Missing Monday: Lauren Spierer

In the early morning hours of June 3, 2011, 20-year-old Indiana University student Lauren Spierer walked away from a friend’s apartment in Bloomington, Indiana. She was only a few blocks from home. She was barefoot. And she was never seen again.

More than a decade later, Lauren is still missing, and investigators believe someone knows what happened that night.

If you have any information about Lauren Spierer’s disappearance, please contact the Bloomington Police Department at (812) 339-4477.

Listen now and help keep Lauren’s story alive by sharing this episode.

Transcript

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Welcome back to Missing Monday. A short story series by True Crime consumes me. Every Monday we tell a story with a purpose to keep the names of the missing alive and to remind the world that silence is not the same as being gone. This is the space where we pause to remember someone whose missing, someone whose story hasn't faded, even if the headlines have. This case was actually suggested by a friend of mine, Megan Warren, who tagged me in a post about Lauren and intrigued me enough to look into it a bit more. The truth is Lauren's disappearance is one of those cases many people in the true crime world have heard about because there is quite a bit of information surrounding the night she vanished. But even with all that information, Lauren's case still sits in a place that investigators often describe as an open missing person's case. There's never been a confirmed crime scene, no physical evidence showing exactly what happened to her and no clear answers about the final moments before she disappeared. What investigators do have is a timeline, witness statements in years of questions that still remain unanswered. Because of that, this felt like a story that belonged here on Missing Monday rather than a full true crime consumes me deep dive. When I build a True Crime Consumes me episode. There's usually a full investigation to walk through for records, evidence, and eventually some kind of resolution to the story. Lauren's case is a little different. Even after all these years, there are still more questions and answers. So instead of trying to stretch this into something it isn't, I wanna focus on what matters the most right now. And that's keeping Lauren's name out there, missing Monday, exist for that exact reason. These episodes are about remembering the people who are still missing and making sure that their story continues to be heard, so. Today we're gonna walk through what is known about the disappearance of Lauren Spear. Lauren Elizabeth Spear was born on January 17th, 1991 in Scarsdale, New York, the Charlene and Robert Spear. Lauren grew up in a close-knit family in Westchester County as the youngest of four children. Lauren graduated from Edgemont High School in 2009 and enrolled at Indiana University in Bloomington, where she studied textile merchandising friends describe her as warm, social, and determined with a sharp sense of humor and a deep loyalty to her family and her friends. Lauren was active in the Jewish community at IU and had traveled to Israel with the Jewish National Fund the spring before her disappearance, helping plant trees in the Negev desert. She'd also struggled earlier in life with an eating disorder in a rare heart condition called Long QT syndrome. By college, she was working hard to reclaim her health and confidence. Now, not everybody knows what Long QT syndrome is, so I'll explain quickly. Long QT syndrome is a rare heart condition that affects the heart's electrical rhythm, meaning the heart can take longer than normal to reset between beats. In certain situations, especially with stress, alcohol or drugs in the system, it can trigger dangerous irregular heart rhythms. And with the details of this case, you'll understand why this is very concerning for her wellbeing. On the evening of June 2nd, 2011, Lauren went out drinking with her friend in Bloomington. She was seen at several locations before heading to Kilroy's Sports Bar, where surveillance footage and witness statements help police reconstruct her final hours. Lauren's boyfriend, Jesse Wolf, later said he did not go bar hopping with her that night, though they did text back and forth before he went to bed. She met her friends, including David Rohn and Jay Rosenbaum at Smallwood Plaza Apartments where she lived, and then walked a short distance to the nearby five North town homes before heading to Kilroy, just after midnight, around 12:30 AM on June 3rd, Lauren left Smallwood with Ron and eventually arrived at Jay Rosen Ball's apartment, where she also met Cory Rossman, a fellow IU student at 1:46 AM surveillance cameras showed Lauren entering Kilroy Sports Bar. She used a fake ID to gain entry, and witnesses later reported that she appeared increasingly intoxicated as the night went on. By 2:27 AM she was seen exiting the bar with Rossman, having left her cell phone and her shoes behind. Inside. She had taken her shoes off while she was walking on the sand covered patio outside the bar. Rossman walked with her back towards the Smallwood Plaza apartment complex. After leaving at 2:30 AM cameras captured, Lauren reentering the Smallwood Plaza. A passerby named Zach Oaks noticed how drunk she seemed and asked if she was all right. Lauren replied that she was fine and continued walking inside. Shortly afterward, Lauren and Rossman left the building again and entered an alley between College Avenue and Morton Street. Security footage showed her entering the alley at around 2:51 AM walking towards an empty lot near five North town homes. Along this route, her keys and her purse were later found. The two headed to Rothman's apartment at Five North where his roommate, Michael Beth, was staying up working on assignments. Rossman was also extremely intoxicated and actually vomited on the carpet. As he went upstairs. Beth helped him to bed and tried to convince Lauren to stay the night for her own safety. Lauren reportedly insisted that she wanted to return to her own apartment around 3:30 AM. Beth called Rosenbaum and asked him to help keep an eye on Lauren. She then walked to Rosenbaum's nearby apartment where he noticed a bruise just under her eye and asked her what happened. Lauren said she didn't know how she got it, suggesting that maybe she'd fallen earlier in the night, two phone calls were placed from Rosenbaum's phone. Shortly before she left, he said Lauren made both of those calls, one to David Rohn and one to another friend, neither of whom answered, and no messages were left. Around 4:30 AM Rosenbaum reported that Lauren left his apartment. The last