MISSING: College Student Lauren Spierer Still Missing As Classmates Begin School

by Michelle Sigona

As summer turns into fall, the search to find missing college student Lauren Spierer continues.  Investigators say Lauren Spierer was last seen at 4:30 a.m. in the Bloomington, Indiana on June 4.   The last place Lauren was seen near the corner of 11^th Street and College Avenue.  Since then, hundreds of volunteers and law enforcement officials have donated their time to help find the missing student. 

LETTER TO THE STUDENTS

Lauren’s parents sent a letter to every student this week urging them to be safe and encouraging them to call ICE if there is an emergency.  They also said that Lauren’s last call was made at 12:16 a.m. from her cell phone on June 3 from her apartment complex.

SEARCHING THE LANDFILL

Along with ground searches in Bloomington, authorities also searched the Sycamore Ridge Landfill.  The site is 55 miles from where Lauren was last seen, but investigators did not find any clues at the site.  According to a press release from authorities, " Several hundred tons of waste per day was removed from the area that was identified as coming from Bloomington in the days surrounding Lauren’s disappearance. That area remained sequestered at the landfill and that action was taken within the first few days of the investigation. The waste removed was examined by officers from the Bloomington Police Department, the Indiana University Police Department and agents from the FBI. Additional support was provided by the operators of the heavy machinery at the Sycamore Ridge Landfill which is owned by Republic Services. The total amount of waste removed and examined for the nine day period was in excess of 4,100 tons according to landfill officials.  The operation was terminated at noon today (Friday, August 26, 2011). Waste from Bloomington, and waste that was specifically identified as being from the area of Lauren’s last reported location near 11^th and College, had previously been removed and examined over the course of several days during the operation. As the operation continued, less waste from Bloomington was being extracted from the designated area. Also, waste that was being extracted was outside of the date range of Lauren’s disappearance and these circumstances factored into the decision to conclude the operation. “The fact that no evidence related to this case was discovered is unfortunate, but we are confident that the proper area at the landfill was identified and thoroughly checked by the officers working there,” said Chief Michael Diekhoff. “We very much appreciate the efforts of everyone involved and the cooperation of those affiliated with Sycamore Ridge Landfill and Republic Services has been outstanding.” 

Peg Mulloy, Republic Services spokesperson , said out of the 200 landfills they oversee, this would not have been the first time they’ve corporate with law enforcement on the recovery of a body or evidence. Republic Services also opened up another site to find a missing child known as Baby Gabrielle.

Mulloy said the landfill is extremely organized and detailed records are kept including how much the trucks weigh when they come to each site, whether the debris is coming from residential or commercial businesses and which area the trash is dumped. Once the debris is released to the landfill, land soil or a covers are placed over top of the trash to contain the odor. Mulloy added that their facilities can determine which routes trucks travel on specific days. It is also standard procedure to provide landfill facilities search warrants if the property may be a target for an investigation.

ABOUT LAUREN SPIERER

Lauren is a fashion student at Indiana University and was scheduled to start an internship this summer at a Manhattan Anthropologie. She is small, only 4 feet 11 inches tall with blond hair and blue eyes. Lauren was last seen wearing a white v-neck shirt, scooped at the bottom in the back and front, the sleeves fell to her elbow and are described as "bell" or "butterfly." The shirt may have a "distressed" look. Lauren had black leggins with possible zippers at the bottom.

If you scan the barcode on Lauren's missing person poster, the code will take you to her website that is updated frequently. If you download a barcode scanning application on your phone, you can scan this poster anywhere and it will lead to the FindLauren.com website.

You can follow updates on this case on Facebook and Twitter, @NewsOnLaurenS and at this website: http://www.iuhillel.org/

photo credit: Marufish

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