IN - Lauren Spierer, 20, Bloomington, 03 June 2011 - #8

[Long-time Local]

Great photo! Anyone you know with a white shirt could stand at the corner? lol.

Actually, I was planning to do that, but a cop drove by and several people were in and out of the apartments and very aware of me and I didn't want to risk stirring the pot with everyone on edge as they are.

This is exactly what I was talking about. When you are in the light, you can't see out of it into the darkness. Probably because your pupils are small. You can't see the one way sign either and that would actually reflect light, so I doubt he could see her either. The other factor is a camera can see more than a human. It brights everything up.

Bolding mine. I was going to mention that. This photo is a bit brighter than what I was actually seeing. I didn't want to post a photo that I manipulated, but yeah, it was very dark after the end of the building and pretty much everywhere else except where I was standing. The back of the building is pretty dark, too, except right up against the building.

 

[Faulkner]

I was looking at the public twitters and noticed that on June 3rd 2 of LS's roommates tweeted that anyone with info about Lauren to call a 917 phone number. 917 is an area code used for cell phones in NY. Did a search on the number and only came up with the fact that is a Verizon Wireless number based in Manhattan, but that means next to nothing as we ll know.

Anyone notice this/have we talked about it at some point?

Lauren's parents are from Westchester County, NY - which borders NYC - so it is very possible that is the cell of one of her parents.

 

[Btown]

Btown-

It has been a few years since I have been down there, but I remember Bloomington being relatively "quiet" in the summer sessions

Just wondering what the party scene is like there late at night.. or how crowded it is??

Its still pretty quite during summer.
Many of the students had already left town by the time Lauren went missing IIRC. Once they leave, Bloomington rolls up the sidewalks at night because locals avoid the area anyway when possible. Who keeps track of when the students are in town? Best just to stay away.

Kilroys is always a hotspot on the weekends, but on a Thursday night?

 

[kissdegirl]

Actually, I was planning to do that, but a cop drove by and several people were in and out of the apartments and very aware of me and I didn't want to risk stirring the pot with everyone on edge as they are.

Good idea, you locals keep yourselves safe 1st and foremost. Your help here is greatly appreciated!

 

[cluciano63]

To the best of my knowledge, a forum is seldom created this early in a case, especially when there is so little new information, no named suspects, no arrests, etc. I know it is a ton of work for the moderators to create and monitor a forum. Bessie might weigh in here...but my guess is we will have to wait a while, and that, of course, would be bad news, as it would mean Lauren probably has not been found.

 

[cluciano63]

Lauren's parents are from Westchester County, NY - which borders NYC - so it is very possible that is the cell of one of her parents.

I read that her dad works in the city (NYC.)

 

[Rhyme & Reason]

If you also look at the map on page one, it does not look like any cameras cover the Morton side of Smallwood. I would bet there is a camera or cameras inside that parking garage. PGs are inherently unsafe and prone to attacks and vandalism.

It sure seems odd that Smallwood did not give full access even after served with a search warrant. One article mentions that the police had to bust into a few areas.

I am more concerned about the parking situation where JR lived. Is there a garage? Are there cameras? One of link in this chain of friends is weak and will break soon.

Off topic but yes, PG's freak me out. I have no problem going out of my way to avoid them.

 

[coltsgal]

I just wanted to say that I noticed 58 guests viewing, and I wanted to encourage them to join. Whether they are locals or not, I would really like to hear other theories about what happened to Lauren. Perhaps when we put all of our minds together we can really help!

 

[Faulkner]

I read that her dad works in the city (NYC.)

I figured one or both of her parents did. I go back and forth between Manhattan and Fairfield County, CT - which also borders NYC - and I have a 917 cell.

 

[AbbeyR]

If some of the students Lauren knows are involved, I don't believe it would have to be more than two, which could make keeping the secret easier. I'm not sure one guy could manage this on his own, seems he would need a look-out if nothing else, while getting Lauren into a vehicle.

The only way I can visualize a stranger abduction is if for some reason Lauren was out there longer than we imagine, i.e. if she sat down to "rest" for example or even fell asleep. I have a hard time imagining someone happening by in the very few minutes it should have taken to walk home once out of sight of her friends (all assuming they are being truthful, of course) and that someone being the one person out there ready to abduct a young woman, and no one else being around, making it the oh-so-perfect crime, and none of it caught on the various cameras. It just pushes the boundaries of my cynicism, I guess...

I agree with this. I don't want to believe that any of her friends would have done anything to her. But put in perspective, in the hours before Lauren disappeared, we have the possibility of 1) an angry boyfriend looking for her 2) a male friend who has been described as acting aggressively and has just been punched in the face and 3) a (rumored) drug dealer whose story doesn't add up. Adding a stranger in there is possible, but there were a lot of other ways this night could have escalated into something more violent that seem more likely to me.

 

[jjenny]

I've never heard it reported that the boyfriend was either angry or looking for her. She left with a man who was supposedly "bothering" her so I really doubt this was in fact unwanted attention. Why would a small female walk a man home, if that man was in fact "bothering" her?

 

[pinkinablueworld]

Something about the cameras are bothering me. Do people really notice if a camera is on a building? Do you think if this was an accident or jealous BF (two different scenarios) the perp would pay attention to avoiding an area with a camera?
Does anyone know if there are cameras in the parking lot of JR's townhouse? Of course the perp could have just been lucky and never been within a cameras' radar.
I live in a small town and never notice cameras except at Target!

