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

[PlainJaneDoe]

Also, looks like HT's FB profile is now set to private.

I've been surprised by how many aren't (reading on WS). Mine has been private since it first became an option.

 

[Btown]

I don't understand why we have'nt seen more tape/pictures of her or the truck. Should'nt there b her crossing or attempting to cross 10th street?

JJenny's right. There are no cameras between the corner of 11th & College and Smallwood that she would be seen on, if she stayed on the sidewalk.

And the truck should have been picked up going all the way around the block.

This pic is 10th St. between College Ave and Morton St.
IMO the second camera on the left (circled in red) should have gotten a glimpse of the truck, but we don't have that image either time it went around the block. The building on the right, (Morton Mansion), is on the South East corner of 10th & Morton. It appears to have a lower quality camera system. The cameras circled in red on the 10th St. side probably point at the sidewalk, and maybe get some traffic on its side, but would not pick up traffic on the side the truck was in. The exception is that the center of Morton Mansion 10th St. side has a camera that is not in view and not circled due to the awnings blocking my view when I took the pic. I believe this center camera is what took the video of the drivers side of the truck. But we don't have images of its 2nd pass, (or first, not sure) for some reason. We've just got the one image of the drivers side.

This next image is of 10th & College Village Apartments, at the North East corner of 10th & Morton. I believe the box camera on the left took the video of the trucks passenger side. Again though we don't have images of the second pass for some reason. The LE say its because the truck didn't slow down for the stop sign. I presume the camera system is motion activated, and the truck was traveling too fast to get the image.

The next pic shows the next camera as the truck turns the corner off 10th St., onto Morton St. There are more cameras on this building, but I chose this pic to illustrate that the street is 3' - 5' farther from the building than it was on 10th St., and its doubtful that these cameras capture the road.
This is the last camera on Morton St.

There are no other cameras that catch street traffic until it gets back around the block onto 10th St. again.

Images taken from the [ame="http://www.websleuths.com/forums/showthread.php?t=140294"]Photos Thread[/ame].

 

[cj1132]

There has been some discussion in regards to a possible drug angle. Last night I spent a lot of time doing research on this subject. I found many cases where the person who purchased the drug and gave it to someone who died from it was charged with drug induced homicide, manslaughter or murder, depending on the state in which it happened. I found cases where a dealer sold it to someone who then gave it to someone else and that person died. Both the dealer and the second person were convicted of homicide. I also learned that if you give someone a drug and they die and you do nothing, you can be charged with manslaughter 1. According to my research, in Indiana, if you give someone a controlled substance and death occurs, it is a felony called dealing in-cause, with a classification of murder and a penalty of 10 years to life. Obviously, many of these cases get plead down to something less but not always. Just something to think about.

 

[mibright]

My husband who is a Ff/Emt says there are evidence technicians on a section of 37 in between Martinsville and Bloomington. He didn't think they would be out for no reason. Here's praying for answers sooner than later.

 

[chasing.halos]

Long-time Local, :wagon: :welcome: :fireworks: !!! It's so great to have you here!

 

[Surly Sasha]

An update on the white truck on 2nd street--it was still there last night when I picked up my husband and we pulled into look at it but it has a black bedliner. :sigh:

 

[Ven]

The news reports said they didn't find anything off 37.

Anyway, what happened with the bag and shoes taken from Smallwood? What was that all about?

 

[Ven]

An update on the white truck on 2nd street--it was still there last night when I picked up my husband and we pulled into look at it but it has a black bedliner. :sigh:

The truck doesn't have to be from Bloomington.

1. It could be used by someone at IU who now left for the summer.

2. If a stranger abduction, it could be in any community or rural area probably within an hour of Bloomington.

A predator in any neighboring community in that part of the state might go to Bloomington and look to pick up a college girl there?

