US

Few leads on missing Indiana University student

admin Contributor
Font Size:

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. (AP) — Parents of other missing college students joined Tuesday in the search for a 20-year-old Indiana University sophomore, who police now say they fear was a victim of foul play.

Lauren Spierer left a friend’s apartment early Friday after a night out. Her friend saw her walk to the corner, but that was the last anyone saw of the petite blond who never made it home. Authorities said they have no suspects and little information in the case but suspect foul play.

Dozens of volunteers met outside Spierer’s apartment building Tuesday for another round of searching. Authorities directed some teams to look for clues — a stray piece of clothing left on the ground or anything that appeared out of place or raises suspicion. Other groups, armed with rolls of tape and posters bearing Spierer’s face and physical description, fanned out downtown.

Police used a battering ram to break into a room off the apartment building’s lobby Tuesday evening, according to WTHR-TV and WISH-TV reporters at the scene. Bloomington police declined comment, saying they planned to issue a statement Wednesday morning. The apartment complex issued a statement saying a staff member wasn’t available to let police in when they came to obtain computer hard drives, which is why officers used a battering ram to gain entry.

The search has sparked painful memories for residents and the parents of another student who disappeared more than a decade ago. Jill Behrman was 19 when she went missing during a bike ride near Bloomington in 2000. Hunters found her skeletal remains three years later in a remote field about 15 miles from the city.

Eric Behrman, Jill’s father, said he’s urged Spierers’ parents to stay positive, despite his dreadful ordeal.

“After a period of time — after you’ve searched, you’ve exhausted the contacts — that’s when a real feeling of fear creeps in,” Behrman said. “You realize no one knows where your child is.”

The mother of Purdue University student Wade Steffey said health problems kept her from helping search for her son when he went missing in 2007. Dawn Adams said she appreciated the volunteers who looked for Steffey, who was found fatally shocked in a high-voltage utility room on campus two months later. That’s why she and her husband came to help search for Spierer on Tuesday.

“It’s important to be here to search for Lauren and support her parents,” said Adams, a Bloomington resident. “I hope we find her. It’s really important to look.”

Spierer’s parents said they’ll continue to organize search parties three times a day and urged anyone with information to contact police. Her sister, Rebecca Spierer, thanked volunteers Tuesday as they drank water and slathered on sunscreen before heading out in the mid-morning heat.

“We are continuing in earnest every day to search for her,” Robert Spierer told reporters at a news conference as his wife, Charlene, wiped away tears. “We’re not going to give up.”

Spierer, who grew up in Greenburgh, N.Y., was full of life and always on the go, her father said. She volunteered with Habitat for Humanity in New Orleans, had a large circle of friends and spoke to her mother almost every day.

“She’s a loving girl,” Robert Spierer said.

Bloomington police Lt. Bill Parker said Spierer went to a sports bar Thursday night and then to a friend’s nearby apartment. She left for her own place about 4:30 a.m. Her friend watched her walk to the street corner near his apartment.

“She’s never been seen since,” Parker said.

Investigators have Spierer’s purse and some keys, which were found along the route to her friend’s apartment. But Parker said they aren’t sure whether Spierer left them on her way to or from her friend’s home. She left her cell phone and shoes in the bar.

IU students joined the search, saying Spierer’s disappearance was a jolt in what they consider an eclectic but safe college town.

“It’s just shocking,” said Keia Cole, 24. “It’s a small town so you wouldn’t think something like that would happen.”

Bloomington residents hope for a better outcome in Spierer’s disappearance than the Behrman case, which dragged on for years.

“Those people went through such a terrible, terrible time,” said Sharon Phillips, a Bloomington resident with two adult daughters who volunteered with the search Tuesday. “It’s heart wrenching. Anyone’s who’s a parent is just going to have that kind of a connection to these people.”

Eric Behrman said the years spent searching for his daughter were difficult. At times, he said he wondered if he would ever have answers.

