IN - Lauren Spierer, 20, Bloomington, 03 June 2011 #25

[Alliecog]

OMG, could we just FIND LAUREN??? Who is looking now, anyone???????

Does anyone know what the whole search effort has been like lately? Where do you think should be searched next? I'm dying to know this type of info from LE.

 

[Darcyline]

I am assuming searches have been pretty much suspended unless they have a reason otherwise-a tip, an officer or detective noticing something that was missed, some new information, a POI acting strangely in relation to a location, etc. It is hard once all the close, obvious spaces have been searched However, there was at least one case recently where a body was found in an area that had been cleared by LE. It happens-there are large, large areas of land with undergrowth and a body that has been buried or covered up may just be overlooked sometimes. I hope some people are still searching or planning to search. I hope hope never dies from this case.

 

[jenniek]

I actually like this PI- I don't know why but I felt a sense of optimism after watching the video. I mean maybe le is in over their head (we have speculated that here many times) Also the fact that people are speaking badly about the spierers because of this is disgusting- they, like most of us, will do whatever it will take to get someone they love back and I would for sure hire a PI if i could. it's good to have a fresh set of eyes on something as it seems LE may be at a dead end.

 

[mamamia54]

Probably not... it's pouring rain in Bloomington.. has been all day!

I don't care if it's snowing in Bloomington. Start the searching again. North on 37 somewhere around the Oliver Winery, 25 mile radius. At least it's another place to start and it seems that they have just been standing around waiting for information that is NOT forthcoming. Winter is fast approaching and where ever Lauren is she is laying out there alone. Now, LE get moving on it, what's the waiting about??

 

[mamamia54]

Now I'm getting angry, this is ridiculous!

 

[holly2325]

I don't care if it's snowing in Bloomington. Start the searching again. North on 37 somewhere around the Oliver Winery, 25 mile radius. At least it's another place to start and it seems that they have just been standing around waiting for information that is NOT forthcoming. Winter is fast approaching and where ever Lauren is she is laying out there alone. Now, LE get moving on it, what's the waiting about??

I am in lock step with you here mamamia.

 

[bloom54]

I don't care if it's snowing in Bloomington. Start the searching again. North on 37 somewhere around the Oliver Winery, 25 mile radius. At least it's another place to start and it seems that they have just been standing around waiting for information that is NOT forthcoming. Winter is fast approaching and where ever Lauren is she is laying out there alone. Now, LE get moving on it, what's the waiting about??

I'm not really sure that more searching without a clear lead is likely to result in anything but more frustration. Certainly with fall approaching, farmers will be clearing fields that have been otherwise covered in dense vegetation and hunters will be in more remote areas and may turn up something of value. But to think that you're going to continue to get hundreds of people to search like they had in June and July is unrealistic.

Some of us simply don't have the time to search. I personally work about 70 hours per week... and that doesn't count the work I do from home.

In addition, at this point, I'm not sure I'd recognize a body in an advanced state of decomposition (as well as having been ravaged by animals -- and I don't mean the human kind)...

The way forward in this case, IMHO is to question question question - anyone and everyone who may have information. The problem for US in that is that we don't know if that's being done... or what is being gathered.

 

[cluciano63]

I do agree that it is frustrating in all of these cases when searches cease, pending new information, but it always happens. I wonder if TES would return and search some more areas for Lauren before the snows come. They say they are palnning on returning to Ohio to look for Katelyn Markham again sometime in the fall. Maybe they could make a longer trip of it and do both. But like others here, I hate even a day passing without some new spot being searched and cleared.

 

[bloom54]

I do agree that it is frustrating in all of these cases when searches cease, pending new information, but it always happens. I wonder if TES would return and search some more areas for Lauren before the snows come. They say they are palnning on returning to Ohio to look for Katelyn Markham again sometime in the fall. Maybe they could make a longer trip of it and do both. But like others here, I hate even a day passing without some new spot being searched and cleared.

