So tragic. The family of a 20-year-old missing college student, Lauren Spierer, is wondering if a skull that was found in a river belongs to their daughter. Click below for the story.
A Westchester family is anxious to find out whether a skull found in an Indiana river last week is that of their missing daughter, who mysteriously vanished last summer after a night out with friends.
Lauren Spierer’s family has suffered through dozens of false alarms since the pretty, petite Indiana University student went missing sometime before dawn on June 3, 2011.
But on Saturday, her father, Robert, posted a solemn message on the family’s Facebook page along with a local news report that a fisherman had found a skull in the White River in Indianapolis, some 60 miles from where Lauren disappeared.
“In the days ahead, a family will have answers they have been desperately seeking,” the message said. “Will it be ours? When will you end this nightmare for our family? We will never give up.
“We are just as determined as we were on June 3, 2011. You need to know that. It’s our promise to you. For now we continue to wait…”
The WXIN-TV report didn’t mention Lauren Spierer.
The fisherman, John Hudman of Indianapolis, spotted the skull floating near the east bank of the river underneath a bridge on July 8.
The Marion County Coroners said it appeared to be that of a fully grown adult and that its teeth were intact, meaning dental records could be used along with DNA tests to determine its identity, the station reported.
The skull was sent to a forensic anthropologist, who would try to identify its age, race and gender, LoHud.com reports.
Those results could take six to eight weeks.
Dive teams searched the river for more remains, but didn’t find anything, authorities said.
Robert Spierer told LoHud.com that Indianapolis police told him they have no reason to believe that skull was Lauren’s, but that they would notify the family as soon as they had more information.
“We’re just waiting like everybody else,” he said.
Spierer, a 20-year-old sophomore and fashion major from Greenburgh, was last seen walking home to her apartment in Bloomington at around 4:30 a.m. on June 3 after a night of partying with pals at bars and apartments near campus.
Bloomington police say they receive about two to three “credible” leads per week in the case – totaling more than 2,600 tips to date, Fox News reported.