“I always hoped to have her come walking through the back door and say, ‘Hi, Dad!'” he said. “You know after a while that chances are that won’t happen. You have to prepare yourself for other situations.”

admin

PREMIUM ARTICLE: Subscribe To Keep Reading

Sign up

By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use

You're signed up!

Sign up

By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use

You're signed up!
Sign up

By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use

You're signed up!

Sign up

By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use

You're signed up!
Sign up

By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use

You're signed up!

Sign Up

By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use

You're signed up!
Sign up

By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use

You're signed up!
Sign up

By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use

You're signed up!
BENEFITS READERS PASS PATRIOTS FOUNDERS
Daily and Breaking Newsletters
Daily Caller Shows
Ad Free Experience
Exclusive Articles
Custom Newsletters
Editor Daily Rundown
Behind The Scenes Coverage
Award Winning Documentaries
Patriot War Room
Patriot Live Chat
Exclusive Events
Gold Membership Card
Tucker Mug

What does Founders Club include?

Tucker Mug and Membership Card
Founders

Readers,

Instead of sucking up to the political and corporate powers that dominate America, The Daily Caller is fighting for you — our readers. We humbly ask you to consider joining us in this fight.

Now that millions of readers are rejecting the increasingly biased and even corrupt corporate media and joining us daily, there are powerful forces lined up to stop us: the old guard of the news media hopes to marginalize us; the big corporate ad agencies want to deprive us of revenue and put us out of business; senators threaten to have our reporters arrested for asking simple questions; the big tech platforms want to limit our ability to communicate with you; and the political party establishments feel threatened by our independence.

We don't complain -- we can't stand complainers -- but we do call it how we see it. We have a fight on our hands, and it's intense. We need your help to smash through the big tech, big media and big government blockade.

We're the insurgent outsiders for a reason: our deep-dive investigations hold the powerful to account. Our original videos undermine their narratives on a daily basis. Even our insistence on having fun infuriates them -- because we won’t bend the knee to political correctness.

One reason we stand apart is because we are not afraid to say we love America. We love her with every fiber of our being, and we think she's worth saving from today’s craziness.

Help us save her.

A second reason we stand out is the sheer number of honest responsible reporters we have helped train. We have trained so many solid reporters that they now hold prominent positions at publications across the political spectrum. Hear a rare reasonable voice at a place like CNN? There’s a good chance they were trained at Daily Caller. Same goes for the numerous Daily Caller alumni dominating the news coverage at outlets such as Fox News, Newsmax, Daily Wire and many others.

Simply put, America needs solid reporters fighting to tell the truth or we will never have honest elections or a fair system. We are working tirelessly to make that happen and we are making a difference.

Since 2010, The Daily Caller has grown immensely. We're in the halls of Congress. We're in the Oval Office. And we're in up to 20 million homes every single month. That's 20 million Americans like you who are impossible to ignore.

We can overcome the forces lined up against all of us. This is an important mission but we can’t do it unless you — the everyday Americans forgotten by the establishment — have our back.

Please consider becoming a Daily Caller Patriot today, and help us keep doing work that holds politicians, corporations and other leaders accountable. Help us thumb our noses at political correctness. Help us train a new generation of news reporters who will actually tell the truth. And help us remind Americans everywhere that there are millions of us who remain clear-eyed about our country's greatness.

In return for membership, Daily Caller Patriots will be able to read The Daily Caller without any of the ads that we have long used to support our mission. We know the ads drive you crazy. They drive us crazy too. But we need revenue to keep the fight going. If you join us, we will cut out the ads for you and put every Lincoln-headed cent we earn into amplifying our voice, training even more solid reporters, and giving you the ad-free experience and lightning fast website you deserve.

Patriots will also be eligible for Patriots Only content, newsletters, chats and live events with our reporters and editors. It's simple: welcome us into your lives, and we'll welcome you into ours.

We can save America together.

Become a Daily Caller Patriot today.

Signature

Neil Patel