“College Girl, Missing” is a thrilling and thought-provoking true crime story about a missing girl from Indiana University, where Spierer studied. Cohen does a brilliant job of relating what happened when Lauren Spierer vanished, painting a detailed picture of the case that kept the nation on its toes.

This book differs from other true crime stories in terms of how it addresses the events that followed the disappearance of Lauren. Subsequently, the author sheds light on innocent people abandoned by such cases. Using new evidence, testimonies, and interviews, the author makes the reader doubt the initial finding and suspect a cover-up.

The story moves at a good pace such that the readers never feel bored. Cohen has accumulated a large amount of facts, detailing every step leading to Lauren’s disappearance and the police investigation that followed. As they watch witness accounts and clips from security cameras, the audience wonders how a high-profile case can run to a dead end.

Cohen’s writing style is simple and precise, rendering the complex details of the case understandable to the readers. The book amiably lies between telling the truth and letting the readers conclude. Thus, Cohen does not engage in sensationalism but presents a complete picture of the events, which the reader can interpret.

The one area that could have been investigated further was an analysis of the possible motives and role of the wealthy, well-connected male students who were in the presence of Lauren on the night she disappeared. While the book suggests a conspiracy, it fails to provide hard evidence or rival hypotheses. Yet, the general effect of the story remains.

In conclusion, in “College Girl, Missing,” Cohen demonstrates careful research and gives us a comprehensive picture of the investigation that leaves us with many unanswered questions about the Spierer case. This book is an eye-opener and a must-read for true crime fans and people interested in the intricacies of criminal investigations.

Thanks to NetGalley and SOURCEBOOKS( non-fiction) for access to this title. All opinions expressed are my own.

I only requested True Crime book this week and yet I couldn't resist downloading it ASAP. Shawn Cohen, was one of the original journalists who covered the missing case of Indiana University student, Lauren Spierer. This book is written with the blessing of Lauren's parents whom Cohen had kept in touch with and regularly informed about his own investigation.

Perhaps the most promising aspect of the book is that it contains information that was never released in the original investigation. Indeed, Cohen is able to get some of the students who knew Lauren to speak to him for the first time. Although Lauren's body was never located and there are many theories as to what exactly happened, I am hopeful that this book will spark tongues, once sealed, to feel like talking.

Shawn Cohen doesn't seem to me to be someone trying to capitalize on a young woman's unsolved case. Rather, I felt the tone of the book to be respectful towards Lauren's family and reverent in the minute to minute details of Lauren's night before her disappearance.

If you like the genre, this might be the book for you!








Expected Publication 28/05/24
Goodreads Review 03/02/24

College Girl, Missing explores the case of 20 year old Indiana University student Lauren Spierer who disappeared after a night of partying in 2011. The book is written by a journalist who originally covered the story when it happened, and now painstakingly details the events leading up to her disappearance, as well as the aftermath. No one was ever charged in the disappearance, as the first likely suspects, fellow students at the university, quickly retained attorneys and refused to cooperate with authorities. The author is able to coax these students to speak about that night for the first time, offering new insights not previously known, and capably lays out the facts, as well as some other theories, and let’s the reader decide for themselves as to anyone’s culpability, as no arrests were ever made, and Lauren’s body was never discovered. I would have liked to have seen more details regarding the police investigation (or lack thereof), although the local authorities refused to speak to the author, citing the “ongoing investigation”. Overall, this is an interesting read of a case that had national attention in a concise, well-formatted fashion. I received an ARC of this book from the publisher through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I’m a big fan of well-done true crime. I also read WAY too much not-so-well-done true crime, and I occasionally get very curious about stories where someone just VANISHES off the face of the earth. (Bryce Laspisa or Patti Adkins come to mind). I had heard of the disappearance of Lauren Spierer but wasn’t really familiar with the story, so I was happy to get a copy of College Girl, Missing from Sourcebooks and NetGalley in exchange for this honest review.

