Lauren Spierer's Mom Makes Emotional 'Mother's Plea'
June 12, 2011 — -- Missing Indiana University student Lauren Spierer's mother sent a pointed message today: "I want to say to the person who has Lauren or has harmed Lauren: Shame on you! In relationship to that, the person who knows this person who's not coming forward with the information, I beg you to come forward."
In the 10 days since Spierer, 20, has been missing, her father Robert Spierer has been the main public voice of the family, but a visibly distressed Charlene Spierer spoke passionately at news conferences in Bloomington, Ind., Saturday and today.
"I am here for you 100 percent," Charlene Spierer said to her daughter. "I will never leave you. I love you with all my heart, and I need you back."
Making a "mother's plea" on Saturday, Charlene Spierer said, "I'm not comfortable with this, but I just want to say that as I travel throughout Bloomington, Lauren is with me everywhere. She's here. I go down Kirkwood, I see her, I hear our conversations. I step on the IU campus, I see her, I hear our conversations. She's everywhere here to me, she's everywhere, but she's nowhere. Somebody knows where she is. She's somewhere."
"America's Most Wanted" aired a two-minute segment Saturday night on Spierer's disappearance and Bloomington Police Department Capt. Joe Qualters said 30 to 40 tips were received after the show and they are expecting more today.
"We are very hopeful we'll finally get that phone call to find Lauren," Qualters said.
Qualters also revealed that it was Spierer's longtime boyfriend who reported her disappearance to the police on the afternoon of June 3.
Police have called Spierer's boyfriend one of 10 persons of interest, but Hadad Tamir, Spierer's roommate, said the couple has a loving relationship.
"He really cares about her," Tamir said. "Lauren was his life, his number one priority. He would never do anything to hurt her."
Spierer disappeared after a night out with friend at Kilroy's Sports Bar in Bloomington. No arrests have been made in the case. DNA samples have been gathered from several of these people who were allegedly among the last to see Spierer.
The U.S. Marshals Service was in Bloomington this week to conduct a sex offender search. They completed a sweep and no arrests were made.
Spierer's family has set up a website, findlauren.com, and is offering a $100,000 reward for her return. Since Spierer's disappearance June 3, organized volunteer searches have been going out three times a day, but Robert Spierer announced that these will be reduced to twice a day.
The petite blonde is 4-foot-11 and weighs less than 100 pounds. Originally from New York, she had just finished her sophomore year and was taking a summer class before heading to New York for an internship with Anthropologie. She is an apparel and merchandising major.
Time is also critical because Spierer has Long QT Syndrome, a disorder that causes potentially dangerous irregular heartbeats, for which she takes medication.
"As a mom, Lauren is the light of our life, and our hearts are breaking, and this is just a continuous nightmare," Charlene Spierer said.
