The case of Lauren Spierer has captured national attention since her disappearance in 2011. Despite an exhaustive search, Spierer has never been found and no arrests have been made in connection with her disappearance.
After years of few developments in the case, that changed Thursday, when the FBI assisted Bloomington investigators in searching a property in Morgan County that may be tied to the case. Here’s a look at how the Lauren Spierer case has developed over the years:
June 2, 2011: Lauren Spierer, 20, meets friends for drinks at Kilroy’s Sports Bar in Bloomington. Witnesses say Spierer is highly intoxicated as she leaves.
Surveillance video shows her friend, Corey Rossman, leaving the bar with Spierer and going to Smallwood Plaza apartments where Spierer lived. Rossman gets into an altercation and is subsequently punched; he claims the blow cost him his memory of the night.
Surveillance video shows her leaving her apartment building with Rossman. Both are intoxicated. They go to Rossman’s apartment, where they meet Michael Beth, Rossman’s roommate. Beth says he helped Rossman get to bed and tried to convince Spierer to stay. Jason Rosenbaum tells police he saw Lauren at 11th Street and College Avenue. She’s never seen again.
Her phone and shoes are later found at the bar. Spierer’s keys and purse are found in an alley.
Various days in June 2011: Volunteers comb through remote parts of Monroe County in the desperate search for Spierer. Posters of the missing IU student go up all over the Bloomington area.
June 9, 2011: Several persons of interest submit DNA samples as the investigation continues. The persons of interest include Corey Rossman, and her boyfriend, Jesse Wolff.
June 14, 2011: Police release photos and information about a white truck that could be connected to the case. The mid-2000 model has a short bed and appears to be full of equipment. A logo is visible on the side. The owner of the truck comes forward days later and is cleared.
August 2011: Police search a landfill near Terre Haute. The landfill is where trash from Bloomington is taken. No sign of Spierer is found.
April 3, 2013: Graduation nears for Indiana University students in Spierer’s class. Her parents release an emotional letter about their daughter and how she should be graduating with her peers. “There will be no graduation; there will be no excited anticipating. There will be no future for Lauren,” they write.
May 23, 2013: Corey Rossman, Lauren’s friend and one of the last people to see her, claims her parents are harassing him about her daughter’s disappearance and what happened on that night, according to a report in a New York newspaper. Rossman maintains that he has done nothing wrong. No charges have been brought against him.
June 26, 2013: Spierer’s parents file a civil lawsuit against Corey Rossman, Jason Rosenbaum and Michael Beth. They were among the last people to see Lauren Spierer on the night of her disappearance. The lawsuit alleges that they failed in their “duty of care” to Lauren, knowing that she was intoxicated and didn’t do enough to help her.
July 25, 2013: An attorney for Michael Beth files a motion in federal court asking the lawsuit to be dismissed, saying his client didn’t “breach a duty” to the missing IU student.
December 2, 2013: A judge later throws out the suit against Beth.
December 23, 2013: A judge rules that the lawsuit filed by the Spierer family can move forward against Jason Rosenbaum and Corey Rossman. The family hopes the lawsuit will force both men to testify about the case under oath.
January/February 2014: Spierer’s parents ask for evidence in civil suit to be sealed. A judge later denies the request.
April 29, 2014: A jury trial is set for May 2015 for the Spierer family’s civil suit.
October 1, 2014: Federal judge dismisses the Spierer family’s lawsuit. Attorneys for the defendants point blame at Kilroy’s Sports Bar in Bloomington. The Spierer family files an appeal.
April 27, 2015: The death of another IU student, Hannah Wilson, opens what police call “an avenue of investigation” in the Spierer case. Daniel Messel is arrested in Wilson’s murder, and police look for any possible ties to Spierer’s disappearance.
August 14, 2015: A federal appeals court upholds a lower court’s ruling to dismiss the civil lawsuit filed by the Spierer family.
January, 28, 2016: Bloomington police and FBI agents raid a property near Martinsville in connection with the Spierer case.
