IceIce9
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Approximately 3 hour drive
IN - Lauren Spierer, 20, Bloomington, 03 June 2011 #35
- Thread starter bessie
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Approximately 3 hour drive
Six year anniversary article from the Herald-Times, but behind a pay wall. Anything new in it? http://www.heraldtimesonline.com/ne...cle_c32f3d2e-62b0-5a52-a67e-3e30fb973eb9.html
Another six year anniversary article, from Vincennes:
http://www.suncommercial.com/news/article_4d3f5588-487d-11e7-917a-470f5829e3b9.html
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http://www.suncommercial.com/news/article_4d3f5588-487d-11e7-917a-470f5829e3b9.html
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I think this article is the same as the previous one above it. Both behind pay walls. Thanks for trying though.
Just hope that Lauren's family knows she has not been forgotten. Can't imagine what they have all gone through. I keep wishing that someone will finally come forward and tell what they know. Lauren's family deserves that much!
VeryVeritas
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All these years and no justice. Her "friends" get away it. FBI does nothing. I will never forget.
IceIce9
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Some friends. Rich kids who lawyered up before they were interviewed by police.
They got away scot free and all went on with their lives. Lauren is probably not even a blip in their memory.
Hi Everyone - I'm interested in doing a podcast on Lauren's case. Does anyone have connections close to the case? I've tried reaching out to the family with no luck. I'd love to talk to anyone if you think you have something to contribute - shoot me a message. Thanks.
Not sure how you tried reaching out, but I did have success reaching Charlene on Twitter once by tweeting her asking her to DM me.
Maybe they don't want a podcast? Hmm.. it seems they're usually pretty open to anything shedding light on Lauren's case.
Or maybe her "friends" had nothing to do with it....
These articles are old but JW was never forthright in his description of his relationship with Lauren in the aftermath of her disappearance. His actions and those of his father (flying out to Indiana ASAP) cast suspicion on the both of them--one possibly involved in her disappearance, and the other in helping to cover up the crime. JW's mother slandered the Spierer family in public. Her intemperate outburst betrays a violent streak that parents can often pass onto their impressionable children.
http://www.macombdaily.com/article/MD/20130817/NEWS01/130819496
https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2013/06/02/missing-student-boyfriend-family-fume/2382909/
http://www.macombdaily.com/article/MD/20130817/NEWS01/130819496
https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2013/06/02/missing-student-boyfriend-family-fume/2382909/
More on the boyfriend:
His girlfriend was flirting with another guy who was boasting to many people about it. The boyfriend was not with his girlfriend the night she disappeared; she was with the new guy. The friend of the boyfriend confronts the new guy that night and punches him in the face. The new guy takes the girl back to his place but passes out (allegedly). She disappears soon after.
Following all of this, the boyfriend masquerades to investigators and the media that there was nothing going on between him and Lauren. No love triangle or anything like that. "The love of my life" he described her or something to that effect. How suspicious were his actions though? And what about his father?
There were discrepancies between the stated nature of their phone call or communication that night, and what actually went on with the basketball game. The story of JW and his father did not corroborate with the sporting events of the night. That could be conflation, or it could be deception. Hard to say.
JW texted Lauren the next morning and received a reply from a Kilroy's employee instead: "Your girlfriend left her phone here" or something to that effect. After a late night of partying, the most reasonable course of action a reasonable person would have taken, would have been to wait for her to retrieve her phone and reply back. An alternative course of action, perfectly normal, would have been to contact her roommates via text or call...someone close to her in order to tell her that her phone is at Kilroy's. Do you want me to pick it up for you? Etc.
A slightly more paranoid or controlling boyfriend may go down to the bar and physically pick up the phone himself, and then walk it to his girlfriend's residence. In lieu of that, or to the same effect, he would have physically walked to her residence to check on her, and told her that her phone was at the bar.
The one thing you would not expect a person to do, is to call 911 when they receive a text back from their girlfriend's phone saying "hey this is the bar, she left her phone here the night before". Why would that ever prompt someone to call the police? And if your girlfriend was out with another man the night before, and you knew about it, as apparently everyone in this circle of people did, how can you sit in your room and do nothing that night, but first thing the next morning you want to track her down and call the police. Especially when she had been partying all night just a few hours before. Maybe she still would have been passed out in bed. Tired or asleep. Hungover and sick. Or just not wanted to talk to the guy...especially since she was just with another man the night before.
