Source: Sourcebooks
BLOOMINGTON, Ind.–A new book about the 2011 disappearance of Indiana University student Lauren Spierer came out this week. The author, Shawn Cohen, has maintained a relationship with the Spierer family ever since Lauren went missing.
The name of this book is “College Girl Missing: The True Story of How a Young Woman Disappeared in Plain Sight.”
“I wanted to write a book that would finally allow to me to tell the full story of what happened that night and I wanted to look through the family’s investigative files,” said Cohen.
The Spierer family had hired a private investigative firm to try and find Lauren. In his book, Cohen argues that the Bloomington Police Department was not aggressive enough in going after the people that were last seen around Lauren June 3, 2011.
“By the time they started going at the persons of interest who were the last people to see Lauren alive, they had lawyered up. They hired high-priced lawyers who helped shield them,” said Cohen.
The interviews in Cohen’s book include people with Spierer the night of her disappearance, like Jay Rosenbaum and Corey Rossman.
In the book, Cohen talks about a 3 a.m. phone call made by Rossman to a woman he knew from his hometown in Massachusetts. He said surveillance video shows Rossman on the phone with Spierer collapsed on the curb next to him. The call doesn’t point to where Lauren could be, but it details what was on that call.
Cohen says he was able to talk to Rossman and Rosenbaum, but didn’t say anything incriminating.
“But when I get off the phone with Rossman, a little while later, Rosenbaum agreed to talk to me. It seems the two of them were talking to each other behind the scenes because they were very familiar with some of the reporting I was doing,” said Cohen.
Cohen says his hope is that it will revive attention in the case and “create some pressure on people who were in the mix and people they may have confided in over the years 13 years later.”
The Spierer family filed civil lawsuits against Rossman, Rosenbaum, and Michael Beth (Rosenbaum’s roommate) in the past accusing them of negligence. All of those lawsuits against the men were dismissed.
Lauren’s mother, Charlene, released a statement on the family’s Facebook page about Cohen’s book after she read it.
“Some people will hear about Lauren for the first time, some people will have forgotten and moved on. What I am hoping is that some people will remember and finally, finally come forward.
Thank you, Shawn, for using your skills as a writer, for being a reminder that there is a girl who seemingly did disappear in plain sight. A girl who is still missing, someone who knows the truth, a family who is still waiting. Hoping today is the day.”
