I don't know what to think about the attempted abduction, but in response to the posts above, I will add that I agree with Akh that Bloomington police may downplay and keep certain information from the media.
At the beginning of this case, one of the reasons I dismissed the possibility that Lauren was the victim of a random crime was that I assumed that if this was the case, there would be a different reaction from LE (they would issue public appeals, warn students about safety, etc).
However, I posted recently about a case I randomly came across involving violent robberies against IU students last year, which made me re-think this. ([ame="http://www.websleuths.com/forums/showpost.php?p=7531789&postcount=323"]Websleuths Crime Sleuthing Community - View Single Post - IN IN - Lauren Spierer, 20, Bloomington, 03 June 2011 #26[/ame]).
To follow up on that last post:
Jupiter responded that it seems like that case was swept under the rug -- While I don't have a subscription to Bloomington news, I couldn't find any article online about the robberies or assaults prior to the one
posted in the IU student paper, which describes the arrest. Note that the article makes the arrest sound like a police success story:
Putting a stop to these robberies was extremely important to us. This operation is one where several officers and detectives worked together and did an excellent job of surveillance, intensive patrol techniques, information gathering and, finally, arrest. I am very proud of their efforts and the outcome of this investigation,” BPD Chief Michael Diekhoff said.
http://www.idsnews.com/news/story.aspx?id=80315
Based on that, one might miss this part:
Additional charges against Charleston and against other suspects involved in the crimes are possible.
Looking up the link to Indiana court records that RoS posted, it turns out that an accomplice was arrested (There is a link to a co-defendent case, if you look up the name of the arrested man), but not until June. 10th, 2011 -- 3 months after that article was written. He made a plea agreement, which involved paying restitution to two women, who I believe were IU students, and received a suspended sentence of three years.
Does this have anything directly to do with Lauren's case? Probably not... but it made me rethink:
1)whether Lauren could have been the target of a random attack: I still think this is unlikely, but maybe a little less so after reading about real (not just hypothetical) thugs targeting girls walking home late at night in Bloomington
(at least one of whom was still out on the streets when Lauren went missing)
2) Whether police would share information about this case, if they have any: Hypothetically, if there was any evidence that she was abducted by a stranger, would students be clearly warned to take precautions? Doubt it.