His girlfriend was flirting with another guy who was boasting to many people about it. The boyfriend was not with his girlfriend the night she disappeared; she was with the new guy. The friend of the boyfriend confronts the new guy that night and punches him in the face. The new guy takes the girl back to his place but passes out (allegedly). She disappears soon after.
Following all of this, the boyfriend masquerades to investigators and the media that there was nothing going on between him and Lauren. No love triangle or anything like that. "The love of my life" he described her or something to that effect. How suspicious were his actions though? And what about his father?
There were discrepancies between the stated nature of their phone call or communication that night, and what actually went on with the basketball game. The story of JW and his father did not corroborate with the sporting events of the night. That could be conflation, or it could be deception. Hard to say.
JW texted Lauren the next morning and received a reply from a Kilroy's employee instead: "Your girlfriend left her phone here" or something to that effect. After a late night of partying, the most reasonable course of action a reasonable person would have taken, would have been to wait for her to retrieve her phone and reply back. An alternative course of action, perfectly normal, would have been to contact her roommates via text or call...someone close to her in order to tell her that her phone is at Kilroy's. Do you want me to pick it up for you? Etc.
A slightly more paranoid or controlling boyfriend may go down to the bar and physically pick up the phone himself, and then walk it to his girlfriend's residence. In lieu of that, or to the same effect, he would have physically walked to her residence to check on her, and told her that her phone was at the bar.
The one thing you would not expect a person to do, is to call 911 when they receive a text back from their girlfriend's phone saying "hey this is the bar, she left her phone here the night before". Why would that ever prompt someone to call the police? And if your girlfriend was out with another man the night before, and you knew about it, as apparently everyone in this circle of people did, how can you sit in your room and do nothing that night, but first thing the next morning you want to track her down and call the police. Especially when she had been partying all night just a few hours before. Maybe she still would have been passed out in bed. Tired or asleep. Hungover and sick. Or just not wanted to talk to the guy...especially since she was just with another man the night before.
Unfortunately, the reasons to cast suspicion on JW do not stop there. He called his father and (allegedly) told him that Lauren was missing right away. Their conversation could have been much more sinister, of course. A son who just did something very, very wrong and in a state of panic, asked his father for help
Whatever their conversation was about, his father--a very busy, wealthy man--dropped everything and traveled to Indiana at almost the speed of light. He even arrived before the Spierer's did. Who does that? Why didn't JW's father simply wait for more information. See if she turns up later that day. Or the next. Why rush to Indiana so fast when even the police barely know what is going on at that point? None of it adds up.
But then what else happened in the following days? JW was supposedly in love with this girl, but he only searched for a few days. Then he went home. Then he dropped out of school. And then he never came back.
A couple of years later, his parents slander the Spierer family in the media. They claim their son passed a "private" lie-detector test, but he absolutely refuses to take one with the actual investigators because "they only know how to write drinking tickets". What kind of nonsense is that? And then the audacity to slander the missing and presumed dead girl who cannot defend herself-- in a newspaper, no less--shows what kind of people they are.
No, I could see one of the 5N residents being involved in Lauren's disappearance. It's much harder for multiple people to keep a secret, particularly at that age. These kids were almost juveniles still, barely of age in college, their brains not yet fully developed--not hardened criminals. Their psychology would be fragile and broken under intense pressure and investigation. Until the case is solved, there may always be suspicion on them, and to some extent that's not unreasonable...after all the case has not been solved, and all theories should be explored.
However, I think everyone was too quick to narrow their focus in this case. The investigation focused too much on the "headlines", the tangible stuff that was known. Then once those avenues were exhausted, everyone kept doubling down on them and insisting that the last people seen with her must be lying. Why not further scrutiny on the jealous boyfriend? I've thought he was responsible from day 1.
Whatever their conversation was about, his father--a very busy, wealthy man--dropped everything and traveled to Indiana at almost the speed of light. He even arrived before the Spierer's did. Who does that? Why didn't JW's father simply wait for more information. See if she turns up later that day. Or the next. Why rush to Indiana so fast when even the police barely know what is going on at that point? None of it adds up.
But then what else happened in the following days? JW was supposedly in love with this girl, but he only searched for a few days. Then he went home. Then he dropped out of school. And then he never came back.
A couple of years later, his parents slander the Spierer family in the media. They claim their son passed a "private" lie-detector test, but he absolutely refuses to take one with the actual investigators because "they only know how to write drinking tickets". What kind of nonsense is that? And then the audacity to slander the missing and presumed dead girl who cannot defend herself-- in a newspaper, no less--shows what kind of people they are.
