<p>As some of you know, an IU student from my area, Lauren Spierer disappeared about 3 weeks ago after a night/early morning that seemed to have been filled with questionable activities and contraband involving a number of students. The mother lamented today about the lack of students stepping forward with any information. Only one friend has stepped up… Thousands of people hunting for Lauren, but those who knew her best and were her friends are all underground, many lawyered up. Some of this is out of prudence, as they are not permitted to search and been told to keep their mouths shut and keep a low profile from the media circus and rumor mill. But still, that only one person has offered any info about Lauren who was a popular and socially active girl is surprising and telling.</p>
<p>What would you do if your student, your child, had information about a missing student that is probably dead, good chance that it is a drug related death, and your student knew that party scene well and partook of it as well. If a criminal lawyer being consulted about possible information that your student might have felt that it could put your kid in the lime light of this case, get him/her in trouble with the university, get very adverse publicity, have a frustrated police force’s attentions on him/her. And it would involve giving up a lot of names who are out of town, out of country, out of reach, lawyered up and could leave your kid holding a pretty ugly bag, Your kids is telling you that s/he has no direct knowledge of what happened, wasn;t part of any such thing that happened, but you are not sure. You cannot be 100% sure ever, but you are truly not sure. And the lawyer tells you that it means DNA testing, apartment/belongings/car/ everything scrutinized, request for polygraph to step forward. It is possible that your kid is involved in that s/he was there the day of disappearance and s/he has no real alibi, s/he says, though s/he insists s/he was not there at the last place Lauren was supposed to be.</p>
<p>What would you do? Would you advise s/he talk to the police sinch s/he has knowledge of lauren Spierer’s scenes and crowd? Or would you stay mum? What would you do if the police wanted to question him/her, but had no warrent, and no one else was complying to this request?</p>
<p>I have zero concern with the university, publicity or what anyone else is doing as I find most people to be ethically-challenged. This young woman has a family that is in Hell. I would hope if I were on the other end of the story, someone, anyone, would step forward and at least try to help. </p>
<p>I would get my child a lawyer and only allow him to speak to the police with the lawyer present. But I would insist my child share the knowledge they had. I hope that I have raised a child would not sleep at night if he did otherwise.</p>
<p>WOW. Well, I cannot say for sure. I put myself in Lauren’s parents’ shoes, however, and I cannot imagine a worse hell than having your child, the love of your life, missing, possibly dead, and never finding them or finding out what happened to them. Surely there would be some way to convey this information so that the parents could, at the very least, bury their daughter, and begin the process of grieving/healing.</p>
<p>You certainly present a horrible dilemma, but ultimately the truth is the most important thing in this instance, particularly given the fact that she is still missing.</p>
<p>I think it is easy to say tell the truth without regard to personal consequences, but not at all easy to do or done in general. While in general, this is a good policy (telling the truth), for someone who is not part of the crime(the girl’s death or disappearance), but could be subject to legal jeopardy for other acts, our legal system does provide the 5th amendment right not to provide evidence if it would be incriminating to the witness. This is a Constitutional right, and not just some cop out. That said, is there no anonymous tip line? If not, I suggest that one be set up post haste.</p>
<p>I am confused a bit by OP’s post. Will witnesses be subject to DNA tests, polygraph, search etc.?</p>
<p>Depends on the witness’s involvement. If that witness were there in the last hour or so that Lauren is supposed to be at 5 North, I think that person is going to find everything scrutinized.</p>
<p>That’s the crux of the matter. This young woman could be alive and suffering, goodness knows her family is suffering, and so the choice is to cover ones own behind or do the right thing. Of course it’s far easier to say than to do but it still must be done.</p>
<p>I’d get a lawyer and discuss whatever details the student knows and let them deal with how to divulge it. If the student isn’t directly involved in her death/disappearance then there is no real reason to fear major legal consequences. As far as being the one who “turned” on the others, sorry, that is a hard road to tread but it is a moral imperative that he/she help Lauren’s parents/police find out what exactly happened. If the student IS directly involved or knows who is involved with whatever happened, be that as it may, just be there to support him/her as they struggle through the fallout.
