IN - Lauren Spierer, 20, Bloomington, 03 June 2011 #27

[Jupiter812]

Agreed. I'm curious about the tweet ... was the tweet the reason people think DB was in town visiting JR, or did HT suggest that DB was in town and then the tweet surfaced?

I don't see why DB would be in Bloomington and not be in touch, if not actually staying with, JR. So if the tweet's legit, IMO, it's a safe to think that he saw JR. OTOH, I'd also imagine him eating at the Runcible Spoon with somebody versus alone.

I once stumbled something on a Phish-related site that possibly showed DB and MB as "friends." Somehow I didn't save that, and I've never found it again. It could have also not been MB, but I remember that it included part of his name and a numeral.

I don't know that HT ever named DB as the guest. Chickjustin first brought the Tweet to attention.

A few months ago I asked an employee at the Spoon if he was aware of the Tweet and the possibility that someone involved in the case had been there, and he was not. He was surprised.

 

[AbbeyR]

This is what always stops me from thinking too much about DB:

If he was there that night, how could he have avoided being named as a POI? Why wasn't he named in the media? Why wasn't he on that video that had all the POI? And why have the Spierers never mentioned wanting answers from him?

To me, the most logical answer is that he's not a POI. I.e., He wasn't around Lauren that night (even if he is friends with JR and was in town) and had some other alibi which made it easy to rule him out.

As I mentioned before, I'm a little more skeptical since that article that said JR was at the bar with Lauren, because I don't know how that was kept quiet this whole time and it makes me realize it's possible other important things may have flown under the radar too. But... I still can't come up with any reason why the Spierers would be ignoring this guy if, for example, he was there all night with a car, and then hightailed it out of town -- well, after his corned beef #

 

[Btown]

May 28, 2012, 11:10 a.m. ET

Police probe similarities between 2 disappearances

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. — Police in Bloomington say they have contacted authorities in Louisiana about their search for a college student whose disappearance has similarities to that of an Indiana University student who has been missing for nearly a year.

Twenty-one-year-old University of Louisiana student Michaela "Mickey" Shunick was last seen early May 19, when she left a friend's house in Lafayette, La., to go home.

Twenty-year-old Lauren Spierer of Greenburgh, N.Y., disappeared early June 3, 2010 after a night out with friends in downtown Bloomington.

Both women are blonde and petite, and The Herald Times reports (http://bit.ly/MT3JdG ) that security videos both show white pickup trucks in the areas where the women were last seen about the time they disappeared.

However, investigators later said the Indiana truck wasn't linked to Spierer's disappearance.

Police: Help ID vehicles in tape

truck is a white, four-door Chevrolet Z71

findmickeynow.com/

 

[Alliecog]

June 3, 2010 is incorrect.... Ugh media proofread your *****!

 

[bx2]

I've been content with LE's dismissing of the truck since it happened, but what has always bothered me is the rationale of why the truck was brought into suspicion in the first place:

It was explained that it became of interest because it was in the area around the time that LS was said to have been around AND because it appeared twice and was thought to have circled the block (later corrected to have only gone by once and a discrepancy on the video resulting in the mistake of thinking it had gone by at a different time).

Was the truck really the only vehicle to drive by during the span of video that was looked at? How do you not see that every vehicle "circles the block and goes by twice"?

 

[Ros]

I've been content with LE's dismissing of the truck since it happened, but what has always bothered me is the rationale of why the truck was brought into suspicion in the first place:

It was explained that it became of interest because it was in the area around the time that LS was said to have been around AND because it appeared twice and was thought to have circled the block (later corrected to have only gone by once and a discrepancy on the video resulting in the mistake of thinking it had gone by at a different time).

Was the truck really the only vehicle to drive by during the span of video that was looked at? How do you not see that every vehicle "circles the block and goes by twice"?

Maybe there were TWO white trucks - one connected with the disappearance of LS and the other not connected - and there was no discrepancy on the video after all.

 

[Jacobite]

A source who is part of this case told me that he believed Lauren died well before 4:30 AM. More like an hour earlier.
That would be around the time when a witness saw her at 10th and College with the MYSTERY MAN.
This info seems to have poked holes in my kidnapped-Stockholm theory. He also said Corey was with Lauren at Sports. So, the story about her being alone is not true.

This story connects to a POI who claims to have been in bed and let's hope what he heard was false from the beginning. I know this is Websleuths, but I hate even thinking about this. I hope those guys Lauren saw that night are innocent of the crime. And, yes, some of the POIs believe something terrible happened and they think they need lawyers.

 

[Jacobite]

Maybe there were TWO white trucks - one connected with the disappearance of LS and the other not connected - and there was no discrepancy on the video after all.

I have heard the 2 white truck theory before and it gives us some hope. A serial kidnapper is not necessarily a serial killer. The chances for these girls to still be alive increases dramatically with this one.

