What happened to Lauren Spierer? Missing IU student case still haunts Bloomington 15 years later

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. (WISH) — Wednesday marks 15 years since Indiana University student Lauren Spierer vanished. 

Spierer went missing on June 3rd, 2011 after a night out. Since then, her family has vowed to find her and find out what happened. However, the search, the many questions, and the case remain open.

“That’s all we want – we just want Lauren back,” Charlene Spierer said in a small coffee shop in Bloomington in the summer of 2011. 

At the time, Lauren’s parents were desperately searching for her. A 20-year-old sophomore at IU missing in Bloomington. Their plea 15 years later, sadly remains the same.

The family posted on the Find Lauren Facebook page that they did not want to talk to the media this June. Then on Wednesday, the somber anniversary, they posted the following statement:

“15 years since. Inconceivable. Nothing more to say other than that we have not forgotten. We will never stop searching for answers as long as we live and breathe.

To those responsible may you walk in our shoes. May we see justice served.

Always in our hearts, sweet Lauren.

Mom, Dad and Rebecca”

Lauren vanished after a night out. Time spent at Kilroy’s Sports Bar where she left her phone, Smallwood – the apartments where she lived, and a friend’s townhouse. Before the boys she was last seen with claim she left to return home at around 4:30 a.m. 

“At this point, no one suspects she’s alive. And that’s a sad reality. But the case remains alive,” Shawn Cohen said.

Cohen has been trying to solve this case since the days after Lauren disappeared. Back then WISH-TV’s Phil Sanchez covered the relentless search day after day and talked to Cohen when he was a local reporter from Lauren’s hometown.

In the years since, Cohen got permission from Lauren’s family to look into the case and review their private investigator’s findings. Two years ago, he released a book “College girl missing: the true story of how a young woman disappeared in plain sight.” It uncovered chilling new details about the case.

“It brings clarity, essentially, to what happened that night up until the moment she ended up in that townhouse complex. And you see the evolving statements of those individuals who were there in those final moments,” Cohen said.

In the book Cohen talked to Corey Rossman, one of the last people to be seen with Lauren. 

In 2011 his lawyer told News 8 “His memory stops when they were leaving Kilroys and resumes when he wakes up.”

“I was able to get Corey talking some and Jay Rosenbaum, who was the last boy to see her. And I think, the question is, the contradictions and the evolution of their statements, are they explainable because – time has passed and because they were drunk and maybe doing some drugs that night? That’s the big question I think that is so vexing for so many people is, did she die in that townhouse complex? Did she make it out? If she did, is there any clue of her walking down the street beyond Jay Rosenbaum’s word?” Cohen said.

On Tuesday this week, the Bloomington Police Department released a statement saying in part, “Since June 3rd, 2025, the Bloomington Police Department has received and investigated 23 new tips which resulted in multiple interviews and case supplements. To date, Lauren’s missing person case has 980 supplemental reports that have been generated. We continue to seek assistance from the public and ask that anyone with any
information, no matter how small it may seem, to contact the Bloomington Police Department and report it.”

At the ten-year anniversary Bloomington Police posted this video update on Facebook...

“Many times we are asked if Lauren’s case is a cold case and the answer is an unequivocal no,” Bloomington Police Chief Michael Diekhoff said.

The department says it has received thousands of tips, interviewed hundreds of people, obtained a multitude of court orders, executed innumerable search warrants and continues to work most closely with FBI.

“Please remember that anything small could be big,” the video of Chief Diekhoff ends with.

News 8 asked Bloomington Police to do an interview about the case at the 15-year anniversary, however the department’s spokesperson said, “In keeping with our past practice as it relates to Lauren’s investigation, we will not be doing any interviews to ensure that we do not risk compromising the integrity of the investigation.”

News 8’s Hanna Mordoh asked Cohen if he thought Bloomington Police botched the case, Cohen said “Botched is a strong word.

I think they weren’t aggressive.”

“If they were really going hard from the get-go, that they might have been able to collect evidence that would have been telling,” Cohen said.

15 years ago there wasn’t the same level of technology and potential video evidence to perhaps crack the case. However, Cohen is pushing forward to find answers.

“I can’t state my conclusion. The family certainly doesn’t state a conclusion. They have a strong suspicion,” Cohen said.

He said the family hopes a friend or spouse who now knows something, might speak up. He emphasizes the importance of keeping the case in the spotlight.

The family’s Search for Lauren Spierer website ends with this message, ” I end as I began on June 3, 2011…if anyone has any information about the disappearance of our daughter, Lauren Spierer, please contact us. We continue to search for answers. As always, hoping today is the day.”

For now, the search much like the early days so many years ago continues. The case is not cold. But Lauren is still missing.

“It’s a mystery, and it’s one that’s really continued to haunt a lot of people,” Cohen said.

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