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Jared’s notoriety at IU no longer just a weight loss story

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. (WISH) — It’s safe to say most people know Jared Fogle’s weight loss story.

So we went to the exact spot where it all began at Indiana University. But unfortunately for Fogle, his claim to fame isn’t the only reason he’s now well-known in that area.

At the corner of Atwater Avenue and Woodlawn Avenue, you’ll hear the story of an IU student whose steady diet of sandwiches and trips up and down apartment stairs turned him into Subway’s top pitchman.

“Most of it was passed down from people we met,” said Alex White, a resident at the complex. “He’s a public icon.”

White said he learned the story from his landlord and neighbors.

“From what I’ve heard, (Fogle) was on the top level on the apartment complex,” he said.

We visited the room White mentioned. IU student John Schneider lives there now and said the maintenance worker for the complex told him the same story.

“(The worker) had been working here for a while, so probably believable,” said Schneider. “I see why he lost weight. It’s on the third floor, so you just walk up and down stairs every day and get Subway eventually you’ll shed pounds.”

Knowing that his apartment and the restaurant below is where Fogle’s journey began at once seemed cool to the two guys, but not anymore.

“It’s out there, everyone knows about it now,” White said of what happened at Fogle’s home in Zionsville Tuesday.

That’s when federal agents got a search warrant to go inside, taking out computers and data as part of an investigation connected to a child pornography case involving Russell Taylor. He’s the former executive director of the Jared Foundation, a non-profit that helps obese children lose weight.

Fogle hasn’t been arrested or charged based on the investigation, but Schneider feels he’s as good as guilty.

“I just don’t think the FBI raids people with, like, status for no reason,” he said.

White knows the situation looks bad on the surface, but he’s hopeful Fogle is innocent.

“You look at (Fogle) and you think, this is an outstanding guy,” said White. “He changed his whole life. You don’t want to think that he is responsible for doing things that harmed kids.”

Regardless of the outcome, it’s just another chapter in the story of the guy who put a sandwich shop connected apartment at IU on the map.

“It’s just like local legend. This was his place,” White said.

We went inside the Subway to see if there were any posters or pictures including Fogle but there weren’t any. The employee inside wouldn’t tell us if that was always the case or if they were taken down recently.