Campus officials continue search for Lauren Spierer

After nearly a month of searching city streets, campus buildings and county parks, the official public searches for Lauren Spierer were called off June 29.

But now, as the search continues well into its second month, University officials say they have not given up trying to find the missing IU student.

“We will continue to be with the family every step of the way,” said Rabbi Sue Silberberg, director of IU’s Helene G. Simon Hillel Center. “We are determined and will not stop until we find Lauren.”

Silberberg and the Hillel Center were quick to respond to Lauren’s disappearance last month.

While the center created multiple web pages to raise awareness and funds, Silberberg helped coordinate many of the searches and offered support to Lauren’s family.

Through the media, Silberberg urged anyone who might have seen Lauren between 2 a.m. and 4 a.m. June 3 — the morning of her disappearance — to call the Bloomington Police Department.

“Even if they didn’t talk to her, they need to call,” Silberberg said in June. “They might think something they saw is irrelevant, and it could be very relevant. I am begging them to please, please, please call. It could be the missing piece that we need.”

A month later, the plea remains the same, she said.

“Someone knows something, and they need to come forward,” Silberberg said. “Meanwhile, it continues to just be heartbreaking and agonizing for everyone involved, especially for the family.”

The website created to help fund the search effort continues to receive donations, she added, and Hillel remains involved with events planned by the family, including the “Laps for Lauren” event that reunited volunteer searchers on Saturday.
 
Dean of Students Harold “Pete” Goldsmith said the University will also continue to be involved.

Soon after Lauren went missing, a banner appeared at the top of the online student resource OneStart linking to a special Lauren Spierer web page on the IU public safety and institutional assurance website, Protect IU.

That banner and web page will remain there for some time, Goldsmith said, as will a $50,000 fund that was created June 14 through the not-for-profit IU Foundation.
So far, half of the money has been used, he said.

“The Find Lauren Spierer Fund was created to defray costs associated with the search for Lauren,” Goldsmith said in an email. “Because she has not been found yet, the University will continue to provide funds to aid in the search.”