No, I could see one of the 5N residents being involved in Lauren's disappearance. It's much harder for multiple people to keep a secret, particularly at that age. These kids were almost juveniles still, barely of age in college, their brains not yet fully developed--not hardened criminals. Their psychology would be fragile and broken under intense pressure and investigation. Until the case is solved, there may always be suspicion on them, and to some extent that's not unreasonable...after all the case has not been solved, and all theories should be explored.
However, I think everyone was too quick to narrow their focus in this case. The investigation focused too much on the "headlines", the tangible stuff that was known. Then once those avenues were exhausted, everyone kept doubling down on them and insisting that the last people seen with her must be lying. Why not further scrutiny on the jealous boyfriend? I've thought he was responsible from day 1.
You definitely make a lot of excellent points, and it's awesome to see such thoughtful posts about Lauren. I'm sure a lot of us still think about her every day.
So what do you theorize actually happened that night and how do you think JW and his dad covered it up? Also, any thoughts on the raid in Martinsville in January of last year that was stated to have been related to this case?
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I started following Lauren's case when it first happened in June 2011. Everyone seemed to be focused on 5N, but I was struck by the insincere and seemingly inaccurate depiction of Lauren and JW's relationship. This was obviously a girl who had broken up with JW, or was at least flirting with and seeing other guys. The narrative that was put out by JW and his circle was that him and Lauren were in a loving long-term relationship, and that she was staying in Bloomington for the summer while he took classes. Later on the day of her disappearance, he was supposedly the concerned boyfriend, who notified the authorities that she was missing. He professed that she was "the love of his life". But this depiction of the nature of their relationship at the time of her disappearance did not stand up to even the minimum amount of scrutiny.
Certainly, given her actions in the week leading up to her disappearance, it does not appear that Lauren had the same opinion of their relationship either.
Meanwhile the people at 5N were heavily scrutinized. Why? Lauren disappeared almost without a trace. There are the statements that the 5N residents gave. There is the video of her in the alley. But nobody witnessed her abduction; or nobody has come forward who witnessed her die of an overdose for that matter, either. There is hardly any physical evidence of her disappearance and she has never been found. There simply isn't much to go on other than the fact that she was last with CR, MB, and JR, and they acknowledge that. Since that was all LE and the media and the family and anyone has ever been able to certifiably, undeniably latch onto 100%, all scrutiny came down upon them. They do not seem like the most savory of characters if you ask me; I would not want my daughter associating with them in any way shape or form. But, I have never seen them do anything after Lauren disappeared that raised a red flag in my book. Their actions following Lauren's disappearance seem entirely normal to me given the position they are in. They were obviously breaking the law and drugs were involved. A girl they were last seen with went missing. Anyone in their position should hire an attorney and they will often follow their attorney's advice. Did they take lie detector tests? I read somewhere that JR's lawyer claims he took and passed a lie detector test with Bloomington P.D. I believe that's true, otherwise I assume Bloomington P.D. would have refuted the assertion, since it was publicized in the media. They gave statements. They submitted for DNA testing. If they've done anything suspicious that would betray guilt since Lauren disappeared, then I would like for someone to point it out to me. Then I might reassess my position.
JW, on the other hand, acted very suspiciously. He was apparently in an argument with HT shortly before he called police. He misrepresented the status of his and Lauren's relationship in the days and weeks following her disappearance. His father flew out to Indiana THAT DAY and arrived even before the missing girl's parents did. He supposedly loved Lauren but abandoned the search for her after just a few days and fled to New York. Where he made often hyperbolic professions of love and edited his "relationship status" with her--a girl who had either dumped him or was cheating on him. A few years later, while the 5N residents and their families have remained relatively silent except for saying "please stop harassing us", JW's parents went to the media to call the Spierer's liars and basically say that Lauren deserved to die because she was a drug addict.
Is that the story of a man with nothing to hide?
You asked me what I think happened Yeahbabs, and here is my theory:
Lauren had dumped JW. She was flirting with CR in the week leading up to her disappearance. He was bragging to everyone that he wanted to hook up with her. They were apparently keen for each other. When they went out on the night of June 2, they partied together and probably planned to hook up. It's what young people do. They became extremely intoxicated, high, or both, and when they attempted to return to Lauren's residence, they were confronted by JW's friend ZO and his enforcer crew. JW's friend ZO punched CR in the face and just about knocked him out. That was a message from JW, or at least done as a service for a friend.
