LA - Mickey Shunick, 21, Lafayette, 19 May 2012 - #1

[Cazzie]

I don't feel that Mickey walked away, even temporarily...but I am very willing to be happily wrong.

If she's held captive (a la Sarah Maynard), the FBI will find her, hopefully in time.

Beyond that, I don't even want to think about it. Crossing my fingers...

 

[queenofcorona]

I don't feel that Mickey walked away, even temporarily...but I am very willing to be happily wrong.

If she's held captive (a la Sarah Maynard), the FBI will find her, hopefully in time.

Beyond that, I don't even want to think about it. Crossing my fingers...

I feel the exact same way. I keep hoping if someone is holding her, that she'll get away and be ok.

 

[Cazzie]

I feel the exact same way. I keep hoping if someone is holding her, that she'll get away and be ok.

From everything you and others have said about her, Mickey is a very bright and intelligent young woman. I just hope that her loving and trusting nature did not lead to her trusting the wrong person.

Oh btw, regarding the carnies, especially with the FBI now involved, I don't think that "we" need to worry about them leaving soon for the next fair/carnival. Someone will follow them, if need be. KWIM?

 

[LanieCoz]

I sincerely hope that LE and the FBI have some sort of lead that they are just keeping from the public. It's so incredibly daunting to think that there was not one sighting of her, no findings of her bike, clothes, purse, shoes, phone or anything. Surely, I have to hope that they have something - even if it's a cell phone ping - that they are keeping close to their vest to ensure that their investigation doesn't get tainted.

I can't help but go to sleep with this sweet girl on my mind and wake up wondering if she's been found. I try not to allow myself to follow missing case reports anymore after Brianna Denison and Caylee Anthony. It's so easy to get emotionally attached to these cases even though you don't know the victim or families personally. I always say everything happens for a reason, but when I see things like this happen, I can't help but question my theory.

 

[LanieCoz]

I feel the exact same way. I keep hoping if someone is holding her, that she'll get away and be ok.

I find it very plausible. Does anyone have knowledge as to how exactly traveling carnies work? I'm sure they all sleep in travel trailers and such, but do they bunk together or do they all have their own trailers? A trailer would be a perfect (not perfect, but you get the point) place for someone to keep her drugged and keep her bike and belongings hidden. But, would someone risk that being that they are in such close proximity to other workers/co-workers? - This of course is assuming a carnie has abducted her.

 

[kgeaux]

The Surrey and 9th I'm looking at is the intersection between 90/Evangeline and Simcoe. 9th is a tiny street that connects Simcoe and Surrey, just east of downtown.

ETA: It's about 1 mile from BW's house on Ryan.

I forgot about cutting through downtown.....I was picturing going from Ryan to Johnston and continuing on as it turns into Louisiana Ave, and getting off on Surrey, then to 9th.
:blushing:

 

[CIRCA]

I find it very plausible. Does anyone have knowledge as to how exactly traveling carnies work? I'm sure they all sleep in travel trailers and such, but do they bunk together or do they all have their own trailers? A trailer would be a perfect (not perfect, but you get the point) place for someone to keep her drugged and keep her bike and belongings hidden. But, would someone risk that being that they are in such close proximity to other workers/co-workers? - This of course is assuming a carnie has abducted her.

I was trying to go through the posts by the Carnivel Company that is putting the fair on at Cajun Heartland but I got a bit sleepy and couldn't go anymore last night.
I'm just thinking that maybe I can trace a Carnie through facebook or twitter, there are plenty in there that say they work through the North American Midway Entertainment Company. Figure out who is working the fair. If you follow that Facebook of the company, they give awards to the different sets of employees at each fairground, this may be a way to likn the taff together.

 

[LanieCoz]

I was trying to go through the posts by the Carnivel Company that is putting the fair on at Cajun Heartland but I got a bit sleepy and couldn't go anymore last night.
I'm just thinking that maybe I can trace a Carnie through facebook or twitter, there are plenty in there that say they work through the North American Midway Entertainment Company. Figure out who is working the fair. If you follow that Facebook of the company, they give awards to the different sets of employees at each fairground, this may be a way to likn the taff together.