The other thing that is bothering me is surely LE has looked at cell phone records for the night. They should know if JW had an angry tone on texts to LS, as well as other phone activity from the POI's. I think/hope LE knows more than they are telling. As a mother, I feel like Lauren's mother is pleading to a specific person. It feels to me like a different desperation in her voice lately.

 

[Faulkner]

Given the state Lauren was in -- leaving most of her belongings all over -- I doubt that she was in any position to be looking to hook up that night of her own volition or really do much of anything that would mesh with rational cognitive thought. It just doesn't jive with her condition of disarray. And, given that the friends that confronted CR were in a position to witness her condition, I feel they likely were being protective of, and concerned about, Lauren being in a vulnerable state rather than merely being protective of her being some other guy's property, so to speak.

 

[Alliecog]

Its still pretty quite during summer.
Many of the students had already left town by the time Lauren went missing IIRC. Once they leave, Bloomington rolls up the sidewalks at night because locals avoid the area anyway when possible. Who keeps track of when the students are in town? Best just to stay away.

Kilroys is always a hotspot on the weekends, but on a Thursday night?

Kilroys has two nights a week with crazy drink specials: $2 Tuesday and $3 Thursday. All the kilroys bars participate but sports (where LS was) has pretty much all liquor of all price ranges at $2 while the others don't. Having been there a lot throughout the summer, I would say Thursday's it gets pretty busy, but nothing like how busy it gets during the year. I was at Sports the night Lauren was there, judging by the times we missed each other by less than 5 minutes. It kills me knowing if I was there a little longer I would've seen her.

 

[jjenny]

Given the state Lauren was in -- leaving most of her belongings all over -- I doubt that she was in any position to be looking to hook up that night of her own volition. It just doesn't jive with her condition of disarray. And, given that the friends that confronted CR were in a position to witness her condition, I feel they likely were being protective of, and concerned about, Lauren being in a vulnerable state rather than merely being protective of her being some other guy's property, so to speak.

I don't believe young men are usually so protective of women that might be intoxicated yet are hanging out with some man. Unless they either know the woman or the boyfriend of that woman.

 

[Btown]

Something about the cameras are bothering me. Do people really notice if a camera is on a building?

Not usually.

Do you think if this was an accident or jealous BF (two different scenarios) the perp would pay attention to avoiding an area with a camera?

No.

Does anyone know if there are cameras in the parking lot of JR's townhouse?

I did not see any there. No.

 

[AbbeyR]

I've never heard it reported that the boyfriend was either angry or looking for her. She left with a man who was supposedly "bothering" her so I really doubt this was in fact unwanted attention. Why would a small female walk a man home, if that man was in fact "bothering" her?

HT said the boyfriend had been calling her trying to get in touch but she had lost her cell phone. There are rumors that they had been in a fight, but even if that's not true, I'm guessing that it's possible one would be angry if your girlfriend went home with someone else, especially after being confronted by your friends. I think it's likely he knew about what happened at Smallwood that night.

I agree that if she left with CR, it was likely not unwanted attention, but one could question whether she was in a state to make that call. Several people have (unofficially) said on FB or comments in articles that the altercation was because JW's friends thought CR was taking advantage of her. (For example, see comments under this article, especially #75: http://www.idsnews.com/news/story.aspx?id=81929)

So this is all speculation, but based on information that's out there, which is why I said the *possibility* of any of those scenarios seems more likely to me than a stranger abduction. (Sorry if that wasn't clear)

 

[bessie]

A bit O/T, but I'm wondering would constitutes Lauren to get her own forum here on WS?

I know it would be virtually impossible to assign a forum to every case, but I feel this one needs it. There are many things that can be stickied at the top that would make it easier to navigate. I also know that this case has nationwide and celebrity exposure.

Just curious if anyone knows the answer. TIA!

Hi Coltsgal. That's a fair question. Here's the best answer I can give you at the moment. Forums generally aren't formed this soon in a case. (Currently, there are 25 threads in Holly Bobo's case.) It might become necessary in the future to organize the discussion into separate threads, but we haven't reached that point, and I pray we never do. No suspect has been named in Lauren's case, and very little evidence has been made public. Nor have we been made aware of evidence to confirm that a crime has been committed. A great deal of what we're discussing is speculation, and little of it is based on facts. So there really aren't enough topics to break out into threads. For now, we have a news thread set up for Lauren in the Missing! Timeline and Media Links Forum, and one for maps and photos, as well.

[ame="http://websleuths.com/forums/showthread.php?t=139766"]Media Links[/ame]
[ame="http://www.websleuths.com/forums/showthread.php?t=140294"]Maps and Photos[/ame]

 

[sherbetjello]

I am starting to grow more and more inquisitive to those that punched CR and where they went to after the altercation.

 

[jjenny]

I've already expressed my opinion that roommate's story that LS couldn't get in touch with the boyfriend because LS lost her cell phone doesn't really make sense. LS lost her cell phone at the bar. She entered the bar at 1:46 am.
If the boyfriend and LS had plans to actually spend time together that night, then presumably there was plenty of time to get in contact before 1:46 am.
Whatever sports game the boyfriend was supposedly watching should have been long over by then.