IN - Lauren Spierer, 20, Bloomington, 03 June 2011 - #7

[Walker]

I thought the same about the phone.I think it is possible some of her comments seam odd is she is just trying to portray her friend in the best light possible.What was she going to say she was suppose to meet up with her boyfriend but went to the bar instead.I think that is the same reason an earlier comment she made that LS left at 12:30 to go to JR to watch the same sports game (which would have been over by then) made no sense.She just did not want to say LS left at 12:30 to go party.

I agree that the students interviewed are trying to be helpful; presenting LS positively, while filling in a few personal details which may assist in locating LS.

However, the article may be slightly distorted for this same reason.

For example, in the beginning, the reader gets the impression that the group of people whom LS associated with at IU were part of a clique from younger camp days. Only at the very end of the article, does this quote change that impression:

"I wish we could go back to those camp days," she said, wondering what it would have been like if they all knew one another at the time. "We'd all be friends."

This statement may represent a clue:

Spierer volunteered with Habitat for Humanity to build homes in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina, and spent this year's spring break in Israel with her older sister, Rebecca, planting trees for the Jewish National Fund.

LS apparently traveled a lot, she was used to being on her own without her parents from a very young age, and she would have had a current passport.


Is it possible that LS was angry or depressed about something, and decided to run away to NYC or Israel? Did she have any interest (or close friends) in any other countries? If she were traveling by herself, she could have suffered an accident or health problem, and could be in a hospital somewhere; possibly shut off from media coverage of her own case.

Not sure if this comment is helpful: in college, my acquaintances included a group of five girls who all roomed together in the same dorm suite. Just as LS's associates would call her by her last name only, they would call each other by their last names, which seemed odd to me. From the same towns and nearby towns, they had known each other from high school. They all had easy majors; while they probably got passing grades, they didn't need to work hard. Loud music until 4:00 am, marihuana smoke in the hallway and non-stop visitors gave them the reputation of a clique of "party-iers," but they were also basically nice Long Island girls, not sleazy or drug dealers. Students who had to study would get very annoyed by their behavior.

One of my friends happened to run into one of these girls after graduation, and the girl spoke of needing to recover from the awful experience of being part of that group, almost as if it were a cult. She said that she felt that they were all just pulling each other down (morally), and that she never saw any of those girls anymore. We were surprised at that comment, since the clique had seemed almost like sisters.

[NOTE: I don't mean to imply that LS's roommates were the problem, just that people can have problems that are not apparent to others living in the same environment. Often the pain of an individual can be masked by one's overall impression of their group. ]

Therefore, some situation could have been upsetting to LS, which seemed harmless on the surface; upsetting enough for her to run away?

 

[rossva]

The mind can play strange tricks on you; you see what you want to see.

Remember the Pennsylvania couple on a snorkeling vacation in Aruba believing they inadvertently photographed what may be the skeletal remains of Natalee Holloway.

Alot of people thought ( and many still do ) that photo was of Natalee's remains.

I agree there appears to be a female sitting in a bed of a truck. That's what I thought when I saw that photo. But that could be an optical illusion. Maybe what appears to be a female is actually a bunch of paint cans or a lawn mower.

 

[Btown]

Is W. 2nd near the action of 6/3?

Lauren was last seen on 11th & Colleger Ave so, approximately 9 blocks.
0.8 miles from 11th & College Ave to 2nd & College Ave. according to Wikimapia.

2nd & College Ave sits center.
W. 2nd is east of it
E. 2nd is West of it.

 

[jjenny]

I am new to this site so I hope I am doing this right!!

I have read all of the threads and I just wanted to bring something up.. LE is very smart and they have a lot of resources, that being said I am sure they have exauhsted all resources to enhance the video of the truck and have a good idea of what is in the bed of the truck and what make and model the truck is.

Also, the timeline of events for LS are "official", meaning that LE has either verified where LS was by video or bye eyewitness account. They would not release an official timeline unless they were 100% sure that it was accurate.

LE knows a lot more than they are releasing to the public... I am betting that they have a pretty good idea of what happened to LS.

While LE clearly has to know more than us, I don't believe they have a good idea of what happened to LS. For one, they aren't appear to be zeroing in on anyone. For other, they have not found a body. And they are looking for a truck, however there are hundreds of very similar trucks, so they might never find this truck. So, I don't think they are anywhere close to knowing what had happened to LS. By the way since LS disappeared while she was barefoot, without her wallet, keys, or cell phone, it's highly unlikely she run away.

 

[Btown]

I would say that it would be extremely unusual for a work truck to be out at 4:30 in the morning preparing to go to a job site... maybe 5:00 am, but 4:14 am is pushing it.

Also, i have been in the area of 10th and college around 4 am before and you rarely see anyone out driving in that area between 3:30-5:30 am... just from what I have seen, maybe things have changed since I was last there.

I agree with you.

Its puzzling how the LE said they set up a roadblock at that time and stopped 135 vehicles to ask them if they had seen anything on 6/3. Don't recall seeing that much traffic at that time of a day, unless we won a major Big Ten, or NCAA game.

 

[unhandyandy]

I couldn't see the spools at first but now that I do I find that explanation persuasive.

