LA - ***ARREST*** Mickey Shunick, 21, Lafayette 19 May 2012 - #34

[justwannahelp]

Sort of OT, but I am confused as well. It seems there are 3 individuals we might be talking about: his biological father, an adoptive father, and a stepfather?

oh. i didn't realize there was a step. also, is joshua, the brother that made comment on news page last night, a biological brother to BSL or a bis he a biological son to Cynthia?

 

[manzana]

I have two thoughts and I know they both contradict each other.

First is that she went willingly, this is the only way I can make sense of the bike being kidnapped. Taking the bike just does not make sense. If she did go willful into vehicle, that does not negate a kidnapping charge. No one in their right or even wrong mind would take the bike in an abduction., unlees they were so completely out of it and they did indeed run her over which I do not see as part of an abduction plan.......leads me to number 2

LE definitely has video evidence that we are not privy to and will not know anytime soon until trial.

 

[Billiam]

Somehow, I don't think so. He's depended heavily on widespread dispersal of evidence.

Let's look at what he's done so far. He took Mickey in a city, yet no one heard her cry out, there were no bloodstains, and no bike/bike parts. She simply vanished, and were it not for the video footage, there would probably be no leads.

The bicycle ended up in a shallow, swampy part of Whiskey Bay. The truck ended up burning up in San Jacinto County, Texas...Near public property.

I wouldn't be surprised in the least if Mickey was found in Kisatche National Park, or in northern St. Landry Parish (Lebeau or Morrow comes to mind, or perhaps Thistlewaite reserve) or in the swamps of Vermilion Parish (perhaps White Lake).

I wonder how hard it would be to put a call out to landowners with large tracts to search their properties in those areas? Or to organize search parties to run dogs on public lands such as Thistlewaite, Sherbourne, etc?

We also know that he either took the battery out of MS's phone or destroyed it, in order for it not to ping. There is also an analog camera that films the circle K parking lot which LE reviewed one day right before I shopped there, the cashier informed me. Trust me, LE has searched Sherbourne with dogs before we, as foot searchers, combed the area as well as where the bike was found. LE was also interested in some private property accessible by vehicle near the bike location. Did they find anything? Only time will tell. We do know however that they have more than what they're letting on due to the ongoing investigation.

But if he did take the steps to destroy MS's phone, I would think that he would also cover his own tracks.

 

[ashola_nola]

oh. i didn't realize there was a step. also, is joshua, the brother that made comment on news page last night, a biological brother to BSL or a bis he a biological son to Cynthia?

I don't think it's been made very clear - don't take what I said as fact please! :blushing:

Someone here mentioned an obituary that included the word "step" when describing BSL. Apparently we're not allowed to link to said obituary.

Then there's this quote from Daily World:

Many people in the Church Point community know Lavergne’s father, who is supposedly very ill, Meche said. She described him as a nice man.

Without seeing that aforementioned obituary for myself, I'm still confused.

 

[cluciano63]

I have two thoughts and I know they both contradict each other.

First is that she went willingly, this is the only way I can make sense of the bike being kidnapped. Taking the bike just does not make sense. If she did go willful into vehicle, that does not negate a kidnapping charge. No one in their right or even wrong mind would take the bike in an abduction., unlees they were so completely out of it and they did indeed run her over which I do not see as part of an abduction plan.......leads me to number 2

LE definitely has video evidence that we are not privy to and will not know anytime soon until trial.

I think he took the bike so that he could buy some time...if someone saw an abandoned bike in the middle of the road, it may have been called in right away and started a search for the rider.

 

[Backwoods]

Are you referring to BSL's father being deceased?

Welcome to Websleuths, jarabie!!

:welcome4:

 

[ashola_nola]

I think he took the bike so that he could buy some time...if someone saw an abandoned bike in the middle of the road, it may have been called in right away and started a search for the rider.

(Especially a DAMAGED abandoned bike.)

 

[Boudin]

Let's remember that in his prior offense he left a washcloth with DNA evidence at the scene. IMO, BSL is not quite as careful and calculating in dealing with evidence as he thinks/we are giving him credit for.

I believe the article stated they found the washcloth in his room, not at the scene.

