‘We will never stop’: Mom of missing woman writes on 12-year anniversary of disappearance

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. (WISH) — “I wear June 3 like a shroud,” writes Charlene Spierer, the mother of Lauren Spierer, in a Facebook post made on the 12-year anniversary of her daughter’s disappearance.

• Mom of Lauren Spierer, missing since 2011, talks of ‘debilitating sadness’ on her birthday
• 10 years later, investigators still searching for Lauren Spierer

Lauren Spierer went missing on June 3, 2011, after a night of partying with friends in Bloomington. Police said she was last seen leaving a friend’s place near West 11th Street and College Avenue. She left alone and was walking back to her apartment when something happened.

Investigators say she was later reported missing by a male friend.

Police have received over 800 tips from the public and have executed many search warrants since Lauren’s disappearance. The case remains unsolved.

Charlene wrote this in a post on Facebook as a “reminder that they will never stop” the search for Lauren.

A trip to the grocery store. An expiration date on a milk carton. The universe’s not so subtle reminder that another June 3rd approaches. I don’t need a reminder. I wear June 3rd like a shroud. I leave the milk. It is what it is.  

Lauren is a memory that lives in my heart.  What could have been, I’ll never know.  So much untapped potential. Too many broken hearts left in the wake of destruction.  What happened to Lauren could have happened to anyone. I think most college students believe they are invincible.  I think Lauren trusted that she was safe. Wrong place, wrong time, wrong people. She wasn’t careful and she wasn’t safe. Someone with means, motive, and opportunity waited for her, held out the hand she took and just like that she was gone.    

There have been lies and inconsistencies from the beginning. I guess that’s always how it is in any case. Self-preservation above all but someone knows what happened, someone is responsible. I have been schooled in the art of not sharing information. Fruit of the poisonous tree…What parent would ever risk saying something that would compromise an investigation into their daughter’s disappearance? Even now, even here, I consider my every word. I take care.  

If you knew Lauren before her disappearance or if you came to know her afterwards, give her a thought today. Consider that in the time it takes you to remember something about Lauren, someone could have called 911 and this tragedy would never have happened.

12 years you have kept your secret. 12 years we have continued our search. I write today as a reminder that we will never stop.

12 years of June 3rd.

Charlene Spierer via Facebook

Anyone with information on Lauren Spierer’s disappearance is asked to contact Bloomington police.