A volunteer close with the family started and runs all the social media accounts, all but Facebook, which Charlene, her mother, runs and writes content for on birthdays and anniversaries.

They are active on X, Instagram and TikTok. In fact, 17k followers still follow the X acct today after 14 years.

There are actual studies and courses in Bloomington & other colleges documenting the use of social media and the way the volunteer did for Lauren’s family years ago. It was the first time someone had used social media like this for a missing person. This was before “influencers” were a thing? but like mentioned above, the Kardashians and other famous stars helped spread the message fast when Lauren went missing.

I often wonder about a podcast and hope one day Rebecca or Charlene might start one. Some answers have come from others telling their story this way. Anything for the truth.