To have a professional search team here again would be terrific! I would imagine that if that's a possibility CS/RS are all over that...

 

[Darcyline]

I really feel like one of two things needs to happen before anything will move forward on the case-one, a huge break/confession/some sort of major evidence or two, her body randomly being found by a farmer or hiker or hunter.

It is sad.

 

[imamaze]

Well it doesn't look to me like Richard "Beau" Dietl is doing any better, I think he just likes the attention he is getting. Personally I agree with what the Police Chief says...

http://www.wthr.com/story/15542954/private-eye-calls-bloomingto-police-chief-a-gomer-pyle
Bloomington Police chief Michael Diekhoff released the following statement as a reply to Dietl's comments:

"At their request, a meeting took place with Beau and two of his other investigators at the department. They introduced themselves as retired New York City police officers that were hired by the Spierers to privately investigate Lauren's disappearance. Beau wanted to "partner" with our department and wanted us to share details of the police investigation. They were told that was not possible for a variety of reasons. First, Lauren's disappearance remains an ongoing, open investigation. As such, it is necessary that pertinent information is not revealed in order to maintain the integrity of the investigation as any and all information is explored. Second, it would be unethical and contrary to standard police practice for a police department to "partner" with and provide information to a private agency. Third, it was evident from the discussion that at least part of their intention was to harass certain individuals. Obviously, that it is not something that our department can sanction. And, in fact, we have already received complaints that individuals have been harassed by at least one of Beau's private investigators. Finally, our department is as committed, as Beau professes to be, in finding Lauren. However, unlike Beau and his other private investigators, we will continue conducting our investigation by following the law and using proper police procedures. In that way, when Lauren is found, there will be no impediment to there being justice for Lauren and her family.

"Quite frankly, I was a little surprised that Beau, as a retired police officer, wasn't aware of the impropriety of a police department sharing investigatory information with a private agency. Instead, he seemed annoyed that our department was not willing to "partner' with him and share all of our files with him. In addition, Beau and his investigators also contacted the FBI and other police agencies that have been assisting our department with this case, making the same request for information about the police investigation. Those agencies also refused to provide Beau with the information for the same reasons I have cited above. As he did not get the information he came seeking, I can only surmise that is the reason he described me as "Gomer Pyle". I don't agree with that characterization, but to use a time honored phrase, maybe that is how they do things in New York. At any rate, he is entitled to his opinion. And, for what it's worth....I've been called worse."

 

[Darcyline]

I have such mixed feelings about the PI and what is happening right now. Firstly, LE is definitely being a lot classier than the PI. I do think it was really inappropriate for him to bash LE publicly like that. The harassing individuals part has me torn because I know it is wrong, but part of me is like GO BEAU HARASS UNTIL LAUREN IS HOME!!!!

 

[cluciano63]

I really feel like one of two things needs to happen before anything will move forward on the case-one, a huge break/confession/some sort of major evidence or two, her body randomly being found by a farmer or hiker or hunter.

It is sad.

Same in most every case we are watching...

 

[Walker]

We, New Yorkers, know Bo Dietl, though not know where he was "educated", certainly not IU. As had been suggested in other terms, he is most suited to be center square in "Hollywood Squares", if it still aired. When people feared the law, he was able to obtain some significant confessions, but no longer.

IMHO, LE, everywhere, has lost their edge. The former tactics are now ineffective. Bo may try to replace "good cop, bad cop" with "dumb cop, smart dick" but it is failing before it begins. The Caylee Anthony investigation proved to me that the criminal psyche far surpasses the abilities of law enforcement. Sorry to say, without a human conscience or the sense of community responsibility, justice is a hard victory to come by.

Dietl seems to miss the main advantage of a private detective is that they are private. A person could open up to PI about mere suspicions without having to worry about possibly being charged with making a false statement to the police, or even just to avoid the possible embarrassment of wasting police time on something which might turn out to be meaningless.

