Authorities Search Landfill For Clues In IU Student's Disappearance
PIMENTO, Ind. (CBS) -- FBI agents and police from Bloomington, Ind., searched a western Indiana landfill on Tuesday, in hopes of finding evidence in the case of an Indiana University student who has been missing for more than two months.
As CBS 2's Mai Martinez reports, the search at a landfill south of Terre Haute is the result of weeks of meticulous planning and methodical research.
It could take up to two weeks to complete, and involves dozens of people.
Lauren Spierer, 20, was last seen on June 3 after a night out with friends in Bloomington, Ind.
A surveillance camera at her apartment building captured the last known images of Spierer just hours before she vanished.
Now the Sycamore Ridge Landfill in Pimento, Ind., is the focus of a painstaking search.
Bloomington police, IU police and FBI agents – aided by an expert from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children – have been combing a very specific area. It's where waste from Bloomington was dumped on or about the day Spierer disappeared.
That area of the landfill has been secured and cordoned off ever since then, as preparation for the massive search effort began within days of Spierer being reported missing.
A surveillance image released by Bloomington police could hold an important clue to her disappearance. It's video of a pickup truck that was spotted near where Spierer was last seen.
Tuesday afternoon, her parents spoke to reporters.
"There've been extensive searches. This is another search and, unfortunately, the Bloomington Police have not been provided enough information from someone who knows where Lauren is," her father Robert Spierer said.
The family has set up a post office box for anonymous tips about Lauren Spierer's disappearance. People with information should address their mail to: Find Lauren, P.O. Box 1226, Bloomington, IN 47402-1226.
Investigators have received thousands of tips in the case, which has received national coverage. They've even taken DNA samples from men who were hanging out with Spierer that night.
But, so far, authorities have not said if they've found any solid leads in the case.