 

[jjenny]

There has been some discussion in regards to a possible drug angle. Last night I spent a lot of time doing research on this subject. I found many cases where the person who purchased the drug and gave it to someone who died from it was charged with drug induced homicide, manslaughter or murder, depending on the state in which it happened. I found cases where a dealer sold it to someone who then gave it to someone else and that person died. Both the dealer and the second person were convicted of homicide. I also learned that if you give someone a drug and they die and you do nothing, you can be charged with manslaughter 1. According to my research, in Indiana, if you give someone a controlled substance and death occurs, it is a felony called dealing in-cause, with a classification of murder and a penalty of 10 years to life. Obviously, many of these cases get plead down to something less but not always. Just something to think about.

She was also under 21. I am not sure what the laws are in IN, but I believe that even giving alcohol to someone under 21 could be prosecuted, at least in some states.

 

[Rhyme & Reason]

OK, sorry, but this really bugs me. Snipped from article at link below.

"They found a 2-foot by 4-foot mound of fresh dirt, but think it was from utility work."

http://www.fox59.com/news/wxin-new-...h-for-lauren-spierer-20110619,0,6866396.story

They THINK? Um, alrighty then. :waitasec:

 

[mrsu]

My husband who is a Ff/Emt says there are evidence technicians on a section of 37 in between Martinsville and Bloomington. He didn't think they would be out for no reason. Here's praying for answers sooner than later.

According to your husband, they are there right now??

I read via some comments on one of the articles earlier today, that even though it was reported that nothing was found, I guess on the scanner it was heard that evidence bags were requested while searching under a bridge near the area earlier in the day.

 

[bessie]

A Monroe County, IN scanner thread is open now in the Parking Lot.

Lauren Spierer - Scanner Thread

 

[pcsmith]

I just want to get an idea of what everyone thinks happened...

who thinks this is a stranger abduction

who thinks LS friends are involved

who thinks something other than these two scenarios

 

[Rhyme & Reason]

I just want to get an idea of what everyone thinks happened...

who thinks this is a stranger abduction

who thinks LS friends are involved

who thinks something other than these two scenarios

LOL can I answer both? Since I think it's one or the other of the two you listed, I will put them in order.

1. Stranger abduction (I believe this is the most likely scenario)
2. Accidental OD & friends disposed of body and are covering for each other.

 

[jjenny]

OK, sorry, but this really bugs me. Snipped from article at link below.

"They found a 2-foot by 4-foot mound of fresh dirt, but think it was from utility work."

http://www.fox59.com/news/wxin-new-...h-for-lauren-spierer-20110619,0,6866396.story

They THINK? Um, alrighty then. :waitasec:

I believe they dug into it and found absolutely nothing.

 

[phantomthought]

Hi folks, I've lived in Bloomington since the late '80s and have been attending searches daily for Lauren since they began. Thanks for the intelligent discussion of this case. I hope I can add to the dialogue.

Originally Posted by Nickel
Questions for IU students/grads, Btown, and other locals: Does IU operate on the Blue Light Emergency Phone system? If so, are the poles located just within immediate campus areas, or does it extend to popular student housing in the area such as where LS and the POIs lived? Do students know about and actually use them? What about campus emergency telephone lines?

Nickel, there are a few Blue Light phones, but they are not easily accessed (I honestly can't remember where they are and I walk through campus every day). People used to get a kick out of setting them off and running away. These are only on campus. The area in which LS lives is on the far west side of downtown-- quite a distance from campus. Her building is, however, located right next to the Monroe Country Jail and City Hall is behind her building, so there is a constant police presence there.


The research park has been thoroughly searched (part of it by me). Why go through the research park on the second pass? Because it empties straight out onto Rogers Street. If the driver took a right, he could go half a block to 11th Street, take that west and then on to Vernal Pike and across SR 37. Or, as I have suspected, take a right on Rogers, continue to 17th St., turn left and be on the very isolated Maple Grove Road / Bottom Road in under 10 minutes. There are woods, fields, marshes, prairie land within 10 minutes of where LS was last seen. Going through the research park to Rogers would be a quick and easy way to get there.