Shawn Cohen is a skilled reporter who left his newspaper job in New York after a scandal involving him, a hooker/witness, and a court case. He worked on Lauren’s case for years after being one of the first to cover it and now has written a book with cooperation from the Spierer family, and it is THOROUGH.

Lauren was a student at Indiana University in Bloomington, IN who went out for a night of fun with friends, after they all apparently got ready (“pregaming”) with plenty of alcohol and other drugs. Despite the fact that Lauren was a very petite woman, she was reputedly able to handle the partying – but was she really? She had been cited for alcohol use at college after being sent to rehab for her drinking and drug use when she was even younger, but she really liked to be social and party. Cohen doesn’t sugarcoat her story, and I understand why her family has been less than thrilled with every tiny detail of Lauren’s life being used to sell ads (in one way or another, including print, TV, and podcasts).

The book has great detail about the less-than-stellar police work, the sketchy frat boy/rich kids she hung out with, and the way her story exploded in the media. The whole pretty-white-girl-gone-missing story, so reminiscent of the stories of Natalee Holloway and Laci Petersen, is all too familiar to true crime fans. And while there are too many options to think it will be solved (stranger abduction, drunken mishap, body buried in trash site, hidden corpse thrown into construction site next door, even a suggestion of an encounter with Israel Freaking Keyes!), Cohen has skillfully given the reader a sense of what her family has gone through along with a message about how the media handles cases like Lauren’s. A sad cautionary tale. Four stars.

Told with only the evidence and his own personal experiences with this case, we get insights into the case of Lauren Spierer, a college girl who disappeared with very little trace, from her Indiana University campus.

This follows the known evidence in the case, as well as some uncovered findings by the author, a journalist who worked on this and many other cases. I feel so strongly for the family of this girl, who still continue to lay their heads down at night, not truly knowing what happened to Lauren.

This goes through the media coverage that surrounded the case... the ways in which this got prime spotlight because she was white and from a good family, while cases of girls similar in age to her didn't get as much coverage. I think that is grotesque and I am glad it was highlighted so many times in this book. Also, it puts the possibility that tragedy could strike anywhere, even in quiet, respectable college towns. This book also shows the glaringly disgusting headline that Lauren was a girl who struggled with alcohol and drugs. Media conflated her struggles with a sense of blame that her lifestyle was a contributing factor in her disappearance, similar to when people try to ask female victims of sexual assault what they were wearing...

This was informative and ghastly, and it is clear that the author never EVER let go of the tragic disappearance of Lauren Spierer.

Not a lot of new information was disclosed in this true crime novel…but it keeps the case in the spotlight. So many unanswered questions in this case.

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/197036037

This was riveting. Highly recommend. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read this ARC in exchange for my honest review

This is the true story about the disappearance of college student Lauren Spierer. An IU student who went missing after a night of heavy drinking and drug use.

The lack of proper police work is probably the big reason Lauren has never been found. And it highlights how some policing units in the states refuse help from other law enforcement agencies with more experience. It also highlights how a family's reputation & money can seem to protect them from having to provide answers.

I feel for Laurens family and the not knowing.

Overall it's a good book. It's highlighted a case I've never heard of and hopefully something will come of it for Laurens family.

While I love the premise of this book and it is an impelling story. I found this to be very slow and dragged out. Unfortunately this book was not for me. I think this story would be wonderful in a podcast format.

I hadn't heard of this case before so it was interesting to hear about the crime and to learn more about the short life of Lauren.

I was intrigued by this book because there was an almost eerily similar case in my hometown, that was also unsolved. I also hadn’t heard of this case before!

I like the writing in this book along with all the evidence and theories it speculated. Cohen provided a lot of details, which is part of the reason I love true crime stories to try to speculate on my own.

Great read if you love this genre!

