by Shawn Cohen
First published 2024
Lauren Spierer was a twenty-year-old Indiana University student at a turning point in her life when she disappeared on a night out with classmates. The gregarious young woman was last seen in a townhouse complex with several wealthy, well-connected male students in the bustling university town. Despite being captured on security cameras and spotted by multiple witnesses throughout the evening, Lauren was never seen again. Her disappearance sparked global media attention from CNN, People magazine, and USA Today, yet the police investigation stalled and her body was never recovered. Author Shawn Cohen reconstructs Lauren's final hours minute by minute, drawing on support from her parents and previously unseen evidence. The investigation reveals conflicting testimony, botched police work, and signs of a cover-up involving powerful figures. Cohen conducts new interviews and examines how the case exposes the failures of both law enforcement and a system that protects the privileged. This account illuminates not only the mystery of what happened to Lauren but also the devastating impact on the innocent families left searching for answers.
Genres: american-fiction, mystery, crime, non-fiction, 21st-century, academia
Vibes: intimate, suspenseful, thought-provoking
Tropes: investigation, unreliable-narrator
Setting: Indiana University, Bloomington
Period: 2011
272 pages · Paperback · Sourcebooks
Content warnings: death