Unable to make it to Lauren's residence without further altercation, perhaps at her suggestion, perhaps at his...Lauren and CR walked back to his place at 5N. Perhaps she planned on staying the night with him. Camera footage of them in the alley is the last time she was verified to have been seen. I believe CR passed out as he said. I believe MB, probably the most credible witness at 5N, wanted nothing to do with her and passed her off to JR, who was her friend. Simple deductive reasoning, of which I can expound on in a further post if you would like, leads me to believe that there is no possibility of CR or MB being involved in Lauren's disappearance. None. An overdose and dumping of the body by the entire group can also be dismissed out of hand. I cannot rule out JR and/or his guest doing something malevolent to Lauren, or disposing of her body after a medical incident, but I think it's unlikely.
What I think happened is that the person most statistically likely to have been involved in her disappearance, the one with the motive, and no alibi, who acted dishonestly and erratically in the days that followed--her recently dumped ex-boyfriend, JW--was involved in her disappearance. I believe he was aware that ZO punched out CR that night. I believe ZO notified him of the incident, and that JW was jealous and stalked Lauren until he confronted her later that night. I believe their relationship was over, terminated by her, and that he accosted her with jealous rage.
I believe he notified his father he was in trouble and that his father arrived even before Lauren's own family did. I believe after hiding her body or temporarily hiding her body, he went through a charade the next day. Texting her phone, going to her residence, calling the police. When his father arrived, they went over to 5N (so obviously he knew where CR lived) and assaulted or attempted to assault CR again despite not having any evidence of him having done anything. CR wasn't even the last person to see Lauren alive.
I believe JW feigned searching for her just a few days, then left to New York.
And that last part is damning. People like to focus on prior actions, character of suspects and witnesses and the like--but I like to focus on what they do in the immediate aftermath of traumatic events. How do they behave? Like someone who is telling the truth, or someone who has something to hide?
JW left Lauren missing or dead in Indiana. He took to social media and made hyperbolic posts about his love for her and then went on with his life. That act of leaving someone behind, and then saying you love them, is the common psychological hallmark of someone who has committed a murder in jealous rage. It is their way of distancing themselves and letting go and saying goodbye.
I don't know anything about this other than what was reported in the media. If I had to guess, I would say it's unconnected. A jailhouse tip or something that didn't pan out. It's been such a long time with no further development, that I find it unlikely to be related.
Anyway, I hope Lauren returns safe to her family. It's unlikely, we all know, but it's not unprecedented. At the very least, I hope her fate is resolved, and closure can be brought to her family soon.
God be with you, LS family.
Wow, thanks for such a detailed response ! Lauren is who first brought me to WS and I feel like I will never really rest until she is found. Although....easy for me to say, I'm sure I sleep a lot more easily than her poor parents do. It just breaks my heart. I remember months afterward talking to random people at Starbucks or wherever about her, always feeling like progress was around the corner. Now? It's hard to know.
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VeryVeritas
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For years I have also tracked and helped in the Kristen Modafferi case.
That case is now 20 years old and there seems to be a breakthru based on information from one of the Persons of Interest that led back to Kristen's residence.
A Cadaver dog actually still made a hit after 20 years! And an advanced new device created by a Dr. Vass from Oakridge Labs, has verified that someone died there. See link:
http://abc7chicago.com/news/college-student-missing-20-years-after-she-left-coffee-shop/2136094/
I would very much like to ask anyone close to this case, Lauren's parents especially to find Dr. Vass and coordinate with Bloomington LE to check out that 5N building and especially around that dumpster area where there supposedly was a cadaver dog hit. This device is apparently incredibly sensitive to sense decomposition 20 years later. It should be used to comb 5N building, the empty lot behind it where some select items of Lauren's were found just a few feet from where she was last seen crashing face down on camera, after having been "helped" by CR to that area. Thank you
That case is now 20 years old and there seems to be a breakthru based on information from one of the Persons of Interest that led back to Kristen's residence.
A Cadaver dog actually still made a hit after 20 years! And an advanced new device created by a Dr. Vass from Oakridge Labs, has verified that someone died there. See link:
http://abc7chicago.com/news/college-student-missing-20-years-after-she-left-coffee-shop/2136094/
I would very much like to ask anyone close to this case, Lauren's parents especially to find Dr. Vass and coordinate with Bloomington LE to check out that 5N building and especially around that dumpster area where there supposedly was a cadaver dog hit. This device is apparently incredibly sensitive to sense decomposition 20 years later. It should be used to comb 5N building, the empty lot behind it where some select items of Lauren's were found just a few feet from where she was last seen crashing face down on camera, after having been "helped" by CR to that area. Thank you
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