That's a great idea! I wonder how we could go about seeing if this carnival was in town when some of the other girls that were mentioned went missing. I looked on their site, but all they show is current and upcoming dates, not previous dates.

 

[CIRCA]

I posted the flier and a plea for any info on the Amusement companies Facebook page

 

[CIRCA]

That's a great idea! I wonder how we could go about seeing if this carnival was in town when some of the other girls that were mentioned went missing. I looked on their site, but all they show is current and upcoming dates, not previous dates.

Here is their calendar of events. http://www.namidway.com/index.php?option=com_eventlist&view=categoriesdetailed&Itemid=28 of events. I'm sure we could google it, or maybe it is cached somewhere on the internet. Either way it seems like the fairs start late May & Early June, not before then. Some of hte girls that I looked at disappeared up to a month before that time. How long does it take to set up the fair?

 

[TexasLil]

I posted the flier and a plea for any info on the Amusement companies Facebook page

I don't see it there. Did they remove it? Oops I see it now. Way to go!

 

[CIRCA]

I don't see it there. Did they remove it?

No, it's unfortunately not showing the flier upon entry of the page, it's a little paperclip mark. I will message them and ask them to make it a main pic on their page. - Done, sent them a message, I'll let everyone know if they write back.

 

[LanieCoz]

Here is their calendar of events. http://www.namidway.com/index.php?option=com_eventlist&view=categoriesdetailed&Itemid=28 of events. I'm sure we could google it, or maybe it is cached somewhere on the internet. Either way it seems like the fairs start late May & Early June, not before then. Some of hte girls that I looked at disappeared up to a month before that time. How long does it take to set up the fair?

Not neccesarily. We have the Strawberry Festival in Ponchatoula in April, which is a fair as well as smaller fairs such as Catholic school fairs, Italian Festival, Sicilian Festival, Oyster Festival and so forth. These fairs aren't as big as State Fairs, but they are definitely decent sized for the most part and they are all in the month of April.

 

[Dushi]

Often the Carnies hire local people to work a location as well

 

[CCK]

I was trying to go through the posts by the Carnivel Company that is putting the fair on at Cajun Heartland but I got a bit sleepy and couldn't go anymore last night.
I'm just thinking that maybe I can trace a Carnie through facebook or twitter, there are plenty in there that say they work through the North American Midway Entertainment Company. Figure out who is working the fair. If you follow that Facebook of the company, they give awards to the different sets of employees at each fairground, this may be a way to likn the taff together.

I'm hoping LE got a list of names of who would be working the fair and is checking them all for history of violent crimes (running their records). I would think that if you were a felon and it was hard for you to get a "regular" job that you could still get a job as a carnie (I'm not sure about this but I'm going to make an educated guess that you can still hold a job as a carnie even if you've got a record...something tells me its pretty likely bc its not like someone with a law degree is going to get a job as a carnie).

I'm sure many of those people are perfectly nice, law abiding citizens, but it could be very easy for someone who ISNT to work along side of them, but the traveling part makes it easier to be able to commit crimes and avoid being caught bc they move around so much, even if they are minor crimes, that they could get away with a LOT of things, frankly. But considering its likely she rode by there (assuming they can ever confirm if they've seen her on any camera) they should be looking at ones who have records with violent crimes, crimes against women, crimes that are sexual in nature, even peeping toms and whatnot...let's not forget Derek Todd Lee (who was a serial killer here) started off young being arrested for things like being a peeping tom & for robbery and B&E crimes, even for beating an old man once- and look what he moved on to.

People who tend to be arrested for crimes like being a peeping tom or exhibitionists often "graduate" to things like sexual assault. There could easily be people like that hiding amongst the carnies.

I really, really, really wish LE would go ahead and say if they have or have NOT seen her on ANY video yet. I just dont know what good there would be in holding back that info. I'm not LE myself, but I would think that if they released a location where she HAD been seen then the volunteers could have a better idea where to search and people who may have been in that area around the time she would have been in a certain spot would maybe think harder if they remembered seeing anything. Even if she rode through some residential areas during the early part of the ride, I think there would be some areas she would HAVE to have passed by that would have cameras that could be looked at. I think its very telling that something happened to her very near to where she left, or still makes me question if she left BW's house at all, if they cant find a single camera that caught her riding her bike.

