Indiana University student Jay Rosenbaum said he had nothing to do with Lauren Spierer's disappearance and that he has fully cooperated with police.
Rosenbaum, the last person to report seeing the Indiana University sophomore, met with Spierer's parents for two hours — and held another session with their private investigator — answering all their questions about the case, said his lawyer, Jen Lukemeyer.
"Yes, I have cooperated since day one, and I will continue to cooperate," Rosenbaum told The Journal News by telephone Tuesday, offering his first public statements on the case.
"And I had nothing to do with the disappearance of Lauren. Obviously, there's nothing more that I want than for Lauren to be found and safe, and for this all to be over."
He declined to field questions, and was joined by Lukemeyer during the call.
Lukemeyer said she had been evading media requests, but felt compelled to defend her client now because he continues to face heavy scrutiny.
He is among the "persons of interest" in the police investigation of Spierer's June 3 disappearance after a night of partying, and her parents have expressed skepticism about his statements and level of cooperation.
She said Rosenbaum has given statements to police and let them into his apartment.
He offered to give a DNA sample to police at their request, she said, but they never collected it. Her client also took a polygraph test, administered through her office by a "well-respected" expert, and shared the results with police, she said.
"Our polygrapher met with the state police personnel, and they were very satisfied with the tests," Lukemeyer said.
Rosenbaum, a student who lives in the apartment Spierer visited before she went missing, met with Robert and Charlene Spierer in Lukemeyer's office Sept. 19, she said. The Spierers' lawyer was also present.
"It was a full two-hour discussion," Lukemeyer said. "He answered everything they put in front of him. It was a very congenial meeting."
Rosenbaum met with the Spierer family's investigator, Bo Dietl, on Sept. 21. Lukemeyer said she listened into that conversation by phone.
"I don't want to get into the substance of what he has shared because that does possibly taint the integrity of the investigation," she said.
Neither she nor her client would discuss his final interactions with the 20-year-old Edgemont High School graduate.
However, in early September, Rosenbaum confirmed an account shared by his friends with The Journal News.
The friends said he tried to get her to sleep over, but let her leave after she showed she could walk without stumbling, and that he then saw her rounding a corner on her way back to her apartment.
Rosenbaum is one of several persons of interest in the investigation, now entering its sixth month.
Others include his friends Corey Rossman and Mike Beth, who live in the same building.
Spierer's parents, who are back at their Greenburgh home, would not comment on their meeting with Rosenbaum, or any other comments Tuesday by him and his lawyer.
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