I wanted to share with Lauren's parents something that struck me in the USA Today piece this week. No matter what is learned someday about Lauren's disappearance, her family needs to know that Bloomington will never be "back to normal." We may have to someday accept a "new normal" but having come to know Lauren through her family and the media, we will be forever changed by the mark she was making on the world and in our community.

Students like Lauren bring a youth and energy to our community that is priceless. Each and every student leaves Bloomington having left a special mark on those of us who call Bloomington home even after our undergraduate years.

Those long, hot days in Bloomington last June when we joined in searches calling her precious name into the brush and woods and yards and streets about Bloomington, we each desperately wanted to bring wonderful news back to her family. Those wishes and hopes have not changed.

Lauren will always be in our hearts and Bloomington will always be the better for what she shared of herself with us while she was here.

Thank you for sharing Lauren with us.
The Meunier Family