIs that night. 3. His actions the next day seemed to be consistent wa really concerned innocent person. He looked for her and went to her apartment to see if she was there and he called her parents and/or LE.

For all these reasons I believe he is totally unrelated.

I can't help thinking that perhaps there is some phone/text activity that shows he was not asleep at 2:30AM, which would keep him in the POI mix. Or that there was at least one story in conflict with his, i.e. someone may have admitted that he learned about the fight that night.

I don't have any reason to suspect anyone more or less than anyone else. While I still feel a random perp is possible (about 10% chance to me) this whole scenario feels more like something bad happened and some of these people know about it.

 

[porchpile]

As I posted earlier today in this thread, I lean heavily toward a stranger abduction at this point. BUT--JW does not have a rock-solid alibi. He has roomies saying they 'knew' he went to bed. But they were all at the house and watching the basketball game and likely drinking some beers and passing the bong (this was the NBA finals after all). So I doubt someone getting up and leaving for a few hours would have awakened them, if that were to happen. When I was in college I usually (but not always) talked to my gf before I went to bed, even if she was out socially with other people. And when I went to college no one even had cellphones or texting. In the same way that LE has has nothing to corroborate LS' whereabouts after 2:51 AM, they have not released any evidence that established JW's whereabouts after 2:30 AM without a doubt.

 

[sueC]

One (sad) thing I have noticed that is so different with this family is hearing the parents, you can tell they are considering that Lauren could well be dead and that they just need to find her and take her home. Most parents we've seen almost never come to that grim realization, even after many months or years. I don't know if this is due to something LE has told them, or just an acceptance of the unfortunate circumstances they are facing.

How I wish they could find her before they feel they have to return to NY. They have been there in Bloomington for a month and I am sure they are beside themselves with grief to know they will probably be returning without Lauren.

Yes, so very sad. Va Tech student Morgan Harrington's parents said this after her remains were found...

"Morgan’s mother, Gil, and I are overwhelmingly saddened by [Tuesday’s] discovery, but we are also relieved because our questions can now be answered and we can give our daughter a proper burial,” Dan Harrington said in a statement. “We know that because of the good life Morgan led and the love she created for everyone around her, she is now in a safer, better place.”

“For the first time in 101 days, I have faint tendrils of hope that are growing in my soul,” Gil Harrington said, standing before a memorial of flowers, banners and personal notes. “For the first time in 101 days, I am not thinking every minute, ‘What is he doing to my daughter now? What is he doing to her? What is she having to endure?’ We are happy to have resolution.”

http://www.cavalierdaily.com/tags/morgan-dana-harrington/

 

[Cazzie]

A local Church is holding a prayer service tonight. I sure hope it has a positive outcome for her parents. I saw them both on Saturday and they are very determined to find her and seem to have energy to maintain the search center & physically search for Lauren for forever. I am sure people were donating food items, but in one interview Charlene said she could feel Lauren's presence at Kroger, which tells me she was helping feed the searchers. They are very generous, thoughtful, and appreciative. My point is, I think scaling down the search efforts will be very hard for them to accept.
My heart breaks for them.

Thank you for this post! The part I bolded is remarkable and I hope it could mean that Lauren is still alive somehow, somewhere, and will be found or she will make her way back to her family and friends. It sounds like her parents are perhaps giving more than they are getting in these search efforts, but really it's basic human compassion on both sides, IMO. Which sometimes can be hard to find in this world...

 

[Blythe]

Is she findable?

 

[elmomom]

Is she findable?

Without any information to lead to her, it's a long shot, I fear.

 

[bx2]

I've stayed out of having any personal theories of what happened, but I must say that I'm beginning to edge over toward something happening to her after the 4:30 sighting by someone that is unknown to us. This still would include a random person abduction, a recognized person abduction, or an accident of some kind that led to another person taking her.

My theory for JR's silence is that he was involved in providing an illegal substance to her, that may have indirectly led to her being harmed or ODing. I believe he could potentially be incriminating himself to tell the story of what happened at his apt, and it is later found out that she died as a result.

Sadly, as usual, I still come back to: Where's Lauren?

 

[:+:MrTT:+:]

I am not very good in finding my way around.
But I am contemplating going down there Saturday or Sunday.

Starting from where she was last seen on the video.
And take a look around my self.

I get lost in traveling and directions.
​

 

[Marcusdog]

I think it was channel 13 who said they will have more news tonight and a discussion of another girl who went missing under similar circumstances. Will listen at 11:00pm. Could be a serial killer is out there.