known sighting of her was at the intersection of 11th Street and College Avenue, where he saw her walking south on college barefoot, wearing black leggings in a white. Several hours later that morning, Jesse Wolf text Lauren and received a reply from Kilroy's employee telling him her phone had been left behind. At this point, this was concerning for Wolf. He reported her missing search efforts begin almost immediately. Volunteers, law enforcement and Lauren family fanned out across Bloomington and the surrounding areas. The Bloomington Police Department, Indiana University Police, and the FBI all joined the investigation. By August, 2011, police conducted a nine day search of the Sycamore Ridge Landfill near Terry Hall, sifting through more than 4,100 tons of trash in hopes of finding evidence. By May, 2013, investigators had received more than 3000 tips about Lauren's disappearance. Over the years, multiple theories have surfaced. In 2015, police briefly looked into a possible connection between Lawrence Disappearance and the murder of another IU student, Hannah Wilson, who was also last seen at Kilroy's Sports Bar in 2015, Wilson's case led to the arrest in conviction of Daniel Messel, but authorities later concluded the two were completely unrelated. In January of 2016, the FBI and other agencies searched a property in Martinsville linked to a man named Justin Wagers. Someone suspected of exposing himself to local women. Dogs alerted to areas on the property and wager White truck was towed for examination, but ultimately nothing tied him to Lauren's disappearance. Lauren's parents have publicly stated that they believe that she's no longer alive. They've expressed concern that she may have been drugged at the bar and that some of the men who were with her that night know more than what they are saying. Multiple friends and Jesse Wolf later acknowledged that Lauren did use drugs in addition to alcohol that night. Police found a small amount of cocaine in her apartment after she disappeared, and investigators reported that she may have consumed alcohol, cocaine, and crushed Klonopin tablets. This combined with her long QT syndrome raised the possibility that she suffered a drug related medical emergency somewhere. Officials have also said that they can't rule out a stranger abduction. However, surveillance coverage in that area and the fact that Lauren was in familiar student territory have kept the focus on people she knew. Lauren's parents ultimately filed civil lawsuits against Cory Rossman. Jay Rosenbaum and Michael Beth alleging negligence that they supplied her with alcohol after she was visibly intoxicated and failed to ensure that she made it safely home. The suits were dismissed by a federal judge, and an appeals court upheld the decision finding that without evidence that something specific happened to Lauren, there's no clear legal basis for holding them responsible. Despite that, the family's reward for information leading to Lauren's whereabouts has grown over the years. It was initially a hundred thousand dollars. Over the years, the reward for information grew to $250,000, including a pledge from the Indianapolis Cults owner, Jim Rse. This reward has never been claimed. Lauren's case has drawn national media attention, including segments on America's Most Wanted and numerous podcasts, such as the True Crime Garage, crime junkie, and true crime all the time. Unsolved. The intense focus on Lauren has also sparked criticism around missing white woman syndrome, highlighting how media coverage often favors young, white, upper middle class victims over others with similar circumstances. In 2024, a new book titled College Girl Missing by Sean Cohen, written with the cooperation of the spear family and drawing on private investigators files laid out previously. Unpublished details about that night. The author emphasized that more than a decade later, investigators still have no evidence. Lauren ever left the townhouse complex alive, and he pointed to what described as a wall of silence among some of the people who were with her. The Bloomington Police Department has reportedly stated that Lauren's case remains active and open, insisting it has never been treated as a cold case, and it's never had any sort of resolution. Police say they continue to investigate tips and leads, including a dozen new search warrants in over 30 additional leads in recent years based on statements over the years from law enforcement, private investigators, and the spear family. Several points have emerged as reoccurring themes in this investigation. Authorities do not believe Lauren left town voluntarily. There has been no activity on her bank, accounts, phone, or any social media since that morning. Investigators believe whatever happened to her occurred within a narrow window of time after she left Rosenbaum's apartment, while she was still within a short distance of her own building. Police suspect that someone who knows more has still not come forward, and they have continued to re-interview witnesses and reexamine digital records. Many investigators and family members believe Lauren did not survive whatever occurred that night, even though her body has never been found. Laurens spear was more than a headline. She was a daughter, sister, friend, and a young woman who had already fought her way through serious health struggles and was working hard to build her own future. Her disappearance has fundamentally changed Bloomington's campus culture, the way communities think about missing adults, and the conversation around who receives sustained attention when they vanish. More than 14 years later, Lauren is still missing her family. Still awaits answers, and somewhere someone knows what happened in those missing minutes. Between 4:30 AM and the moment Lauren spear faded from view. If you have any information about Lauren Spear's disappearance, please contact the Bloomington Police Department at 8 1 2 3 3 9 4 4 7 7 or submit a tip anonymously through Crime Stoppers of Central and Indiana at 3 1 7 2 6 2 8 4 7 7. You can also report any information via find lauren.com, the official Family Link site dedicated to this case. Every time someone disappears, silence moves in fast, but silence can be broken. When we share their stories, when we say their names, we shine a light back into the dark. Lauren s Spear is still missing. Somewhere out there, somebody knows something. And maybe just maybe the right ears will hear this. Thanks so much for listening and for helping me shine a light on the missing one story at a time. I'll see you next Monday. Same time, same purpose, right here on Missing Monday. Until next time, take care y'all.