Police begin searching landfill for evidence of missing IU student

The Bloomington Police Department has begun searching a landfill in Pimento, Ind., for evidence related to missing IU student Lauren Spierer, the department confirmed Tuesday.

BPD officers, assisted by FBI agents, IU police officers and a search expert from Team Adam, which is from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children,  –  up to 30 law enforcement personal in all — started the search around 7 a.m. Tuesday.

Planning for this search began during the first days after Lauren’s June 3 disappearance, BPD Captain Joe Qualters said in a press release.

Dumpsters in the area of 11th Street and College Avenue, the last place Lauren was seen, were searched immediately after she was reported missing.

During the week of June 6, police contacted the waste collection companies who provide services to that area, and it was determined that all Bloomington waste is moved to a transfer station south of Bloomington and to Sycamore Ridge Landfill in Pimento, Qualters said.

Pimento is around 12 miles south of Terre Haute.

The waste taken from Bloomington at that time was identified and Republic Services, the company that operates the landfill, isolated and secured that area of the landfill. No further waste was dumped in the area.

While preparations for the landfill search were being made, the BPD decided to allow the land search effort to continue, Qualters said.

Thousands of volunteers and professional searchers combed through Bloomington in the weeks after Lauren’s disappearance. Meanwhile, the BPD was formalizing a plan that included determining how many personnel would be needed for the landfill search, what agencies would be involved and what tools would be required.

Additionally, logistics including restroom facilities, shelter, food, water and daily transportation had to be considered, Qualters said.

Once the plan was finalized, officials decided to start the search during the week of August 15. The area being searched is approximately 70 feet by 120 feet by 20 feet, and the search effort may take up to two weeks of 12-hour days, Qualters said.

Back in Bloomington, Lauren’s parents, Charlene and Robert, released a statement asking for volunteers to assist in putting up new missing person posters around town on Sunday, August 28.

Posters and tape will be distributed at the location of the old search headquarters in front of Copper Cup next to Smallwood Plaza between 10 a.m. and 5 p.m.

“As the summer comes to a close we are still waiting for answers which will lead us to Lauren,” Charlene Spierer said. 

-jakenew@indiana.edu