 

[elmomom]

I've stayed out of having any personal theories of what happened, but I must say that I'm beginning to edge over toward something happening to her after the 4:30 sighting by someone that is unknown to us. This still would include a random person abduction, a recognized person abduction, or an accident of some kind that led to another person taking her.

My theory for JR's silence is that he was involved in providing an illegal substance to her, that may have indirectly led to her being harmed or ODing. I believe he could potentially be incriminating himself to tell the story of what happened at his apt, and it is later found out that she died as a result.

Sadly, as usual, I still come back to: Where's Lauren?

Not one of the POIs seem sophisticated enough to pull this off. After all, if any of them was involved, they spoke to at least one other person (HT) and maybe more the day she was declared missing. It seems to me that if it were one of the friends, he would be exhausted and extremely stressed out. Then probably questioned by HT, and maybe even LE - I don't know when they started asking the friends questions.
None of these students are experienced criminals, or even seemingly 'street-smart' and almost all of them knew LS extremely well. It's just too hard to comprehend.

 

[British]

Not one of the POIs seem sophisticated enough to pull this off. .....

If it was an OD and all they did was to dispose the body far away from the city, it does not take much sophistication. Unfortunately, this sounds like the most likely possibility IMO.

 

[jjenny]

Without any information to lead to her, it's a long shot, I fear.

Either a lead or luck. Somebody walking a dog, etc.

 

[coltsgal]

If LS friends are involved, I dont believe that they hurt her intentionally. That's why I find it so hard to understand how they can sit by an ignore her parent's pleas for help.

One of them will crack soon. I have a feeling.

 

[bx2]

If it was an OD and all they did was to dispose the body far away from the city, it does not take much sophistication. Unfortunately, this sounds like the most likely possibility IMO.

Not arguing that this isn't still a distinct possibility, but I think the sophistication isn't just in the planning aspect of getting rid of the evidence, its also in the no cracks to appear in your story, no unaccounted witnesses coming forward, no additional evidence appearing. Disposing of the body also veers in two distinct directions, either you are bound and determined to put in the effort to ensure it isn't found or you are trying to disassociate yourself from it quickly. The latter still leaves room that you will "get lucky" on searchers not finding it of course.

I'll admit that its becoming a stretch for me to believe a likely impaired college kid can flawlessly execute everything above, but he/she could still be in the "lucky" stage.

 

[phantomthought]

Not one of the POIs seem sophisticated enough to pull this off. After all, if any of them was involved, they spoke to at least one other person (HT) and maybe more the day she was declared missing. It seems to me that if it were one of the friends, he would be exhausted and extremely stressed out. Then probably questioned by HT, and maybe even LE - I don't know when they started asking the friends questions.
None of these students are experienced criminals, or even seemingly 'street-smart' and almost all of them knew LS extremely well. It's just too hard to comprehend.

I do not know when the police started questioning the friends but I will throw in another little gem courtesy of JR's lawyer."provided cooperation as soon as requested by the authorities and continues to do so,"So it is not like he went to the police station volunteering what he knew.He waited for the police to get in touch with him.
http://www.lohud.com/article/201106...awyers-say?odyssey=tab|topnews|text|Frontpage

 

[cluciano63]

Not arguing that this isn't still a distinct possibility, but I think the sophistication isn't just in the planning aspect of getting rid of the evidence, its also in the no cracks to appear in your story, no unaccounted witnesses coming forward, no additional evidence appearing. Disposing of the body also veers in two distinct directions, either you are bound and determined to put in the effort to ensure it isn't found or you are trying to disassociate yourself from it quickly. The latter still leaves room that you will "get lucky" on searchers not finding it of course.

I'll admit that its becoming a stretch for me to believe a likely impaired college kid can flawlessly execute everything above, but he/she could still be in the "lucky" stage.

I don't know what to think; the POI's is Phylicia Barnes' murder don't seem to be any IQ record-breakers, and she was found dumped in a river, which anyone can manage. Her death was ruled a homicide however, though they won't say the cause of death.

 

[DanInOz]

I wonder if JW contacted JR in the morning at all? If he knew LS was with him the night before & wasnt in her apartment the next morning wouldnt he (JW) be banging down his door?

I also wonder if infact LS tried to make her way to JW's apartment after 2.51am. Perhaps feeling a bit guilty.... Where did he live again?