Shawn Cohen has covered the disappearance of Lauren Spierer for over a decade, and in College Girl, Missing, explains the years of attention to the case. Lauren was a college student at Indiana University when she disappeared after a night of partying. Several young men who spent time with her that evening were persons of interest, but the investigation never resulted in an arrest. Lauren’s family never gave up hope that someone would come forward to break the case, but that never happened. Cohen does a good job exploring the possible scenarios of the disappearance, and brings the story to life.

Lauren Spierer, 20, a rising junior at Indiana University disappeared on June 3, 2011 in Bloomington. The daughter of Robert and Charlene of the suburbs of New York City, Lauren’s disappearance received widespread attention on CNN, People magazine and in scores of newspapers.

On the night of her disappearance she was drinking heavily with friends and was seen by witnesses and in security cameras. Her last known whereabouts are at two townhouses with four male students. Two of them claim that she decided to go home and left on her own. She has not been seen since.

Her disappearance is a real mystery. Lauren was known to use recreational drugs on occasion and she also suffered from long QT syndrome. It’s possible she did leave the townhouse that night and was abducted by a stranger, or had an accident on the way home. But if an accident, where is her body? It’s possible she overdosed or otherwise died and the boys panicked and hid her body. And it’s possible she was murdered. It’s just difficult to believe, in both cases, that no body has turned up and that none of the boys turned on the others.

As with all cases of this type there are allegations of “MWWS” - missing white woman syndrome. Lauren’s case was widely publicized….she was also a conventionally attractive 4’10” blonde.

This was a good true crime story. I wish the author had gone a bit more in depth about the construction being done right around the townhomes. I find it interesting that massive amounts of concrete were poured the next day. Isn’t it possible that Lauren is buried under there? And I wish photos had been included in the book. I always like to be able to have a picture of the subjects in my mind. But, overall, well done.

In June of 2011 Indiana University sophomore Lauren Spierer spent a night drinking and visiting with friends, and after consuming too much, ended up in the company of a boy she barely knew. At the end of the night she drunkenly left a friend's apartment intent on heading home, and that's the last anyone ever saw of her. Twelve years later, Shawn Cohen, who was one of the first journalists to report on the case, decided it's time to revisit the case, and with permission and assistance from the Spierer family recounts the incident as well as gives a rundown of Lauren's friends, the persons of interest in the case and the investigative approaches of the local police and a PI firm hired by the family.
I vaguely recall reading bits and pieces about this case way back when it happened, but never saw where the story eventually went. Cohen does a solid job of reiterating all that happened back in the day as well as where things have gone up through his reinvestigating the case today. As all the primary suspects pretty much lawyered up at that time and were never very cooperative since, and the police did a mediocre job of investigating themselves, the book ultimately only reveals some tidbits of information you may never have heard in the press before, but other than shining the light again on some of the persons of interest and mentioning some of the often outlandish alternative theories, it doesn't provide any real answers. That isn't to say it wasn't an engaging read and quite informative about what is definitely known and which people could shed more light on the story were they ever to decide to do so.

I was immediately swept up in this story.- I read it in one sitting. I was not overly familiar with the Lauren Spierer case.

I must admit that I was not familiar with the case of Lauren Spierer, a college student at Indiana University who disappeared after a party in 2011. I enjoy true crime, and I am a mother to a young adult in college, so this story left me both riveted and saddened.

This book is very honest about why Lauren was vulnerable - she had her struggles with drugs and alcohol and probably didn't have complete control that night. The author didn't idolize her in the way that some true crime does with victims. However, the author also stresses that her struggles didn't mean she deserved what happened to her or mean that she was missed any less. She deserves justice like anyone else.

The narrative is very thorough and straightforward. It is clear that someone may well know what has happened, but no one important to the narrative has been forthcoming enough to allow law enforcement to solve this case.

The author does a great job of presenting the very detailed information that he has gathered as part of his reporting of this case. I very much enjoyed this book and can recommend it to anyone who enjoys true crime.

