The Disappearance of Lauren Spierer
Oh boy! Way before I was able to talk Alley into investigating our current case and starting a podcast, we went down many rabbit holes discussing the disappearance of Lauren Spierer. Lauren wasn’t much younger than we were when she disappeared, and it was big news all over the state of Indiana when Lauren first disappeared because the case involved one of Indiana’s (and the nation’s) most recognizable universities.
Here’s what we know. Lauren, a Scarsdale, NY native, had just finished her second year at Indiana University’s Bloomington campus when she was last seen in June 3, 2011.
Lauren was currently dating Jesse Wolff, another current IU student and friend of Lauren’s prior to their time in Bloomington. Wolff is noticeably absent from surveillance cameras that caught Lauren’s adventures around parts of Bloomington that night. Present, however, was a new friend of Lauren’s named Cory Rossman. Rossman and Spierer allegedly met up that night at another friend’s (Jay Rosenbaum) apartment while Lauren’s boyfriend was at his apartment watching an NBA Finals game.
It is speculated that prior to leaving Rosenbaum’s apartment a couple hours later, Spierer was involved in drinking and drug use. Regardless, surveillance footage shows Spierer and Rossman entering Kilroy’s Sports Bar at 1:45 AM. The two spent nearly 45 minutes there, and before she and Rossman leave at 2:27 AM, Lauren had taken off her shoes and left them and her cell phone behind. Spierer and Rossman were seen multiple times over the next hour by witnesses and on surveillance (all of which indicated that Spierer was noticeably intoxicated).
Between 2:30 and 2:48 they were at Lauren’s apartment complex but left after Rossman got into an altercation with a young man who told him he needed to get Lauren to her room. It’s unclear if they ever made it to Lauren’s apartment. After returning to Rossman’s apartment complex, two other young men claim to have gone back and forth with who was going to watch out for Spierer and even get her back to her apartment.
One of the young men claims to have watched Lauren walk away from the apartment complex alone at 4:30 AM, headed South in College and last visible at the corner of College and 11th.
Red flags were raised the next morning when Laure ‘s boyfriend tried texting her and someone else responded from her phone that had been left at Kilroy’s Sports Bar. For a full rundown on facts and theories take a listen to the Lauren Spierer episodes on True Crime Garage.