Easier said than done but quite honestly, and speaking as a parent who lost a child in what was later judged a homicide, you have to do this.</p>
<p>Well, let’s assume that Lauren died of an overdose (or a complication of her medical condition brought on by drugs/alcohol) and that the people with her panicked and disposed of her body.</p>
<p>If I’m one of the young people who got rid of the body – or if I was present when she died and was also using illegal substances – I might think that there are two alternatives:</p>
<ol>
<li><p>I shut up, in which case Lauren is dead and I am free unless the police find out about my involvement in some other way.</p></li>
<li><p>I tell what happened, in which case Lauren is still dead and I am in jail.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>I think many young people would be very tempted to choose option #2 – even young people who were very close to Lauren. After all, there’s nothing they can do for Lauren now. Choosing option #1 just to shorten her family’s suffering might not seem like a good idea.</p>
<p>There is a facebook page that Lauren’s family is using to give out information. The mother made the statement today about only one friend stepping forward. She has been making statments this last week to students and Lauren’s friends about taking the high road and please come forth.</p>
<p>As for the the lie detector and DNA tests of the parties in interest, that was in the news and, came straignt from the police officer making the statements. At least 4 young men who were close to Lauren in some way, that night or through relationship have been questioined, all have lawyers and have been asked for DNA samples. Polygraph tests have also been used though it was not made clear who was asked, who took them, who declined. Two of those young men have remained in the area, going about their classes, two have left town, whether by previous planning or because of what happened, I don’t know. </p>
<p>There are a lot of theories and rumors as to what might have happened and a lot of leads that have all come to a dead end. But as of today, Charlene Spierer’s direct appeal is to Lauren’s friends to please tell anything they may know. I am responding to that appeal; I don’t know who has refused to talk, but according to Charlene only one student has stepped forward.</p>
<p>Thanks for clarifying, I think I get it now. The mother thinks that people who knew Lauren might be directly involved in her disappearance. She also thinks that some of Lauren’s friends, while not directly involved in her disappearance, have information they are not divulging.</p>
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</p>
<p>If my kid was one of Lauren’s friends who had information I would tell him or her that it won’t come to the above quote unless they are a suspect. As long as the police don’t view them as a suspect then there won’t be any searches or DNA samples or requests to take a polygraph. They will just be someone who was there.</p>
<p>If there was partying involving illegal substances then maybe my kid will be in trouble with the school. I would tell my kid he or she should step up and face those consequences because someone has to speak for Lauren.</p>
<p>I would also add that the idea that there are people who know something and aren’t coming forward is an assumption. Maybe the only people who know anything are also guilty of a crime.</p>
<p>Wouldn’t the first friend to come forward with new and pertinent information also be the one to get the best plea deal if he/she were somehow involved? If so, this may be a good incentive for someone to talk (or does this only happen on Law and Order-lol). </p>
<p>I’ve thought all along that whatever happened to her had something to do with the students she was with that night. </p>
<p>If my kid were in this situation, I would lawyer him up with the best lawyer I could find/afford before letting him speak with the police.</p>
<p>this whole story has made me sick…and this latest revelation (of the friends not coming forward) has not helped…</p>
<p>If my child were involved in any way or knew what had happened, like nysmile, I would get the best lawyer I could find and then instruct the lawyer and my child to go to the police…</p>
<p>I think those parents are doing so. The 4 young men whose names have been released have certainly done so. Two of them seem to be pretty much cleared as their families, attorneys and they are ok with them staying in town. </p>
<p>I think the mother is referring to the kids with whom Lauren was “partying” before disappearing. Only one has stepped up and admitted she was with him and that he saw her off. Whether he had much choice in stepping up, I don’t know; I suspect not. But I don’t think he was the only one with her. Whether they just saw her early that morning, whether they shared drugs with her, whether they left and she was fine and well when they did, are all unknown. But I think the mother knows that her daughter was with a bunch of kids between 3-4:30 AM, if that witness has his time right, and none of them have stepped up and admitted it.</p>
<p>And yes, if you are involved in a crime and come forward and become the state’s witness you can often work out the best deal, but not always. Some of these kids may truly have no idea what happened to Lauren, but are reluctant to go into what they were doing at that time of the morning since I suspect it involved drugs. They may be hoping that their names do not come up in the investigation, and that Lauren would be found in a totally separate scenario. But with the investigation at a dead end, the focus is going to be on those last minutes and anyone who was anywhere near that area is being asked to check in.</p>
<p>If my child had information pertinent to a homicide or missing person’s case, the first thing I would do is to get him a lawyer. Nothing wrong with that and honestly not doing so is just plain stupid. But I am confused, does this person know something or not? I get that as a parent, if your child tells you that he (I will use he for simplicity) may know about the party scene and the people who Lauren partied with on a regular basis but that he has no specific knowledge regarding the night in question, I would still lawyer my kid up and encourage him to talk to the police with advice of counsel. I get that as a parent you can never be sure if your child if telling the truth for sure, but your college age child is certainly old enough to realize that lying will only come back and bite them. I would think a good lawyer could work out a plea deal with the university regarding any punishment for illegal behavior in lieu of information that leads to finding the missing student, dead or alive. But, I would NEVER encourage my child to stay silent just to save their own behind. Sometimes kids make bad decisions and they have to pay the consequences. But if they didn’t do anything that directly resulted in this girl’s disappearance or death then I don’t see what the problem is. Yes, their activities may get scrutinized, they may get poly graphed but if there is nothing to hide… Yes, some people may get incriminated in the invesitigation, but again, if they have nothing to hide it is all part of a normal criminal investigation. And who knows, maybe just maybe one of these named people could actually be involved or have information that will help find the missing girl. I could never live with myself if I encouraged my kid to stay silent, regardless of the consequences.</p>
<p>This story is so sad. It’s doubtful the truth will ever come out. A young life (in all probability) lost, a family without their daughter, college kids feeling responsible because they didn’t look out for each other…the list is long, the story is sad. Reminds me of my mom’s mantra for my siblings and me: “Not much good happens at 3 AM; just stay where you are; don’t be out and about.”</p>
<p>Keeping this family and community in my thoughts…</p>
<p>I would also hire my kid the best criminal defense attorney we could and have the two of them consult and only then they would decide how to work with the police. If the potential witness speaks with YOU, there is NO privilege in the conversation (both of you could be forced to testify about it) but the conversation between the attorney and client IS privileged and cannot be discovered (no one can be forced to talk about it).</p>