Disclaimer: I live in Indiana, approximately 2 hours north of Bloomington. So this book hits home to me. Obviously the gist of the story was known to me but there were many details in the book I was unaware of, as I’m sure most people are. I liked how the book broke down the different parts of Lauren’s life and was honest about who she was including her struggles. Oftentimes you get the “Dateline” version of people I.e. “they lit up the room when they walked in, they were everyone’s friend, etc.” I think sharing her struggles actually made her more relatable. I am only 3 years older than Lauren and I remember how I felt invincible when I was her age but was also terrified when I got myself into my own trouble. Not a child anymore, but not quite an adult. I think the author did his due diligence in relation to those involved at the time and I believe he went above and beyond to get additional information that the police and private investigators hadn’t even touched. I loved that the author touched on the “White Woman Missing Syndrome” because there are so many BIPOC that are missing that get no media coverage whatsoever. Overall, a phenomenal book that I hope brings attention to Lauren’s case and puts pressure on the person or persons out there that know something to come forward. I pray for peace for Lauren’s loved ones and all the loved ones out there waiting for their person(s) to come home.

Thank you to Sourcebooks for this ARC and to Shawn Cohen for telling Lauren’s story.

Thank you to Sourcebooks and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this book!

Shawn Cohen has put together quite the detailed outline about a college girl who seemed to vanish in thin air. He recounts the interviews and the media frenzy when this first happened.

I hope that this book will bring the family justice and that someone will speak up about what really happened that fateful night.

Well written true crime case, but with not many revelations or surprises within. If you haven’t heard of it it’d be a good choice. Thanks for the arc

Lauren Spierer 20 was a regular college student from a regular family when she suddenly disappeared in 2011. She was partying and ended up in a house with four guys she barely knew and then just never came home. There was an investigation, the guys from the house, her friends, her boyfriend were all interrogated by the police, but no one knew what happened. Twelve years later the case is still unsolved, someone knows what happened to her, but that someone is not talking.

The case was widely covered back then (something I missed not being American) and the author does acknowledge that Lauren was probably a good example of the missing white woman syndrome, other women who also disappeared back then, didn’t get the same coverage. Acknowledging that bias doesn’t make Lauren’s story not important, and it doesn’t make her family miss her less.

I feel like College girl is a book about several stories, all interesting in their own ways. First it’s the story of reporter and the bond he creates with that family, the reason twelve years later he’s still interested in the story. It’s also the story of parents grieving a daughter now knowing what happened to her. There’s something incredibly cruel in having to grive someone but not actually having a grave to visit and pay respect to. Lauren’s parents are not stupid, they know their daughter is probably dead, but they still want and need to know what happened to her.

The last and probably most important story is a story about the danger of being a woman in our society. Lauren’s friends and family didn’t hide the fact that she had a problem with drinking and taking drugs, the night of a disappearance she ended up not being in control, she put herself in danger not realizing it. That quote says it all :
“You can tell at the bars, there’s a lot of girls that are extremely drunk without really much support or anything like that, and there’s a lot of creepy older dudes at the bars that kind of hang around and are pretty clearly waiting for something like that.” He said young co-eds are also often preyed on by other students, whether it’s in the frats, at off-campus pre-games, or on the streets at the end of a long night."

This reminds me of the French movie (based on a real case) “La nuit du douze”. The problem isn’t a lack of suspects, the problem is that there are too many. A woman in a vulnerable state outside at night? She’s the perfect prey. And if we still don’t know what happened to Lauren, we know that something happened to her. There was also a lot of victim blaming (not from the author), she was a drunk and a drug addict, what did she expect.? What makes Lauren’s story interesting isn’t that she’s a white girl from a good family who is still missing. It’s that her story could be any woman’s story. At some point one of her friends says :

“I’ve gotten too drunk at times and wondered what if I got unlucky and was in the wrong place at the wrong time or hung out with the wrong person. We did all that stupid shit in college, and she drew the short end of the stick in a way that I thought was unimaginable.”

If you’re a woman, that’s something that you always think about.
As far as true crimes books goes, this one really remembers that in every crime story there is a victim involved and that she’s a real person, that makes it a really good book.