‘Ride For Lauren’ held Saturday to honor Lauren Dumolo

Reporter: Andryanna Sheppard Writer: Drew Hill
Published: Updated:

It has been more than 100 days since Lauren Dumolo was last seen. On Saturday, her family and her community organized a ride to keep her name out there.

Saturday morning, family and friends of the missing Cape Coral mother took to the streets for a bike ride. There were motorcycles, t-shirts and some tears, all to honor Lauren Dumolo.

“She always had a smile on her face. She had the biggest heart, the biggest soul. She would give you the shirt off her back, the last dollar in her pocket,” said Paul Dumolo, Lauren’s dad.

Her sister, Cassie Carey said, “Her and I have grown up together from the start. She was my first best friend. She was never not by my side so I’m hoping that one day will be able to bring her home and have her by our side again.”

It’s been over three months since Lauren disappeared. Her family has been spending every waking second with thinking agonizing thoughts.

“One minute I’m hopeful and I think today’s the day that we find her and bring her home and then of course the next minute my thoughts are negative,” Carey said. “You know, why isn’t she home? What happened to her? Where is she? Are we ever going to find her?”

Paul says that many think it could never happen to them…until it does. “You hear about other people going through things like this and you think it could never happen to you and then your little bubble breaks and your world is turned upside down,” he said.

The Cape Coral community has been right by the family’s side during this entire ordeal. They refuse to let her name or case disappear.

“I probably could have been Lauren at some point you know,” said Danielle Langevin, who helped organize today’s event.

Hope Shepherd, of North Fort Myers, rode her motorcycle in Saturday’s event. “If I was missing, my son would be beside himself. He would be lost. He would be searching every day to try to find me,” she said.

So they all got together to hold ‘Ride For Lauren.’ The bike ride and fundraiser is meant to make sure that her name isn’t forgotten. The community encourages anyone who has information about Lauren’s disappearance to come forward.

The money raised from the fundraiser is set to go towards Crime Stoppers and search efforts. But they also hope an incident like this won’t repeat itself.

“It shouldn’t happen anywhere especially in Cape Coral. It’s just a close-knit community here,” said Rusty Spinelli of Cape Coral.

All in all, Cape Coral and Lauren Dumolo’s family just hope to get closer to closure. “I wake up and I think you know maybe this was just a bad dream and then I realize it’s reality and it’s just not easy. It’s very hard,” said Carey.

“It’s time for her to come home it’s time for an arrest. It’s time for justice,” Langevin added.

If you or someone you know has information about the disappearance of Lauren Dumolo, they are asked to call Crime Stoppers at 1-800-780-8477 or the Cape Coral Police Department at (239)574-3223.

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