Police are investigating whether a man arrested for allegedly killing an Indiana University student is linked to the disappearance of Edgemont native Lauren Spierer.

Daniel Messel, 49, was arrested and charged in the beating death of college senior Hannah Wilson, 22. Wilson was last seen getting into a taxi at around 1:30 a.m. Friday, after friends reportedly decided that she was too intoxicated to go to Kilroy's Sports Bar.

Her badly beaten body was later found in a vacant lot, and police say Messel's cellphone was found near her body.

Investigators say Messel and Wilson, who was scheduled to graduate in two weeks, had apparently met in the weeks before the murder.

Indiana state police say the case is eerily similar to the case of Spierer, 20. The Indiana University sophomore had also visited Kilroy's Sports Bar with friends before vanishing in June of 2011.

Spierer has never been found. Edgemont business owners are hoping that the community and Spierer's family will have closure.

Officials say there is no official connection between the two cases, but they are following all leads.