She Went Camping With Her Friends, Before Being Found Floating In A Lake Under Mysterious Circumstances
Smithville, Tennessee. It was the summer of 2015 and 21-year-old Lauren Agee was home from college. She was majoring in criminal justice.
She loved life. She loved animals. She loved to dance.
Her obituary says she was, “full of sugar and a little bit of spice, she lit up every room she entered with her sweet spirit, infectious energy, enchanting smile and disarming dimples.”
“Simply put, she was beautiful…..and hilarious. She loved making those around her laugh and sing and dance and then laugh some more with her bubbly personality and hysterically quick wit!”
“Lauren’s huge heart and love for others made her everyone’s “Bestie”. She was your best friend even if she wasn’t your best friend.”
“She was the person you could always count on to have your back and she never hesitated for a moment to step in for the underdog when need be.”
Like any college girl, Lauren should have been able to enjoy the sunshine-filled months of her break catching up with those that meant the most to her while having a good time.
Instead, she wound up dead under mysterious circumstances…
Instagram; Lauren is pictured above
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Center Hill Lake in Tennessee is a popular destination for those that enjoy boating, fishing, swimming, or just being out on the water.
It’s also home to Wakefest, a wakeboard tournament that draws a lot of people in every summer to hang out and party.
In late July, Lauren and some of her friends decided to attend the event. Lauren went with her friend from childhood Hannah Palmer, Hannah’s boyfriend Aaron Lilly, and another guy named Christopher Stout.
Lauren’s mom Sherry Smith would later say she was hesitant that Lauren was hanging out with Hannah since they had somewhat of a tumultuous friendship over the years and Sherry thought she was not a true friend to Lauren at all.
Lauren was an adult, though. So Sherry said nothing when she packed up and went off with Hannah and the two guys.
Lauren and her friends camped out at an area in Smithfield, close to the lake, and the campsite is pretty much up on a cliff, located about 90 feet above the water.
It’s quite a drop to the lake below, and it’s not what you think of when you envision a typical campsite.
Instagram; Lauren leans into the camera, above
In order to get up there, Lauren and her friends had a steep hike up, peppered with a lot of underbrush and trees.
On July 25th, a Saturday evening, Lauren and the others had some drinks at a local spot, they got in a canoe, and they paddled back to their cliffside camp.
Christopher set up a hammock at their campsite, and he and Lauren ended up sharing it together.
But by the next day, Lauren was dead. Far from where she had been camping.
Instagram; Lauren smiles in the photo above
On Sunday afternoon, July 26th, Lauren was found dead at around 4 p.m.
A couple of fishermen who were out on the lake discovered Lauren floating face-down in the water, but she wasn’t anywhere close to where she had been camping on the cliff.
In fact, she was in a very private cove that was also set away from where Wakefest was happening.
Instagram; Lauren wears a red jersey in the photo above
Still, authorities and her friends insisted Lauren had probably fallen off the cliff she had been camping on.
Sheila Wysocki, the private investigator hired by Lauren’s family, notes on her website, “When Lauren’s body was discovered by 2 fishermen why was it on the opposite side of her assumed accidental fall? With evidence clearly showing the current was going the other way.”
“Furthermore, where was the path of her fall? There was no indication of any broken foliage, blood trail or even scratches on the body!”
As soon as Lauren was found, Aaron and Christopher came out of nowhere, in a canoe, waving down the fishermen and asking about if the body they just found might be their friend. Many found that suspicious.
When authorities arrived on the scene, Aaron and Christopher reportedly appeared to be “nervous and unsympathetic for the death of their so called friend,” according to the change.org petition started to re-open her case.
Lauren ended up going missing for around 12 hours before she was even found.
Christopher mentioned to authorities that even though he and Lauren were literally sleeping in the same hammock, he didn’t notice Lauren ever get out of the hammock, which is another detail that has struck a lot of people as strange.
Her friends never reported her as missing. They never actively looked for her. Yet she was missing for about 12 hours before she was discovered dead.
Instagram; Lauren is pictured above with a big smile
Lauren’s friends later said they realized all of her belongings had been left behind, right under the hammock she had been sleeping in.
Everything she had brought along on the trip was sitting right there. Her cellphone was there. Her wallet was there. Her keys were there. Her shoes were there.
Remember, the campsite is on a cliff, and it’s difficult to get up there. If you woke up, found out your friend was missing, and saw their belongings had been left behind, would you think they had just taken a walk back down? Without their shoes?
An autopsy was performed on Lauren. It was noted she had twice the legal amount of alcohol in her system and her cause of death was ruled accidental.
The medical examiner wrote that Lauren’s death was due to blunt force trauma, and also most likely drowning…but there was no water in her lungs.
Instagram; Lauren is pictured above on a beach
Lauren’s mom Sherry Smith maintains that she believes Lauren was murdered, even though her case has been closed since not long after it opened.
Sherry isn’t the only one who insists Lauren’s death was no accident, as the private investigator named Sheila that looked into Lauren’s case believes there’s much more to Lauren’s story.
Sheila has created an entire podcast series surrounding her investigation into Lauren’s death, and she has said she even used a dummy to try to recreate Lauren’s alleged fall.
She has said it was not possible for the dummy to end up in the water so she believes Lauren’s body was dumped in the spot it was.
She also said she believes there is evidence pointing to Lauren being strangled and there are photos of weird bite marks on her chest.
Sheila maintains Lauren’s nose was broken and she had bruises on her thighs.
Instagram; Lauren smiles in the photo above
Sherry has filed wrongful death suits against Hannah, Aaron, and Christopher to the tune of $10 million dollars, hoping to get some answers.
The suit against Hannah was dropped due to lack of evidence, but it’s possible that the ones against Aaron and Christopher could move forward.
Speaking to Fox17 about why Lauren’s case is not being reopened, District Attorney Bryant Dunaway said, “There is no crime scene anymore…All the people involved have lawyers and there is nowhere to go in the case.”
Sherry has pointed out that all of Lauren’s things that were left behind at the campsite have gone missing and were never taken into evidence that fateful day.
Instagram; Lauren is pictured above wearing a flannel shirt
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