 

[Cajun Chardonnay]

The truck burning seemed to be a result of desperation, once it was shown on TV. He knew he had to destroy it. At the time he left the bike, IMO, he thought he was in the clear and may have left Mickey there as well, to be done with it all, and not risk being seen pulling over again.

Perhaps not. A lot of it depends on the timing of what he did with Mickey, and with evidence afterwards. The bicycle was a focus early on, when Mickey was first reported missing...The earliest I can find on the media description of the bike is May 21 (per KLFY). If he was "cruising" for a victim, then he may have also had more than one dump site in mind as part of his "planning" on getting away. The more I think about it, the more I think this guy had a love affair going with the CSI TV series.

The purse, cell phone, mace, etc. are still missing, as is the corpus delicti,and he could well have disposed of them in different areas. I would love to know if they find buttons, zipper parts from a woman's jeans, melted phone components, jewelry, etc. in the shell of that burned-out truck in Texas. I wouldn't be surprised in the least if BSL burned the clothes he wore that night, as well as Mickey's stuff, in the truck.

 

[Londonrraine]

I've been thinking this, too, Billiam. Surely BSL's arrest has led them to new search areas- anywhere around his house and anywhere near the burned out truck's location being the obvious ones. And I'm sure BSL's phone pings (as well as GPS if his truck had it) could help point to other areas, but the obvious ones could be searched by TES and other groups with cadaver dogs, etc. in the meantime.

Strange to me we haven't heard of any searches from locals or searches being organized aside from the ones at BSL's house/property Thursday & Friday.

I've suggested to the family that they ask Marc Klaas to help with the searches.

I'm hoping they were able to reach him earlier and that he's able to jump in ASAP.

 

[KateB]

I believe the article stated they found the washcloth in his room, not at the scene.

I can't link to it because it has been taken down. But it says:

"Also, during the search of the victims residence, a wash cloth with a sticky substance was found in the bathroom."

April 12,1999
Case No 99-0041

 

[justwannahelp]

I have two thoughts and I know they both contradict each other.

First is that she went willingly, this is the only way I can make sense of the bike being kidnapped. Taking the bike just does not make sense. If she did go willful into vehicle, that does not negate a kidnapping charge. No one in their right or even wrong mind would take the bike in an abduction., unlees they were so completely out of it and they did indeed run her over which I do not see as part of an abduction plan.......leads me to number 2

LE definitely has video evidence that we are not privy to and will not know anytime soon until trial.

as a woman from the same area as Mickey, i do not think she got in that truck willingly. i really feel strongly about it. i think he tied her up and put her in then threw the bike in while she was tied up. there's no WAY i would get in a truck with a stranger. if injured, i'd call 911. that's the first thing cajun mommas teach their little ones.NEVER get in!!! being that she was a cyclist, i'm sure her father reminded her of this. her parents often objected to her riding at night. i don't mean to sound snarky, but i think mickey was smarter than that. shedidn't get in willingly. she was just too small to get away. he's a big military trained man and she's just 5 ft and 115lbs. the odds were totally against her, poor doll. it makes me cry

 

[kjnmom]

Are you referring to BSL's father being deceased?

Mr. Lavergne died in 2009 of cancer in his obit his stepchildren are listed which includes BLS and another male. The surviving spouse is the woman who acknowledged that BLS is her son... adopted son.
http://www.katc.com/full-coverage/searching-for-mickey-shunick/#fcanchor

 

[shann76]

So his bio father is probably the one who is ill in Church Point

ETA: I mean, his adoptive father, not bio. This means at some point his parents divorced and his mother remarried

 

[LafayetteMom]

I believe the article stated they found the washcloth in his room, not at the scene.

I have it saved on my PC. It was in the victim's bathroom. I wondered, why he'd make her do that only to leave it there? He must have meant to take it but forgot it.

 

[manzana]

her parents often objected to her riding at night. i don't mean to sound snarky, but i think mickey was smarter than that. shedidn't get in willingly.

I disagree and not did not find your comment snarky. Clearly riding her bike at night was not a smart decision and people do not jump on the blame the victim bandwagon because I am not.

 

[Boudin]

I can't link to it because it has been taken down. But it says:

"Also, during the search of the victims residence, a wash cloth with a sticky substance was found in the bathroom."