 

[cluciano63]

I agree with you.

Its puzzling how the LE said they set up a roadblock at that time and stopped 135 vehicles to ask them if they had seen anything on 6/3. Don't recall seeing that much traffic at that time of a day, unless we won a major Big Ten, or NCAA game.

Do you know how or who delivers newspapers in the area, to the various outlets or machines?

 

[pcsmith]

when I say that LE has a good idea of what happened to LS, I mean that they have a good idea if that group of friends she was with is involved or if a random person is involved.

 

[jjenny]

when I say that LE has a good idea of what happened to LS, I mean that they have a good idea if that group of friends she was with is involved or if a random person is involved.

I don't even think they know that much. They have POIs who are LS friends, and they are looking for a truck that presumably would be driven by a stranger. So it does not appear they know at all whether it was someone LS knew, or a stranger.

 

[Ven]

I don't think LE knows much either, to be honest.
I think they thought it was CR for a few days at the beginning, now they have some leads but nothing solid.

 

[cluciano63]

I hope they have some leads...it does not appear that they do. This truck may be nothing and anyway, they can't seem to find it...hoping to be wrong and that they are inspecting it right now. Also hoping for a PC tomorrow, with some new news.

 

[jjenny]

I hope they have some leads...it does not appear that they do. This truck may be nothing and anyway, they can't seem to find it...hoping to be wrong and that they are inspecting it right now. Also hoping for a PC tomorrow, with some new news.

There are a lot of these trucks, making it hard to find. Whatever it had anything at all to do with any of it, who knows. Even if it had nothing to do with it, whoever drove it might not want to come forward. Imagine you were driving, minding your business, then you find out police are looking for your truck. If you come forward, you are going to be under intense media scrutiny and will have to get a lawyer (and spend $$$$). Somebody might not want to come forward under this conditions.

 

[Walker]

By the way since LS disappeared while she was barefoot, without her wallet, keys, or cell phone, it's highly unlikely she run away.

But is it impossible?

She wouldn't need the IDs in the wallet, the keys or the cell, if she were planning to run away.

Could LS have somehow prepared a get-away bag, and maybe even have arranged a ride to the airport somehow? Placing clothes behind the dumpster sounds more like a person packing, and deciding to throw away some old stuff, than like a murderer or accomplice getting rid of evidence.

Her decision to go out after midnight could have been a way of saying goodbye.

 

[jjenny]

But is it impossible?

She wouldn't need the IDs in the wallet, the keys or the cell, if she were planning to run away.

Could LS have somehow prepared a get-away bag, and maybe even have arranged a ride to the airport somehow? Placing clothes behind the dumpster sounds more like a person packing, and deciding to throw away some old stuff, than like a murderer or accomplice getting rid of evidence.

Her decision to go out after midnight could have been a way of saying goodbye.

How is she going to get on the plane without her IDs? You know, TSA is still there and not gonna let her onto the plane without an ID. Th clothes behind the dumpster were found almost two weeks after LS went missing, so likely have nothing to do with her at all.

 

[ingra1327]

It's highly unlikely she would have gone to Kilroy's for 45 minutes with a relatively new acquaintance (CR) at 1:45 am if she were planning on running away. Also, some accounts say she was intoxicated which would make it difficult to follow through with a plan like that.

 

[Walker]

How is she going to get on the plane without her IDs? You know, TSA is still there and not gonna let her onto the plane without an ID. Th clothes behind the dumpster were found almost two weeks after LS went missing, so likely have nothing to do with her at all.

The question becomes, Was her passport located?

 

[nickel]

I was searching "missing white woman syndrome" and this popped up on the second page of googlehits: mypage.iu.edu/~chrmatth/missingpersonspaper.doc

No author, no date, no bibliography. From one of those "mypages" that apparently all IU students have to make (one of the previous threads had LS's plus a few of the POIs' mypages).

Could this have anything to do with the case or is it just unfortunate coincidence?

 

[Walker]

It's highly unlikely she would have gone to Kilroy's for 45 minutes with a relatively new acquaintance (CR) at 1:45 am if she were planning on running away. Also, many accounts say she was intoxicated which would make it difficult to follow through with a plan like that.

Sometimes college acquaintances tend to gather in one bar, not pre-planned, but casually stopping by late at night when they are free. She may have gone with CR, but have been hoping to see the old gang one last time.


Also, alcohol wears off. We don't know how intoxicated she may or may not have been at say 4:30 am.

 

[Inspector Gidget]

But is it impossible?

She wouldn't need the IDs in the wallet, the keys or the cell, if she were planning to run away.

Could LS have somehow prepared a get-away bag, and maybe even have arranged a ride to the airport somehow? Placing clothes behind the dumpster sounds more like a person packing, and deciding to throw away some old stuff, than like a murderer or accomplice getting rid of evidence.

Her decision to go out after midnight could have been a way of saying goodbye.

I really can't see that at all.Lauren called her Mom everyday and they are close.I don't see this happening and I wish this were true,then
she would be alive

 

[Darcyline]

I don't really see any evidence at all that she just decided to leave the country at 430am. Her having a passport doesn't indicate that she left the country.