The search continues for a missing Indiana University fashion student.
Lauren Spierer, a 20-year-old sophomore of IU, was last seen around 4:30 a.m. on Friday walking south on College Avenue from 11th Street towards her apartment building at Smallwood, no more than three blocks away. She was likely out partying with friends.
According to WSBT-TV, several of Lauren’s items were found strewn along her path of travel including her cell phone and shoes from Kilroy’s, a local bar in Bloomington, and her keys found a block from where she was last seen.
At this point, the local police are not entirely ruling out foul play. “It is not impossible that she has left on her own and gone somewhere, but at this point we feel it is unlikely,” Lt. Bill Parker of the Bloomington Police Department said to Fox 59 WXIN-TV. “We feel there has been some sort of foul play.”
Lauren’s parents, Charlene and Robert Spierer, drove out to their daughter’s campus from Edgemont, New York on Saturday after hearing of her disappearance.
Lauren has had a longtime love for fashion from her days at Edgemont High School in New York to her years as an undergraduate at IU. She is an apparel and merchandising major and was planning to stay in Bloomington for a summer course before returning to New York City for an internship with Anthropologie.
“Lauren is an amazing person and friend. She’s artsy, fun, and different,” said Becca Lefkowitz, 19, Lauren’s best friend since seventh grade, to ABC News. “I can’t imagine anyone doing any harm to her.”
“I just hope they find her,” said Blair Wallach, 20, who has been Spierer’s roommate at Indiana University for the past two years to ABC News. “She’s my best friend and we just need to know that she’s okay. We’re hoping a miracle happens.”
“We are shocked, we are saddened, we are extremely concerned,” Edgemont Schools Superintendent Nancy Taddiken said in a statement to CBS New York. “[We are] sending our love, sending our prayers, sending support for her family.”
Spierer’s family mentioned that Lauren has Long QT Syndrome, a life-threatening heart condition that requires daily medication. They encouraged anyone who finds her to take her to the hospital immediately.
Lauren is described as approximately five feet tall and weighing 90 pounds. She has blue eyes and blonde hair at shoulder length. She was last seen wearing long black stretch pants and a white shirt.
Anyone with information on her whereabouts is encouraged to contact the Bloomington Police Department at (812) 339-4477. Together, we can find her!