April 12,1999
Case No 99-0041

Thanks for correcting me! Somehow I thought it had said a search of his room-I thought he may have taken it as a strange trophy-maybe a washrag from her bathroom.

 

[HouDat]

I was just saying that Carencro is not French. They are scavengers like buzzards do there is definitely that connection. Sorry if I came off any other way than helpful. I meant no disrespect.

None taken at all. Cheers.

 

[ktgirl]

I've been thinking a lot about this since last night when hubby & I were watching "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo" last night. The serial killer character in it said some lines that really had me thinking about this case & others (and yes, of course, this is a fictional character):
"Why don't people trust their instincts? They sense something is wrong, someone is walking too close behind them. You knew something was wrong, but you came back into the house..... It's hard to believe that fear of offending me is stronger than the fear of pain, but you know what? It is. And they always come willingly..."

I am not so sure a Mickey who had been knocked off her bike, perhpas injured with a bike that could not be riden, wouldn't take a ride from a nice, clean cut youngish man in a nice, new truck. It's not like it was a van with blacked out windows. Her bike will even fit in the back of the truck with no problem. And I don't think BSL looks like a murderer or rapist (whatever that means) in all his pics - in some of them I hate to say, he looks above average in the looks department. And he was probably very charming. And Mickey is 21. She doesn't have the life experience yet that many of us do. Maybe she had not taken rides from strangers previously, but after being hit by an overly-apologetic, charming, clean-cut man not driving a "scary" car, maybe she takes him up on the ride.

Word on the Cajunnet was for a while that there are other videos of either Mickey and/or BSL (and this was confirmed by Chief Craft at the presser), so maybe they do have her willingly getting in his car. Maybe they have her on film, then his car...next camera, she's not on film, but his car is with her bike in the back.

I don't think we can completely discount that she got in the truck willingly or that she was forcibly put in teh truck (was tased, forced a gun/knife point, etc). But I think sometimes in order to be polite (for example to someone who is so sorry and feels so bad for hitting our bikes- the girl in NC recently where this happened with another perp and she got away is an example; I know a friend from undergrad who is now a medical doctor who took a ride home from the man who hit her by campus- he didn't hurt her), Mickey may have agreed. He may have made her feel sorry for how sorry he (faked) feeling & she went. I can just picture him saying something like "I feel SO bad for hitting you and your bike. Let me make it up to you. Let me at least give you a ride to the hospital, home, etc." Maybe he even said he'd cover the damages to her bike or buy her a new one and would exchange that info with her on the way home/hospital.

I think there are several cases where serial killers have essentially been let into their victims' homes (or at least there are no signs of struggle- like they had their victims willingly open the door and then forced their way inside, for example...I believe it appears as though Pam Kinamore likely opened her door to DTL) as to not offend the person. How many victims were engaged in conversation by their killers before the killer took them by force or coercion? I think Ted Bundy succesfully offered enough women rides home or enticed them to help him load groceries with his "broken" arm in a sling...they simply may have been polite to say no...and once they were in his specially-rigged VW with no passenger's side inside door handle, it was too late...

Louisiana Law includes within aggravated kidnapping:
(2) The enticing or persuading of any person to go from one place to another (he could have enticed Mickey to get in by offering her a ride)
(3) The imprisoning or forcible secreting of any person (once in the truck, he wouldn't let her out/go)

I just think we can't discount her getting in the car with him. I don't think it's a smudge on her character to say she might have. If so, shame on him even more for taking advantage of a girl who trusted him. If she did get in willingly, she probably opperates under the assumption that many people and most 21 year olds do- there are more good people out there than bad. Even if she willingly got in the car with him, it is no way her fault that he was not a good person but a RSO who was out on the hunt that night.

Sorry this is so long. I've been giving it a lot of thought since watching that film and just had to get it off my chest. Thanks for putting up with my long post, fellow WSers.

 

[MamaRoux]

I looked at one linked off his brothers site. Name spelled Laverne. There was a photo of a piece of machinery as his profile pic. Of course this was day before yesterday I think and has since been removed.

Also, in some of the pictures of him, he is wearing a teeshirt with the words "Our Lord" on it. I really couldn't make out the graphic above the words though.
Just really creepy.