 

[cluciano63]

I have heard the 2 white truck theory before and it gives us some hope. A serial kidnapper is not necessarily a serial killer. The chances for these girls to still be alive increases dramatically with this one.

Gosh, really? I am not sure about that.

But in any event, if LE in Indiana did the reaching out to Louisiana, that is disappointing to me, showing that really, nothing has been ruled out in a year.

 

[elmorejames]

May 28, 2012, 11:10 a.m. ET

Police probe similarities between 2 disappearances



Police: Help ID vehicles in tape

findmickeynow.com/

Perhaps I'm crazy or perhaps I'm making myself see things. While its nearly impossible to make out legibly, the lettering on the side of the pickup in the first two pictures is consistent with that of the white pickup in LS case.

 

[elmorejames]

Perhaps I'm crazy or perhaps I'm making myself see things. While its nearly impossible to make out legibly, the lettering on the side of the pickup in the first two pictures is consistent with that of the white pickup in LS case.

Lettering/ Shadowing on the door!

 

[elmorejames]

Check this out! Perhaps we're dealing with a carnie on our hands.

http://www.namidway.com/fairs-events

I wonder what company operates Fun Frolic.

 

[elmorejames]

http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?f....193597627317126.51117.193572930652929&type=3

Truck in background associated with company mentioned above

 

[Hillside]

Cumberland Valley Shows handled Fun Frolic last year. BPD and LPD have tip.

 

[AbbeyR]

A source who is part of this case told me that he believed Lauren died well before 4:30 AM. More like an hour earlier.That would be around the time when a witness saw her at 10th and College with the MYSTERY MAN.
This info seems to have poked holes in my kidnapped-Stockholm theory. He also said Corey was with Lauren at Sports. So, the story about her being alone is not true.

This story connects to a POI who claims to have been in bed and let's hope what he heard was false from the beginning. I know this is Websleuths, but I hate even thinking about this. I hope those guys Lauren saw that night are innocent of the crime. And, yes, some of the POIs believe something terrible happened and they think they need lawyers.

Jacobite, are you saying that you spoke to a POI or is this rumor on the street? It would be helpful if you could clarify what kind of info/ speculation this is, since the POI don't appear to be talking to anyone other than their lawyers! Thanks!

 

[bessie]

Another article about the Spierer/Shunick comparison:

Police Search for Similarities in Two Missing College Student Cases

Published May 29, 2012FoxNews.com

“They contacted us and we did share information pertaining the two cases,” Cpl. Mouton, told Fox 44. “We currently do not think the two are related, but we are looking at the information they provided us to see if there are any similarities.”

 

[akh]

So BPD contacted them and provided them with info. Not the other way around. Wouldn't that indicate BPD pretty much has nothing after all this time? At least not enough to apparently rule out any scenario?

 

[thesaint]

So BPD contacted them and provided them with info. Not the other way around. Wouldn't that indicate BPD pretty much has nothing after all this time? At least not enough to apparently rule out any scenario?

Not necessarily.

It's likely that if anyone is ever arrested and goes to trial for LS's disappearance, it will be done without a body and without much in the way of physical evidence. It'll likely be a
circumstantial + witness testimony of some witness/participant who finally cracks.

In that kind of case, the defense often points to alternative theories/perps and asks if
the investigators did their due diligence and followed up on any possible connection to LS's disappearance.

So the BPD could well have a solid theory regarded a known POI but still contact Louisville and Louisiana etc to keep from being called out for not doing so at trial by defense lawyers.

 

[Ros]

This story connects to a POI who claims to have been in bed and let's hope what he heard was false from the beginning. I know this is Websleuths, but I hate even thinking about this. I hope those guys Lauren saw that night are innocent of the crime. And, yes, some of the POIs believe something terrible happened and they think they need lawyers.

"Something terrible" meaning murder, rape, manslaughter, overdose, reckless homicide, death due to natural causes, or more than one of the above or something else entirely?

And did you hear this story from the POI directly or via a chain of communication?

 

[Jupiter812]

The recent cases of perp Gibson and now this one--and their possible relationship to Lauren--feel like a tortuous pendulum. Is anyone else besides me feeling extremely frustrated? It makes me want to stop following the case and stop participating here. If this is how I feel, god knows the Spierer's deserve every drop of sympathy and support available. I guess I'm just wrestling with how interested and involved I've become over the past year and to no avail. It's the nature of missing persons cases I'm sure.

And the never-ending questions, the substantive input by posters here, and the resulting circuitous thinking process... Gawd! The white truck is in then then it's out then it's in again. How stupid would a perp have to be to use the same white truck? Is it the same model? Maybe the guy who lives down the street from me and drives the same model is the perp! Why wouldn't the perp put Lauren in the cab instead of in the truck bed? Why, why, why...? How, how, how...? And so on and so forth. :banghead: