Lauren Spierer /// Part 1 /// True Crime Garage | Forensic Files

Heat up >> [music] [music] [music] >> here. >> [music] [music] >> Welcome to True Crime Garage. Wherever
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according to his State of Hawaii driver's license is 25 years of age and his real name is Mick Loven. But of
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And that's enough of the business. >> Everybody, gather around, grab a chair, grab a beer. Let's talk some true crime.
This is True Crime Garage. [music] And this is the case of Lauren Spear. [music]
[music] This beautiful college student vanished without a trace after a night of
partying 5 years ago. Her parents have repeatedly appealed for resolution. >> Where are you, my sweet girl? I'm I'm
just missing you so desperately. The mystery of what happened to 20-year-old Lauren Spear has never been solved. But
now, former FBI agent Brad Garrett and ABC's Brian Ross say they think they know what may have happened.
>> Lauren was part of a wild party scene and that in some way or another, drugs and students using drugs led to her
demise. >> The Indiana University student was seen on surveillance video the night of her
disappearance in June 2011. She partied at this sports bar and met up with several male friends, but they have
lawyered up and aren't talking about Lauren's fate. >> Why are they trying to keep quiet? What
are they hiding? >> One theory is that Lauren was kidnapped by a biker gang after collapsing in the
street on the way to her apartment. >> Did you shoot her? >> I didn't shoot her.
>> You didn't shoot her. What did you do with her? I don't even know the broad. I
told you that. By >> Garrett says he does not believe she was kidnapped. He says he was given
information from a source that Lauren's college friends hold the key to the mystery.
>> He had heard that she was at a party, had a bad reaction to ecstasy, died. They panicked and moved her to the Ohio
River. They're 18, 19, 20 years old. The last thing they want is the Bloomington
police to come in, find drugs in a dead co-ed. And so we believe somebody panicked and got rid of her.
Warren was only 4 feet 11 and weighed 90 pounds and would have been easy prey in
an intoxicated state. Just a few months ago, the FBI dug up farmland in Indiana,
but didn't find Lauren's body. Lauren's parents have given up hope that their daughter is still alive. But they still
want closure. >> What they want now is to find her body and to figure out what happened that
night. [music] >> [music] >> Tonight's case takes us to the great state of Indiana to Bloomington at the
campus of Indiana University. >> When I think of Indiana, I think of state native John Melanchamp.
Well, when I think of Indiana University or IU, of course, I think of Bob Knight,
a school with a great basketball program and tradition. I'm sure they have many great academic programs there as well,
but on a national level, that's certainly what Indiana is more known for. >> I do think of party school though as
well. Um, >> yeah, I've partied there. >> It Oh, you have? I have not. But I've I've read, you know, they they put out
those list every year of the top 10 or 20 party schools, and I always see Indiana hovering around the top of that
list. >> I used to do some gigs with this group called Ordinary People's. It was like a
live hip-hop band, and we'd play I think it was called uh the Bluebird >> in Bloomington. And I think we also
played Kilroy, >> which will come up in this story later. >> So, tonight we have a missing person's
case. And as far as the state of Indiana goes, a pretty famous case at that. We are talking about the disappearance of
20-year-old Indiana University College student Lauren Spear. >> Mhm. >> Lauren went out for what I would call a
hardcore night of getting smashed. Uh, sorry. Am I crazy to say that though, Captain?
>> Is that what you call it? >> That's that's the only thing I can phrase this at. I mean, there there is
having a good time and living it up, but then there is also taking it to another
level as well, >> right? That's what I call hanging out with Nick. [laughter] >> But but Lauren does go out with friends
stopping off at place to place. But there somewhere along the way of bar hopping and campus hy jinks, Lauren is
lost. And almost 6 years later, we are still looking for her. We are left with a lot of questions about that night that
she disappeared and I think questions about her lifestyle and some questions about her friends as well. Lauren was
only 20 years old, but in any missing person case, I think it's really important to kind of know their history
and know their background. >> So, Lauren was born in 1991. Her parents are Robert and Charlene Spear.
>> She grew up in New York State, and in 2009, she enrolled at Indiana University.
When her parents, Rob and Charlene, dropped Lauren off her freshman year, they felt that the university campus was
a safe place. >> But Bloomington, like many college towns, does have its darker side. This,
of course, coming with the the partying that goes on. >> Well, it's a part of the Big 10
>> conference, which Ohio State is part of. >> Uh it's very it's a very clean campus.
>> It's a division one school, so they're they're going to get a lot more funding
as far as sports go. And that darker side usually comes with the alcohol and the drugs that are involved in campus
parties. Now I don't mean to pick on the state pick on Indiana University. >> This happens at every
>> this happens at almost every college and I from my experience this is very typical of the Midwestern uh bigger
universities. >> The other question that's going to come up is Lauren was only 20 years old. So
how common is it for a 20-year-old to drink in a college bar? >> I think it's pretty common. Yeah, my
with my experience, I would say it's very common. Did you have a college campus bar that you like to drink at?
>> Uh, well, I'm not a big not a big campus bar person, but uh, you know, I did go
to the Ohio State games, the football games for like 11 years straight. Now, if we had a big victory, I would
typically walk across the street and go to the varsity club uh, and kind of celebrate the win there with with
>> Yeah. But at that point, you were of age, right? Yes, I was definitely of age, but there were probably some people
partying on campus that were not of age. >> Well, yeah, a bunch of my buddies when
we're about 19 and 20, we'd be we'd hang out at Panini South. >> Okay. >> So, big ups to anybody that drank at
Panini South. >> You just got Panini's in big trouble. >> Well, no, it's closed now. Probably
probably because >> probably why. Now, the night that we are talking about is Thursday, June 2nd,
2011. This is Lauren's sophomore year. At this time, she is dating, well, still dating her high school boyfriend Jesse
Wolf, who is attending Indiana University as well. >> Yeah. So, it seems like one of those
high school relationships where they decided to go to the same big university. >> Yep. Now, Lauren and Jesse hung out a
lot, but not on this night. Lauren had her heart set on going out. She wanted to party it up, get out and campus hop
with some of her friends. >> Jesse would not be joining her. He was going to stay in that night. it was the
NBA finals and he didn't want to miss it. That's a little funny to me. Not because, you know, staying in is is
strange or anything like that, but it's funny to me because I remember staying in and watching that same game as well.
Cuz you you remember, Captain, earlier that year, the great King James decided he was taking his talents to South
Beach. So, for two weeks in June of 2011, I was a huge Dallas Mavericks fan. And I sat there and watched that night.
That was a close game uh throughout the whole thing, but the Mavs went on to beat the Heat that night 95 to 93 to tie
at the series at one game each. Now, let's go through the timeline of that night.
>> Mhm. >> Cuz this case has some it has some hints of maybe a little Brian Schaefer to me.
Does Does it remind you of that case at all? >> Yeah, I mean, I think any college camp,
you know, any college kid going missing on college campus kind of, you know, reeks of that. Yeah, it it always takes
us back there. So, very late on Thursday, June 2nd, Lauren is hanging out with her friend David Ron. Now,
David is a student as well. They are drinking and partying at her place. >> Then, just after midnight, they decide,
so this is June 3rd now at this point, technically. So, around 12:30 a.m., Lauren and David leave Smallwood Plaza.
This is an off-campus high-rise where Lauren lives. The two the two of them go down the street to the apartment of
another student named Jay Rosenbomb. >> Lauren then meets up with another student, Cory Rossman. Cory lives in the
same building as Jay. Cory and Lauren then decide that they want to step out for a bit and they go to Kilroy Sports
Bar. This is the place that you'd mentioned earlier. This is a very popular college bar. Surveillance
footage tells us that Lauren Spirior arrived entering Kilroy at 1:46 a.m. Right now, some of our older listeners
are going to be thinking, they arrived at a bar at 1:46, >> right? >> This seems ludicrous. Well, first of
all, Indiana bars, they close at 3. >> Okay, >> here uh at Ohio State or just in Ohio,
most of the time 2:00, but by 2:30 the bar is cleared. uh Indiana, they close at 3. By probably 3:30, it's cleared.
But the other thing is that there there was a big trend um that I kind of missed
out on because I'm a little bit older. But >> you're 25, your name's Mcloven, >> but it seems like, you know, cuz I
played in bars playing in the cover band. Normally, you would start early, you know, about 10 o'clock and then
you're going to play till two. But then all of a sudden this like shift happened
where people would do a lot more pregaming. >> And so the bars wouldn't really start
filling up till like midnight. >> Yeah. After midnight. >> Yeah. >> So it was kind of like, you know, this
Jersey Shore thing. You know, t-shirt times, Cavs are here. And then, you know, the bars would fill up, you know,
you wouldn't be leaving to go to the bar till midnight. Yeah. >> So this is not that uncommon. Well, in
Columbus though, at 146 at a lot of bars, you're you would be lucky to even get served a drink. Usually by that
time, the bartenders are just yelling at people to leave [laughter] and you know
how they just go and start collecting drinks and you're like, "Oh, my beer is still full."
>> That's when you just chug it. >> So, they they arrive at 1:46 a.m. And I guess they have like a u try to go for
kind of a beach atmosphere on the patio area. Mhm. Uh, so they go out to this patio area and Lauren takes off her
shoes and they they are not there terribly long though. According to the surveillance footage, Lauren is seen
exiting the bar with Cory Rossman and they they walk to Lauren's apartment complex. Can I bring up something? And
maybe I'm way off base here, but you know, Lauren is a girl that has a boyfriend, and I know that they're not
hanging out that day, but she is also hanging out with three boys, >> right? >> I I find that a little odd. Um, I mean
it's not like I'm not saying that you can't be f friends with girl, you know, boys can't be friends with girls and
stuff like that, but it's just like if I would have told my girlfriend and in college, hey, I'm going to go hang out
with these three girls. Not happening. >> I I guess I'm looking at it from Jesse's
standpoint, from the boy boyfriend standpoint. I don't find it incredibly odd. I wouldn't think that you I don't
think you're in the minority, though. I think that most people might find this a
little strange. I don't I think it's kind of a campus atmosphere. It's a lot of a lot of people hanging out uh
constantly, you know. >> Yeah. But you'd think like it would make a little more sense to me if she was
like, I'm going out for a girls night drinking or something. You're you're staying at home watching the game. I'm
going to go out with my girlfriends. But she ends up going out with, you know, three guys.
>> Mhm. Well, when they leave the bar, they head to her apartment complex. This is
just about a block or so from the bar. Now, Lauren does leave her shoes and her phone at Kilroyy's Bar. Lauren is seen
entering the Smallwood Plaza at 2:30 a.m. and then exiting at 2:42 a.m. Lauren's apartment is on the fifth floor
of this apartment complex. For whatever reason, Lauren and Corey do not go to her apartment. It may have been due to
an altercation. >> Mhm. So, the two, Lauren and Corey, they do actually go to the fifth floor. At
some point, a passer by, this is Zach Oaks, he sees how blitzed Lauren is, and he asks if she's okay.
>> Right. >> It's unclear to me that either the altercation with Zach takes place just
before or after the two could arrive at Lauren's apartment. But at some point, they run into four male students. And
I'm I'm not clear if Zach was one of these four male students, but this is in the hallway of her apartment complex,
right? >> And apparently the four male students, well, they didn't seem to like what was
going on or what they may think is going on. And they start saying things and Corey gets smart with them and one of
the four punches Corey in the face, knocking Corey to the ground. >> All right, I just want to be clear on
this. So, we got Corey Rossman and we have Lauren. And they're on the fifth floor of Lauren apartment building.
>> Yes. >> And they walk past four guys. >> Yes. >> Now, now they might be walking by him in
the hallway or these four guys might live on the fifth floor. We're not really for sure, but they don't like
what they see >> apparently. >> And we see this way too many times on college campuses where you have a guy
with a very drunk female. Mhm. >> And bad things can happen. >> So, I applaud them for looking after
her, but this causes a tussle. >> Yeah. But who knows? They they could have just been looking for trouble as
well. True. We never We don't really know. >> That's very true. >> But it does cause it does cause an
interaction between Corey and all, you know, some of these four guys >> and they punch him.
>> Yeah. He he he I guess they're saying something to him and he mouths off to them
>> and one of them punches Corey in the face. >> Right. But who are we getting the story
from? >> Uh that's what's tricky here to me. Um because we here here's the situation,
right? Um, Corey is he's pretty inebriated at this point >> and maybe he's hit awfully hard or maybe
it's a combination of both. But Corey reports that he is injured in an altercation at the apartment complex but
but does not remember anything of the event which which seems very strange to me. Okay.
>> Right. But he possibly could have been knocked out. >> Right. Right. you know,
>> a com I think it's a combination of being drunk and being smashed in the face by by some dude.
>> Okay. From there, after the altercation, they leave the apartment complex. Remember, we said this is at 2:42 a.m.,
>> right? And this is Lauren's complex, >> correct? Just a few minutes later, at
2:48 a.m., Lauren and Corey are seen walking in an alley. This alley runs between College Avenue and Morton
Street. Mhm. >> There are security cameras mounted on nearby apartments. So, we have this
footage. This footage shows the two exiting this alley at 2:51 a.m. and they are walking toward an empty lot. Mind
you, the cameras also show Lauren stumbling quite a bit at this time. So, later on this very route that the two
are taking. Later, they would end up finding Lauren's keys and her purse along this route.
>> Mhm. Police did not say exactly where along this route that these items were found, but Lauren, she's she's falling
down drunk by this time and she has fallen several times. >> Right. And we have some evidence because
of the surveillance footage, but one can also assume that maybe there was a struggle.
>> Mhm. >> You know what I mean? This guy has already got in a fight with uh some
other individuals. >> Mhm. And well, eventually Cory ends up picking her up and he carries her. So
now the two arrive at Corey's apartment. There is someone else there. This is uh
Michael Beth. Michael is Corey's roommate. Michael's there up late working on a paper,
right? Sure, Michael. You're that's what everyone's doing at that hour. You're you're up writing a paper. That sounds
good for when mom and dad read the newspaper article later that they you know they're not paying they don't quit
paying for his campus living. >> It is possible though. >> It is possible. Anyway, so Corey is
pretty intoxicating. >> I mean, and just on that note, I I would hang out with buddies up on Ohio State
campus all the time and we'd be drinking and there'd always be one of us that wasn't really drinking. I mean, maybe
having a couple beers with the buddies, but he was also working on a paper or working on some homework or studying,
>> pulling some last minute hardcore work there at the the wee hours of the morning,
>> right? You know, you're sitting there trying to coast him into not doing the work, you know, going, "Hey, man, just
have one more. Have one more. Just one more, [ __ ] >> Just put that down. >> Just one more. Have a cold one."
>> Anyway, Cory is pretty intoxicated at this point. He is stumbling when he arrives at his apartment.
>> Well, yeah, he's stumbling, but let's just note that he if if the story is correct, and we don't have any
surveillance footage of him carrying Lauren, >> right? >> So, that is just coming from the
testimony of Corey. Mhm. >> So, he's stumbling, which is noted by the roommate, but he also was sober
enough to carry her back. >> Correct. Correct. Uh he arrives at the apartment, he's stumbling, uh pretty
intoxicated at this point, and then he pulls an awesome move and he vomits on the carpet.
>> You know, way to [clears throat] go, Cory. Party foul. >> Uh these [laughter]
Well, these two are basically out of control, wasted at this point, Captain. This seems like a pretty lame twoperson
party to me. Uh I've seen I you know I've seen somewhere between like four and seven party fouls committed by these
two at this point along this night. >> Well, I mean let's Okay. Am I is this wrong to say that I would assume that
Cory's motives are sexual as far as like you know you just got punched in the face by some guys?
>> Mhm. And you now you claim that you you blacked out and you can't remember anything,
>> right? >> But you carry this girl back to your apartment. >> Yeah. >> And then you get sick. And I would
assume that if he doesn't get sick that he's trying to make sexual advances towards Lauren.
>> Yeah. And and I think you're on to something there, Captain, because what did we see happen earlier? They were
right on the fifth floor of her apartment complex. Right. If your whole intention is taking her home or or
getting her to a place where she can just sleep it off, >> well, you were there. You were you were
steps away from putting her in her apartment if that's what you thought you needed to do. Remember, she had her keys
still at this point in the night when they were at her apartment complex. >> Right. And well, right. But I think the
problem is those four guys that stopped him. >> I think you're right. >> You know what I mean? And I think that,
you know, like I said, there's a lot there's a problem. It's a it's a serious problem on college campuses where women
are getting so intoxicated and then men are taking advantage of that, >> you know, and what do they say? If if
you're too drunk to say yes, then you're too drunk to say no. >> Okay. >> So, it's kind of that whole thing. And I
think that's something that people need to take a lot more serious. And I think those individuals saw something, you
know, m look, maybe they were looking for trouble anyways and they just found this cocky Corey guy
>> and they punched him in his face. >> Okay. Maybe sometimes when you're being,
you know, you know, a cocky canoe >> Mhm. >> I just made that one up. Um, get you
deserve to get punched in the face, >> right? >> But so that's a possibility. But the
other possibility is they saw something that they thought, you know, this drunk girl, small drunk girl, is in trouble.
>> Yeah. And and knowing what we know now, I would love to hear a definitive statement from Corey that tells us why
they chose not to go to her apartment after having been so close to there. Why did you not go to the apartment? Why did
you go to plan B and all of a sudden now you're going to Cory's place? You know that,
>> right? you're going back to your own place. But also, it'd be interesting to hear a definitive statement from those
individuals that punched the guy in the face. >> Exactly. >> And have those guys came forward
because, you know, technically they could have assault charges pressed against them.
>> Mhm. So, by this point, you know, after Cory blows chunks on the carpet, he decides that he's going to go to bed.
And I got to tell you, Captain, if I'm Michael, if I'm the roommate, I'd be pissed at this dude. You know, he comes
home, he pukes, he goes to bed, and then he leaves me with this falling down drunk person that he that was so drunk
that he had to carry her home, >> right? So, Michael, quote unquote, doing a paper that night,
>> now is left to deal with this drunk girl, which he may or may not know that well.
>> Now, it sounds like Lauren catches a second wind here. Maybe this is the third or fourth wind, but she's she's
starting to come to and she's she's up now. And Michael says that he is trying to convince Lauren to stay at that
apartment to sleep over. Um, you know, just stay here. This is, you know, stating this is for her own safety. Um,
she doesn't need to be out stumbling, falling down drunk, trying to make her way home in the dark by herself.
>> And that's possibly also Michael just not wanting to have to worry about her.
Maybe he doesn't know her that well, but he's just like, just sleep on the couch.
Because, you know, when you're in college, there's plenty of times that you don't really know the person that
well and they're passed out on your couch and and people go, "Who's that guy?" >> Yeah.
>> You're like, "Well, we call him Nick." >> Well, that's not me. But one time I came
home and somebody was sleeping in my bed. [clears throat] >> I had to drag him out of the bed and
drag him to the hallway and leave him there. >> No. No. No, but you used to come hang out with
us on campus and you'd pass out in bathrooms and and would always stick that pink pillow. We'd always make you
sleep with the pink pillow. >> Let's move on here. So, we're talking about these people, not not us people.
Uh, so I think that, you know, this could be a good call on Michael's part if he if he in fact is doing what he's
saying he's doing. you know, he probably just doesn't want to deal with, >> you know, the obvious thing here is you
have the option of walking her home, but but you saw the state that she came into
the apartment in. You do you really want to deal with that? You know, the >> uh the potential of carrying her home
sounds ridiculous. So, probably a good call on his part. Uh he says Lauren is not hip to the idea of staying there.
She keeps saying that she wants to go back to her own apartment. Michael Beth states that Lauren not only wanted to go
back to her apartment, but she wanted to she wanted Michael to go with her to drink more at her place. At 3 around
3:30 a.m., >> she wanted Michael >> she she was asking Michael to walk with her back to her place and they would
continue partying there. >> Um around 3:30 a.m. >> Sorry, real quick. So, we know that
she's drinking some kind of booze, beer or liquor. >> And they also talked about possible
cocaine. >> Mhm. >> And so, I I would assume that if she is doing cocaine, I've never done cocaine
myself, but uh cocaine. Um that maybe she's just amped up, you know. >> Yeah. Um well, we do. You want to get
into my thoughts right now on on the the cocaine thing? >> Yeah, sure. Okay. Because after she
disappeared, they do find a small amount of cocaine in her apartment. >> Now, part of me has wondered, I would
like to know how much is that small amount of cocaine. Is this something where they just found like remnants of
this on a on a table or countertop, you know, where somebody had been doing cocaine, or was this an actual
>> a small bag? >> It was a small bag. Okay. So that would answer some questions to me here because
if in fact that was what was going on that night, >> she may have wanted to return to her
place to do the remaining cocaine that's >> um I have seen people that that are, you
know, it'll be 3 4 in the morning, they're snorting stuff and and and drinking and it's it's like throwing
fuel on the fire. These people can just keep going and going and if they're out of place or at a party. I've been at
parties where I've seen people, they're snorting stuff and then that stuff has run out and then you will see these
people at 3:00 or 4 in the morning trying to figure out a new place to go to, a new party to go to where they want
to just keep going like the Energizer Bunny all night long. >> Well, right. And and a lot of people
listening might be thinking, geez, you guys hang out with some crazy crowds. But, you know, we used to play in a band
together. And a lot of a lot of the crazy nights that I've had have been, you know, after a gig hanging out with
people. Then it was like, you could get some free beer, you can get some free pot, you can get some free coke if you
want. And and the parties just kind of they go to 11. >> Yeah. Well, well, and you know, these
after concert parties or campus parties, you know, that we we would go to when we
were in our 20s. >> Um, you usually don't know everybody there. Um, you're usually not a part of
what everybody there is a part of, right? >> Um, so you just kind of see these things
going on and you you take note of this. >> Well, we'll get right back to Nick's drug addictions right after this quick
beer break. >> [music] >> All right, we're back. Cheers, mates. >> So, a night of partying on June 2nd,
2011 turns into some early morning partying on the 3. Lauren Sperry, who ends up going
missing, she is now back at her friend's house. Um, and she is being left in the
care of Michael Beth. >> Well, and that's because her friend Corey went on a puking rally.
>> Yeah. He's since gone to bed and now Michael Beth is trying to convince Lauren to stay at their apartment to
sleep it off on the couch. She doesn't want to. She wants to go home. She's actually asking Michael if he wants to
go with her back to her place to drink some more. And it's around 3:30 a.m. that Michael calls Jason Rosenbomb.
Remember him from earlier? He has the apartment that Lauren went to earlier in the night
>> at the beginning of our timeline. So, Michael calls Jason. It sounds to me like he is trying to get rid of Lauren.
Um, you know, maybe it's late and he wants to go to bed, uh, but feels that he has to take care of her. Uh, who
knows? But eventually, Michael takes Lauren to Jason Rosenbomb's apartment. Jason lives just two doors down from
Michael and Cory's apartment. >> Right. So, it's not a huge inconvenience for him to walk her there.
>> Correct. So, Michael goes goes back to his place after taking her to Jason's.
Jason is trying to get Lauren to sleep it off on his couch and then she can walk home in the morning. Lauren again
is having none of it. Lauren insists on returning to her place and she ends up leaving Jason's apartment. Jason says
that he walks her to the door. This is around 4:30 in the morning. Well, and look, I don't want to throw Jason under
the bus, but again, we have two college students. We have their their hormones or raging hormones, right?
>> Possibly >> possibly raging hormones and or for the guy, right? I mean, when I was in my
early college years, I I could say that I had raging hormones, >> right? But I don't know that this is the
situation for Jason. He's kind of >> Well, I'm not throwing him under the bus. But what I'm saying is that there
it possibly could have been, oh, yeah, stay on my couch. Possibly try to make some advances and maybe she's not having
any of it and she wants to leave. >> I'm just saying that. We have to throw that out there.
>> You're exactly right. So he says he walks her to the door and this again around is around 4:30 in the morning. Uh
Lauren leaves his apartment. Jason stands with the door open watching Lauren walk. Uh he sees her go up 11th
Street. According to the Bloomington Police Department's timeline, Jason Rosenbomb is the last person to see
Lauren alive. Hours later, Lauren's boyfriend, Jesse Wolf, remember, he did not go out with
his girlfriend that Thursday night. He stayed in. Well, now it's the next day, and Jesse is texting Lauren. He he gets
a reply, but it it's not from Lauren. This is from someone who works at the Kilroy Sports Bar.
>> Mhm. >> She having left her phone and shoes there, an employee replied to Jesse's
text. Jesse then files a missing person's report with the Bloomington Police Department. And that Friday
night, as Rob and Charlene are sitting down to their normal Friday dinner, they get a phone call, a hearttoppping phone
call that shattered their world. Their little girl, Lauren, is now missing. Early on, police said that the chances
of foul play were very great in this situation because their thinking is that otherwise Lauren would have made contact
with someone after she had gone missing. So, the police are expecting the worst right from the get-go. But then we learn
a little more about the last night and the early morning activities and the goings on with Lauren and maybe some of
her friends when she was last seen. So, not only do witnesses describe Lauren as
having been inebriated, this is corroborated with the video footage of her stumbling barefoot down the hallway
of her apartment building. But other reports come in saying that she had used drugs that night. And Captain and I
talked about this a little bit earlier. We're we weren't talking about the easy stuff. No, we're talking about some
pretty hardcore uh drugs being consumed that night. Mhm. There's speculation of cocaine and also maybe ecstasy.
>> Yeah. And and the other reports are stating cocaine and colonopen and at least one source saying that the
colonopin was not taken in pill form but rather chopped up and snorted. Now that
that to me is like some Aussie Osborne 1985 stuff there, man. Now, we we all know about
>> Well, there's no report of her sniffing a line of ants, but >> Oh, yeah. >> pretty much everything.
>> That's right. He he did that, too, didn't he? >> Supposedly. >> Yeah. So, you know, we we know about
cocaine. That's pretty pretty common knowledge there. Uh but let's discuss colonopin here for a second. Um I don't
know if I'm sure there's probably some of our listeners out there have taken Colonopin before. Um it I have. It's an
anxiety pill. Um, I had a situation years ago when I worked at this very stressful job and every every Monday was
a really wreck of a day. Like I would have to sit there and lead these meetings and and kind of instruct
everybody as to what to do for the upcoming week. But the whole time I did these meetings, this was about half of
my Monday. My two bosses would just kind of stand there and watch me lead these meetings. And it just I mean it really
put me on edge because they're just kind of sitting there like like Simon Cow kind of just judging me the whole time
and taking notes and not really saying anything. And I found myself in a situation where every Sunday the day
before I was like a real grumpy jerk face. >> Mhm. >> And I couldn't figure out what was going
on. But I figured out that the stress the upcoming stress of knowing what what was going to take place on Monday was
making me this horrible dude on Sundays. So my doctor and I talked about it for some time and and she put me on
colonopen. Um, I the thing is I quit taking it cuz it it was it was a weird ride because sometimes I would take one
pill and I would only take it on Sundays and sometimes this one pill would make me feel like I've had about five or six
beers like like I mean you just take it and you swallow it down with a little bit of water and then
>> 20 minutes later you feel like you're intoxicated. >> Well, with a you know the the party
scene has kind of changed a little bit. I remember a few years back, at least the crowd
that I was running with, you know, you might be drinking a couple beers, but then people start popping pills with
those beers. Well, like like what we're talking about on the last episode, you know, some of the medicine that is
prescribed for a reason. If you took, you know, had a couple beers with it, it was going to send you off into
Neverland, >> you know. So, that's kind of the purpose. I mean, they're not only are
they, you know, doing, you know, doing beer, doing beer, drinking beer, drinking liquor, but on top of that,
possibly cocaine, clonopin, and that and mix mixing all that stuff with alcohol is going to send you on a crazier ride.
>> So, I mean, it's it's it's almost like just non-stop, you know? It's like, yo,
yolo, man. YOLO y, you know, just like just have a couple beers and chillax, you Well, and you know me, I really
don't like to take anything unless I think it's absolutely necessary. So, I was skeptical from the get-go. But, uh,
the thing that I also did not like about it was that I didn't I didn't have the same reaction every time I took it.
Sometimes I would get that very drunk feeling. Um, and then other times it would just make me very numb, like just
like my brain went numb and I went dumb, you know, like I just kind of just feel
like I was way out of it. Just zombie like >> felt normal. But I didn't like and I don't know why I
would feel one way one time and complete opposite the other time. And so I didn't
trust it. And I and I only probably took it for about six or seven weeks and then
I told the doctor, you know, we got to we got to end this and I'll just have to deal with this stress in a more healthy
way. >> Right. And back to the thing about the whole partying with it. You know, I had
a lot of friends that good friends of mine that could have a couple beers and they could take a pill, one pill maybe,
>> and they would just it just give them an overall body high and they just felt
great. But there was a couple times where, like you said, you don't know how it's going to react, how your body's
going to react depending on how much sleep you got, how much you ate, and they would have these bad experiences
and then they'd tell me, and you all, everybody has those experience where you drink so much and you say, "I'm never
doing that again." But these were like really bad experiences. So >> the fact that she's going from one place
to another place and she's putting herself in not the safest of conditions. Um I think who knows how much she was
on. >> Yeah. And and I want to be clear here though, this colonopin stuff is not like
your everyday prescribed medication. This is a narcotic. you know, I had to get a special, you know, it the the
prescription looked much different that I had to take to get filled than than what other prescriptions would would
typically look like. Um, and I'm going to kind of go to the far extreme here because I'm sure that Colonopin might
work for some people in some situations. Uh, but I'm going to go to the far extreme part of of bringing up the bad,
the very bad of of this pill. This is from an internet article titled America's Most Dangerous Pill,
Colonopin. You can look this up if you want to read the entire article at cch i nt.org.
Uh, but I'll give you the basic garage version of the article. So, Colonopin is a benzoizopene
and I hope I said that right. And according to this article that no benzo has been more lethal to to millions of
Americans than the popular prescribed drug called colonopen. Uh this was something that Stevie Nicks battled with
at one point and she's been very vocal about it. Um Stevie Nicks had checked herself into the Betty Ford clinic back
in 1986 to overcome a cocaine addiction. After her release, the psychiatrist in question uh prescribed a series of benzo
to her. First Valium and then Xanax and finally colonopen. And she battled this colonopen addiction and and and she had
severe side effects to it. >> Basically trading one evil to a another evil. >> You're exactly right. Uh, also in 1996,
actress Margot Hemingway uh committed suicide by overdosing on a combination of benzo pills with barbituates. Um,
weeks later, we have Hollywood producer Don Simpson. He did the uh Beverly Hills
cop. Uh, he also died from an unintentional benzo-based overdose. Um, Colonopin was one of 11 different
prescription drugs, all written by the same doctor, found in the body of Playboy centerfold model Anna Nicole
Smith, who ODed in 2007. >> We should throw a caveat in there. >> There was 11 different prescribed pills.
So, you can't you can't really throw it all on the back of Colonopin there. And then this one is kind of close to your
heart here, Captain. Um thereafter we have well-known Los Angeles author David Foster Wallace who was suffering from a
profound depression when a doctor prescribed him colonopin. >> Uh he was you know found in his
backyard. He had he had hung himself with a leather belt that he had nailed to a overhead beam on his patio.
>> Mhm. >> Um so Colonopin has been >> Oh DFW. >> Yep. But yeah, but the but now on his
story though, they took him off one anti-depressant and they were trying other forms of, you know, anxiety
medicine and stuff. So, it wasn't like that they put him on colonopen and that made him go crazy.
>> He was struggling with depression for a very long time. And it's really more the
cause of his death is more the fact that he was on such a archaic >> medicine, right? And then when they put
him back on it after he had a basically the medicine they put him on, if he ate certain things, he could have a bad
reaction. And when he had the bad reaction, then they said, "Let's try to get you on something else."
>> It never found the thing that worked for him, >> right? >> Leading him to hang himself. getting
away from Hollywood. In 2008, reports began to surface of soldiers returning from Iraq with post-traumatic stress
disorder who were dying in their sleep. Um, these were victims of a psychmed cocktail of Colonopin, Paxel, and
Surquel. Uh, this is an anti-csychotic that is routinely prescribed by VA hospitals. So even if we are not
familiar with colonopen that definitely gives us some idea of what we might be dealing with here as far as this pill
goes. And the thing that really sticks out here to me is that having read the full article and a couple of others, it
sounds like the experts, you know, the doctors, scientists, and chemists, what have you, they all seem to agree that
this pill is not something that they seem to understand very well or maybe even how everyone is going to react to
it. >> Well, then here, how about we not prescribe it to anybody? >> That would be that would be a good idea
>> if we don't understand it. See, this is this is the stuff that drives me freaking bonkers, man. We don't really
understand it, but we're going to give it to a bunch of people. >> Yeah. And the the big problem I see
here, too, is that it seems to have a different reaction from person to person. Um, and like I said, just with
with myself, I had two completely different reactions to it on different occasions. So, some some scary stuff.
It's it's I just want to point that out because it's a serious deal, man. It's not it's not like taking an aspirin, you
know. And I think sometimes when people see something in a pill pill form, they think, "Oh, this can't kill me. This
can't this can't hurt me." They they give this to people. >> Right. Right. But the the other problem
with this, and I've seen this multiple times, I've seen guys pull out pills, crush them up, and snort them right off
the table. >> And that's not the way they're meant to be. >> They're not No, they're not meant to be
taken that way. But it's because they would they would hit the system faster or maybe even have a harder reaction.
I'm not really for sure. >> That's not my thing. Uh >> those dudes are probably mixing it with
alcohol. I would guess if you're snorting stuff, you're they're they're drinking things usually as well,
>> right? But this kind of goes to the theory, and I think we can just touch on this a little bit. Yeah.
>> One of the major theories is that she did OD and that she died >> from the partying that took place that
night. Yeah. >> And so basically this report that you're showing is this is if she did take this
and we don't have any proof of this >> other than >> other than witnesses saying
>> other than witnesses. That's that's our little bit of evidence, but >> it's not like you know she's still
missing. So it's not like we have a body that we could do a toxicology report and
see this. >> Correct. >> So we're just going off on that. >> But this is a drug that can be very
lethal. >> Mhm. and especially lethal if you're on if you're drinking alcohol with it.
>> Yeah. And adding cocaine to to this cocktail. >> So, this really leads to, you know, you
have to let the evidence, you know, lead you to something. Don't let the evidence
make it fit. But, so the theory that she did OD, you know, is is a strong theory.
>> Yeah. Well, and part of that theory, too, is that Lauren may have had a drug problem. Um, it's been pointed out that,
you know, these drugs or or drugs might not have just been the first time that she had done them. This wasn't a
one-time thing for her or, you know, just a wild end of school year. Oh, I did awesome, so let's go nutso and party
and >> binge drink and have a long weekend. Um, it's been pointed out that um that she
may have had a problem, you know, and in some point to her arrest. She was arrested in September of 2010 on charges
of public intoxication and illegal consumption. Now, I do want to point out though, we're talking about drugs and
then they bring up this arrest, but this arrest sounds to me very much like it's
just alcohol related type charges. >> Well, you're right. A typical charge that you're going to have on campus
because normally if you're going from bar to bar, you're walking. >> Mhm. And so there's a lot of people that
get, you know, um, you know, drunk in public. >> But no, so that's not that uncommon. And
I think the the fact that, you know, and who knows if her parents are listening to this, but like we we don't know if
she had a problem. We, you know, just because somebody has taken drugs a handful of times does not necessarily
mean that they have a a problem, right? >> There's a thing called experimentation.
And and I would just say that when you're whenever you start drinking booze, you know, uh I didn't drink a lot
in high school. It was more like once I got to the college ages, but you know, I
was in college at 18. So there was, you know, three years before I was legally allowed to drink that I was, I would
say, experimenting with alcohol >> and through that experimentation and still experimenting with it because
there's still those times that I don't know my limits or I go past those limits. And so I, you know, I think to
say that she had a problem, I think it's kind of um not responsible. You know, I
think she was at this this stage of experimenting. >> It's definitely speculation. It's
definitely opinion based. There's not a lot of evidence on it. And I and I point
to this arrest as being the contrary. It's right. It that's no evessions of possession of drugs or or found, you
know, drugs in her system, >> that would be a different situation. This sounds to me like a pretty innocent
college girl doing what most college kids do. Uh it sounds like, you know, partying one weekend and you got caught.
You happened to be walked past the wrong officer, >> right? And you have happened to be
underage >> and that's probably why they took notice of her. I mean, she was a very small
individual, >> very petite. >> She was 411. She was they claim about 90 lbs. I' I'd guess at this point she's
probably about 100 105 because you're going to put on some weight once you're in college and if she's drinking a bunch
>> Mhm. >> I'd say she's probably about 100 pounds. >> Uh some of the same witnesses that told
police that she was using the night of her disappearance also stated that she had been using the same or similar drugs
regularly leading up to that night. >> But what does that mean? Is that for a couple months? Is that for a couple
weeks? Again, with this case, um, we have these witness statements and we don't have names to put to these
witnesses, right? We also have very pretty vague statements. And the thing here is that that my big caveat to
everyone, and this was to myself included when I was researching this case, was when they say witnesses,
well, I want a name. I don't just don't just lump everybody into a category of witnesses because guess what? We have
three guys that are under some suspicion and well four if you include the the boyfriend.
>> Um so we have four guys that are under some suspicion. Now if your witnesses are those four guys I don't like you
know it's tough when witnesses might be suspects as well because then you don't know their motive for saying certain
things. >> Right. Right. And and so the thing is is like you know let's just talk about the
ex-boyfriend for a second. What >> I mean, let's say I mean, for all we know, she was doing this for, let's say,
a month or so, and maybe he didn't really approve of it, and that's possibly one of the reasons he didn't
want to go hang out with her. >> Mhm. >> I mean, who knows? But we and like you said, that's the such a frustrating
thing when you're looking up some of this stuff. A witness said, "Well, who was the damn witness,
>> right?" >> You know, because that really changes the outlook. And and a lot of times as
armchair detectives, I think all of us would know this. When you start diving into a case, you know, some cases just
don't have much at all. But then other ones, like in this scenario, we have a bunch of witness accounts, but we don't
know who it's coming from. So, we don't even have any way that we can lean one way or the other. Is this true or
>> you don't know how much weight to put into those different statements. >> Yeah. And that makes it a lot harder to
form opinions, you know. >> Yeah. The the the cocaine in her apartment found afterwards does present
a problem. It does point towards maybe some regular use. Um to certainly to me, >> I don't believe this was her first
rodeo. You know, >> I agree. I agree. Cuz I I don't think you I don't know. I can't it's you can't
speak for everybody, but it's just hard for me to believe that maybe somebody goes from maybe a hardcore binge drinker
party person to all of a sudden now things are going up the nose and it's different. It's a different mixture of
things. It's not just it doesn't seem so experimental to me. Now, speaking of the
boyfriend, uh, Jesse Wolf, um, his mother alleged that Lauren had been had been asked to leave, or I guess maybe
sent home would be better way to phrase it. Uh, there was a summer camp that they had attended at one point, and this
was when they were minors, and she had >> Oh, she's well, okay. Yeah. >> Before, you know, before she was 18.
However, she was asked to leave this summer camp. Uh, you know, again, I this was she was asked to leave because of
drug use. Now, I'm a little on the fence with this. Again, I don't know that this
points towards some kind of hardcore drug addict. Uh, when I hear summer camp and I hear a kid getting sent home, that
like immediately screams smoking pot to me. You know what I mean? Like, >> I was actually going to say even
cigarette. >> Right. [clears throat] Right. because, you know, I actually attended a wasn't a
band camp, but it was it was an arts camp for musicians, for painters, for ballet dancers, and all the all that
stuff. Ballerinas. Um, >> and the big thing was it was like a twoe camp. So, anybody that like ever smoked,
you know, it was like, "Oh, well, you can't have a cigarette for two weeks, but if somebody could get one from like
one of the camp counselors, then it's like you're meeting up with a bunch of people to go share a cigarette in the
bathroom and and if that happened like every four or five days, it was like a big deal, you know, like you're you're
one of the bad kids." Um, but if we would have got caught, they probably would have sent us home and they might
have even said for drug use. summer camp just doesn't sound to me like somebody packing cocaine and bringing it with
them. And again, I don't know anything. I don't have any evidence to point towards anything. All we are hearing is
what Jesse's mother is saying now. >> Well, the well well, at least we know who that comment is coming from.
>> Yeah. And >> because because there is there is some weight to the fact that >> well, like we said, there's four guys
that are major suspects that we have to really consider. one being the ex-boyfriend. And to me, this is drawing
light away from him as a possible suspect and more putting the blame on her. >> And but the thing here though too,
Captain, is again, it's another very vague statement. When you leave these vague statements, you allow people's
imaginations to run wild and maybe people start making leaps and connecting things that they that really have no
relevance to one another. Mhm. >> You know, when you hear she's asked to leave summer camp because of drug use
>> and then you're like, well, she she was they found cocaine in her apartment. Well, this kid's been doing cocaine for
years, >> right? >> When really, I don't think I see a situation here of, you know, I'd like to
know some more of the details. Was this just simply a group of kids standing around sharing a sharing a joint and she
happened to be the one that got caught with it in her hand at the time? >> Yeah. Or was she just in the circle?
>> Yeah. Or did they did everybody get involved? >> Or did they find something in her in her
bag that she packed? Or, you know, it's a whole different way either way. >> Or maybe they find 500 lb of cocaine in
a bag. That's a lot of cocaine. [laughter] But but what I'm saying is it can go either
way. >> It can go from something pretty innocent to something >> something. Yeah. She was smuggling, you
know, she's running a whole cartel, you know, >> and we should also talk about the
initial police theories here. Um, you know, we and we'll dive into each one of these more on tomorrow's show, but just
just kind of to throw this out there for something to think about. >> Um, you know, when we have these missing
person's cases, there's usually a lot of theories. Well, the police start off this situation by working under under
just a few simple theories. Uh, the first being the foul play theory. Uh, remember they had originally said that
they expected foul play because she had not communicated with anyone, >> right? Uh the second theory would be
that the inner circle theory. Um someone in her inner circle did something bad to
her. Um this could have this could mean the boyfriend. This could mean any of those other friends that she was hanging
out with that night. A third theory is one that's probably common amongst college campuses. Uh but this would be
the somebody drugged her at the bar that that somebody would have put something in her drink or drugged her somewhere
along the night uh that she was out partying. >> Yeah, very possible. >> Uh and the fourth theory being a
possible overdose um and that persons with her or somebody with her tried to cover up the fact that
she died from an overdose and they got scared and dumped or hide hid her body somewhere.
>> So we have four theories. M >> we have four suspects. We got a lot to chew on till tomorrow. We got a lot to
dive into. This case is just getting started. >> And a quick description of Lauren of the
night that she went missing. Uh so everybody knows what we're looking for here. Lauren Spearer is described as a
Caucasian female who is 4' 11 in tall with a slender build. She has blue eyes and blonde hair. She was last seen
wearing a white tank top with a light colored shirt over top of it and black stretch pants. Anyone with information
on her whereabouts is asked to call the Bloomington Police Department at 812339-4477.
And for more information, you can also visit lauren.com. >> Yeah. And I hate to do it. I don't want
to do it, but uh >> you have to do it. >> I have to make a correction. I had a I have a I have a giant foot and
my giant mouth because you know what happened when I was researching this case? >> I made this statement and I was kind of
I was kind of a little pissed off and I made this statement on on National Women's Day, right?
>> Two weeks ago. >> Two weeks ago. And uh and I and I called Kim K's ass fat, which I mean I'm not
saying I don't like looking at it, but it's, you know, it's nice ass. Anyways, >> it's not small. It's not a small ass,
but uh I said if celebrities, you know, which you know, you know, talent or not, you know, she has power.
If she used her power for some good and maybe when somebody went missing, if some of these celebrities would use
their power to tweet this stuff out or put a blast on Instagram or anything like that. That's what I said.
>> You said that you you were that they should do this. >> Yes, they they should. And and so that's
what I said. And then as I'm researching Lauren's case, guess who tweeted about this case? Kim Kardashian. So I want to
go on record by saying that Kim Kardashian did tweet about a missing person case. Uh I think that's very
commendable of her. >> Yes, we applaud >> and I applaud her and I apologize for those ne negative comments.
>> Well, the thing is Well, that's very nice of you. And she didn't ruin Kanye's
career. Kanye ruined Kanye's career. But other than that, I I applaud her and I I
will admit when I'm wrong >> and she but she tweeted about this case years ago. You just happened to come
across it when you were doing your research. [clears throat] It wasn't it wasn't like she's reacting to the
captain, >> right? No, but it was just >> she doesn't know who the captain is. >> It was just the fact that it's just very
odd that, you know, we we pick a case two weeks ago. I bring up Kim Kardashian for whatever reason. I don't even
>> What a random thought. I don't even remember. I you know I don't even know how she popped into my head and I
brought her up. I was just thinking about a celebrity that could use their power for some some good and then two
weeks later it smacks me in the face that oh by the way you idiot if you did any research on her she has been trying
to use her powers for some good. So I apologize. I was wrong. >> How does that crow taste captain?
[laughter] I mean when I was reading I mean I was reading about it and I read Kim
Kardashian you know this case got Lauren's case got so popular that Kim Kardashian even po you know uh posted
some stuff about it >> and I didn't believe the article I was reading and then I was watching that
2020 on this case and they talk about it Ryan Serest and I went a [ __ ] >> the lesson here we shouldn't be so quick
to judge. Yeah, I shouldn't be so judgmental. >> All right, let's wrap this up so we can
start on part two. >> All right, you beautiful people. Thank you guys for listening. Thanks for
telling a friend. Thanks for telling family members. It's all because of you. We love you.
>> And we'll see you back here in the garage tomorrow. And until then, be good, be kind, and don't litter. Don't
talk [ __ ] about Kim Kardash. [music] [music]

Lauren Spierer /// Part 1 /// True Crime Garage

Episode: 91

Missing Person /// Lauren Spierer

Last Seen /// June 3rd, 2011 Bloomington, Indiana

Indiana University Junior

Age: 20

Blonde Hair, Blue Eyes

Tipline: 812.339.4477

Email: Helpfindlauren@gmail.com

www.truecrimegarage.com

Beer Fund: https://truecrimegarage.com/home

Brief Summary

Lauren Spear, a college student, vanished in 2011 after a night of partying, with theories suggesting overdose and foul play.

Key points

The Disappearance of Lauren Spear. A beautiful college student vanished without a trace after a night of partying.
A Wild Party Scene. Lauren was part of a wild party scene, leading to speculation about her demise.
The Altercation. An altercation occurs between Corey and four male students, raising concerns for Lauren's safety.
The Party Foul. Cory vomits on the carpet after a night of drinking, showcasing the chaos of the evening.
Last Seen Alive. Jason Rosenbomb is the last person to see Lauren alive, raising questions about the night.
Missing Person Report. Jesse, Lauren's boyfriend, receives a text from a bar employee after she goes missing.

Episode highlights

Episode quotes

Where are you, my sweet girl? I'm just missing you so desperately.

A parent's plea for their missing daughter.

3:14WatchDec 4, 2025

Tension

65/ 100Some tension

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