At about 4:30 a.m. on June 3, 2011, Indiana University student Lauren Spierer, then 20, was last seen at the intersection of 11th Street and College Avenue, walking home alone after a night out at Kilroy’s Sports Bar and downtown apartments.
On the 15th anniversary of her disappearance, police say the investigation remains active and they asked that anyone with any information, “no matter how small it may seem,” contact the Bloomington Police Department.
On the night of her disappearance, Spierer left her shoes and cellphone behind. Police and volunteer searches that summer turned up no clues as to what happened to her. Authorities spent nine days in August of that year digging through more than 4,100 tons of Bloomington trash at the Sycamore Ridge Landfill in Vigo County. But the searches did not generate any clues.
Spierer’s story has been featured on “America’s Most Wanted” and other national news segments. Thousands of posters featuring photographs of Spierer have been printed, hung and rehung throughout Bloomington and in surrounding areas. The posters still hang at BPD headquarters on Third Street, including in the office of Capt. Ryan Pedigo, the department’s public information officer.
BPD said in a news release Tuesday that in the last year, officers investigated 23 new tips that resulted in “multiple interviews.” Detectives share information “regularly” with local, state and federal law enforcement agencies.
The department said officers have generated nearly 1,000 supplemental reports in Spierer’s case.
“We remain unwavering in our promise to pursue every lead and exhaust every available resource in our search for Lauren,” the department said. “No matter how much time passes, our commitment to finding answers for the family and friends of Lauren will not falter.”
Public interest in the case has waned but not disappeared: In 2011, more than 29,000 people followed the @NewsOnLaurenS account on X. Today, nearly 17,000 people still follow the account, has posted on the anniversary of her disappearance and on her birthday.
On Jan. 17, 2026, the account posted that Spierer would have turned 35 that day.
Boris Ladwig can be reached at bladwig@heraldt.com.
This article originally appeared on The Herald-Times: 15 years after Lauren Spierer vanished, police still seek leads
Reporting by Boris Ladwig, The Herald-Times / The Herald-Times
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