 

[deca]

I find it very plausible. Does anyone have knowledge as to how exactly traveling carnies work? I'm sure they all sleep in travel trailers and such, but do they bunk together or do they all have their own trailers? A trailer would be a perfect (not perfect, but you get the point) place for someone to keep her drugged and keep her bike and belongings hidden. But, would someone risk that being that they are in such close proximity to other workers/co-workers? - This of course is assuming a carnie has abducted her.

Is this a large carnival or a smaller one? We have a smaller one that come through our town often (about 15 rides and 4 food trucks) and I have been able to observe how they run/set up/pack up. With a smaller carnival, I think it would be difficult to hide someone or a bike. They sleep in RVs, two or more to an RV and they pack everything into a big rig and the rides onto large flat bed trucks. Everything is packed like an intricate puzzle with no room to spare. I think it would be hard to hide anything. NOTE: this is for smaller carnivals only.

 

[Schmidty]

Here is a link for those wanting to take a look at past years' schedules for the carnival. The Wayback Machine is a great way to look at past postings of many websites; the circles on the calendars are clickable caches with followable links.

This shows their website snapshots from 2006-2011: http://wayback.archive.org/web/20110401000000*/http://www.namidway.com

This is the schedule for 2011, categorized by state: http://web.archive.org/web/20110714...m_eventlist&view=categoriesdetailed&Itemid=28

 

[LanieCoz]

I really, really, really wish LE would go ahead and say if they have or have NOT seen her on ANY video yet. I just dont know what good there would be in holding back that info. I'm not LE myself, but I would think that if they released a location where she HAD been seen then the volunteers could have a better idea where to search and people who may have been in that area around the time she would have been in a certain spot would maybe think harder if they remembered seeing anything. Even if she rode through some residential areas during the early part of the ride, I think there would be some areas she would HAVE to have passed by that would have cameras that could be looked at. I think its very telling that something happened to her very near to where she left, or still makes me question if she left BW's house at all, if they cant find a single camera that caught her riding her bike.

I completely agree with you. I guess I can understand why they wouldn't release the information, but also as a spectator/citizen I think I would want to know. Not just for the idea of knowing, but if I were out searching I would want to know concretely that she did indeed leave BW's house, and without confirming that she was ever seen on camera there's no way to know the she did leave. Also, the rumors of the bike having possibly been spotted - that's also something I think is important for people who are searching to know about. There are many people who are volunteering their time and efforts to search and many of them are looking for this bike. If they have found it I would think they could save the time of some volunteers who are on the lookout for it and who are hitting up pawn and bike shops.

It's a sticky situation, though. As I said, I could understand both sides of the coin. I have to say, though, with no confirmation of her being seen on camera I can't help but wonder if she ever left BW's house alive. What better way to tamper with evidence than to have the search stationed out of the crime scene. My mind is wandering, I suppose. But, all things are still a possibility.

BW said that they went through the Taco bell drive through in his car and then went back to his house. I wonder if cops have thought about checking the surveillance cameras to confirm BW's story and to see if perhaps his car was spotted on any cameras afterwards.

 

[LanieCoz]

Is this a large carnival or a smaller one? We have a smaller one that come through our town often (about 15 rides and 4 food trucks) and I have been able to observe how they run/set up/pack up. With a smaller carnival, I think it would be difficult to hide someone or a bike. They sleep in RVs, two or more to an RV and they pack everything into a big rig and the rides onto large flat bed trucks. Everything is packed like an intricate puzzle with no room to spare. I think it would be hard to hide anything. NOTE: this is for smaller carnivals only.

Are you asking about the carnival that's taking place in Lafayette? It's a large carnival, if that's the one you are referring to.

 

[Schmidty]

The Henderson/Cecelia levee area comes to mind. As a lifelong resident of Lafayette, I know that's a well-known, secluded, heavily wooded, easy-to-dump-anything location. I've not seen or heard mention of that area but, to my mind, if a person were needing a deserted area that would be a very likely candidate.