If I may point something out, for people who aren't from Bloomington: if you note on Btown's excellent map, the sidewalk on College Ave. is actually separated from the street by a (roughly) three-foot wide grass "buffer" strip. I point this out because it slightly complicates the idea of an abduction by someone pulling alongside and pulling her into the car. If LS was indeed abducted along this strip of road, her abductors would have had to either coax her off the sidewalk and towards the street OR park, get out of the car and grab her. There are houses all along this strip of road with multiple residents and I've had a hard time envisioning this scenario when absolutely no one along this area heard or saw a thing.

It is possible this buffer strip and waiting for no one to be around is why it took the truck 10 min. to circle the block.

 

[cluciano63]

I am close to 50/50 stranger vs. friends or acquaintances.
LE seems to be considering both, since they are looking for this truck which would seem to match the story of JR, timewise; yet as far as we know, he and the others are still POI's.
I'd be surprised, however, if it turns out (assuming we ever know) that Lauren's crazy night had nothing to do with her disappearance, other than placing her in the wrong place at 4:30AM.

 

[Agent003]

I wonder if it has been checked into yet for the white truck or suspicious activity.

Here: http://webcam.suso.com/

location of the webcam:
Webcam in the window of Suso.com from Fountain Square Mall on the south side of the square, pointing north west.

Very close from where everything took place.

 

[Alliecog]

I just want to get an idea of what everyone thinks happened...

who thinks this is a stranger abduction

who thinks LS friends are involved

who thinks something other than these two scenarios

Hearing rumors from Smallwood and around town makes me think this really could be a case where "friends" panicked and impulsively got rid of her body. I truly hope this isn't the case, but it is a very real possibility. While I don't know LS personally, we do have friends in common, seems like she is everything her friends and family say; sweet, driven, intelligent etc... But like many of us college students, enjoyed partying too.

Cocaine is a widely used recreational drug among college kids, I don't quite understand the attraction but to each his own. I have seen first hand the impact of cocaine on a person's life, in a short period of time. Now she has been through rehab and is in recovery but it can suck you in. I AM IN NO WAY implying that LS has a drug problem, but it's possible that one of the boys she was with (or several) do.
:banghead:

 

[Glaucon]

I just want to get an idea of what everyone thinks happened...
who thinks this is a stranger abduction
who thinks LS friends are involved
who thinks something other than these two scenarios

I think LS's "friends" are involved and think there is strong evidence of it being drug-related. I think it's possible she OD'd.

My reasons for believing this:
- Crime stats (friends involved is historically most likely scenario - boyfriend specifically).
- Criminal records of POIs and their overall shadiness.
- LS and POIs heavy partying and drug use.
- LS and POIs involvement in fighting/drama.
- LS heart condition.
- Extreme secrecy from LE and from POIs. If LE could clear them they would; they're likely trying to play POIs off each other.
- TINY window of opportunity for her to be snatched randomly and extremely low odds of kidnapper-type being in right place/right time.

Possible endgames:
- They find body and forensic evidence busts one or more POI.
- One of POIs makes a mistake and LE exploits it for arrest.
- One of POIs cracks and cuts a deal to snitch the rest out.
- Criminal case fizzles and Spierer family nails someone in civil court.

PS: I don't see any dogs, bodies, paintball masks, or anything in, on, or in the back of the truck. The photos are inconclusive in that regard. You're all seeing what you want to see. See:
[ame="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rorschach_test"]Rorschach test - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia@@AMEPARAM@@/wiki/File:Rorschach_blot_01.jpg" class="image"><img alt="Rorschach blot 01.jpg" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/7/70/Rorschach_blot_01.jpg/200px-Rorschach_blot_01.jpg"@@AMEPARAM@@commons/thumb/7/70/Rorschach_blot_01.jpg/200px-Rorschach_blot_01.jpg[/ame]