I'd never heard that Jessica Hawk worked in the French Quarter. Do you happen to know where? I know that she'd previously worked at Harold's Plants in the 9th Ward, across St. Claude, and was about to start a job at City Park's Botanical Garden in Mid-City. Her house was on Chartres Street, just across the tracks from the Marigny.
Here's a map of the location.
Does anyone know if Shunick was scheduled to graduate this spring? I've read that she planned to move to New Orleans this summer, but nothing about graduation from ULL or possible acceptance to any grad schools. For what it's worth, while I live Uptown, most Tulane and Loyola grad students I know live in the Marigny/Bywater/Mid-City. Some of them even bike all the way to campus. Students definitely aren't limited to Uptown- I think a lot of them prefer the more boho vibe in other areas.
I've yet to hear much of anything about how familiar Lavergne actually was/is with New Orleans. Though I do think it's very odd he'd drive all the way to Ochsner in Jefferson the same day Shunick went missing.