HOWEVER Dietl himself in that video link explains that the informant may possibly be prosecuted on the basis of statements made to the PI, and the PI statement would not be considered hearsay in court; his statement is true, but in emphasizing that fact, he might scare off potential informants.

JMO: While not offering to cover up any felonies, his attitude should be more like "we are NOT the police, we just want to find LS, and don't care about anything else."

The Gomer Pyle comment was insulting. Could there be some underlying tensions between the New Yorkers at IU and the local Bloomington culture? Are the New Yorkers stereotyped as rich, arrogant and wild partiers? One poster suggested that the "out-of-staters" at state universities sometimes stick together too much.

Also, how bad is the drug problem at IU? Often in looking back on my own college days, my tendency has been to dismiss drugs as something eccentric or strange, not really affecting me or my close friends, but in examining these memories more closely it seems to me that drugs were actually a bad problem even in those gentler times (1970s). A college acquaintance was rumored to be a heroin addict, another student grew psilocybin mushrooms under his bed, a certain frat was laughingly referred to as an "opium den." Marihuana was common and smoked openly around the campus. Dietls comments in this regard may be helpful, and raise awareness.

In any case, I hope that the people of Indiana do not take Dietl's disrespectful comments about the BPD as typical of us New Yorkers.

 

[bloom54]

I have such mixed feelings about the PI and what is happening right now. Firstly, LE is definitely being a lot classier than the PI. I do think it was really inappropriate for him to bash LE publicly like that. The harassing individuals part has me torn because I know it is wrong, but part of me is like GO BEAU HARASS UNTIL LAUREN IS HOME!!!!

and as he harasses people those people build up their files of how they can fight in court... there's a reason that LEs hands are often tied... they need to think about the investigation AND what comes after it.

 

[Darcyline]

Same in most every case we are watching...

Well, at least the ones that aren't solved immediately or a body isn't found quickly. Seems like if something doesn't turn up right away it really has to come down to someone randomly finding the body, unfortunately. They were lucky to have a ping for Michelle Le that helped them find the body months after the fact. We don't even have that for Lauren unless you count rumors about pings

 

[Darcyline]

and as he harasses people those people build up their files of how they can fight in court... there's a reason that LEs hands are often tied... they need to think about the investigation AND what comes after it.

I know-it makes sense. I think a lot of us are just getting frustrated and have watched too many movies about the rogue cop or PI that is willing to get answers no matter what. Reality isn't like that though.

 

[cluciano63]

Well, at least the ones that aren't solved immediately or a body isn't found quickly. Seems like if something doesn't turn up right away it really has to come down to someone randomly finding the body, unfortunately. They were lucky to have a ping for Michelle Le that helped them find the body months after the fact. We don't even have that for Lauren unless you count rumors about pings

I am starting to think that without pings, it will always be a matter of pure luck if anyone is found. What else can LE go on? If dogs are not helpful from the start, I don't know what they can do, when they don't even know the method of transport used for the person to disappear, on foot, vehicle, etc...

 

[mamamia54]

Actually, I'm getting frustrated because apparently the Spierer's felt the need to bring in some fresh eyes and minds and they did that for a reason. Face it, they are between a rock and hard place right now. They HAVE to trust BPD, what other choice do they have? They aren't being told anything about how the investigation is going, anymore than the Harrington's were told and they ALSO either stayed in Charlottesville for weeks, or came TO Charlottesville on a semi weekly basis to try to keep the attention on Morgan's murder. The Spierer's did this for reasons, and I'm wondering if they didn't feel the need to try to do more, try to find out more and this is the only way to do it.

 

[bloom54]

The Spierer's brought in this PI early on... not recently... there was talk of a PI as early as July, I believe. So I don't think the PI addition really indicates their lack of faith in BPD -- simply that they wanted more eyes out there.

CS has spoken about being "part of the investigative team"... and she hasn't recanted that to my knowledge. Bo Dietl just now "outed himself"... and IMHO made a fool of himself... but he's not new to the case.