Chicken, I just want to add to and perhaps modify some of what you've been theorizing about regarding the LCG west parking lot and a possible route for Mickey through Azalea Street out the back of that lot. Since I live right here in this neighborhood and am often heading out for errands after dark because of my schedule, I've seen the roads around here in just about every shade of light and dark.
First, I too have been wondering about cameras in that lot. I'm actually getting ready to head over there to turn in a utility bill, and it I have a chance I'm going to park in the lot for a bit and see if I can't spot any cameras. IF there are cameras there and IF LCG somehow managed to erase them or they weren't on...wow, if that ever came out it would cause a ****storm beyond belief.
Second, I'd like to note that, if Mickey took that shortcut to Azalea, even if the white truck (possible perp) kept going down St. Landry and shows up on that camera at 224 or at the funeral home (wish we knew if it was recording at the time -- it's pointed right at the road), in my mind it would not in any way discount the possibility of that truck being involved.
The fact is, if the person in that truck, or anyone else for that matter, had local knowledge of these streets, he could have easily realized the shortcut Mickey was taking and known that he could zip down the street, hang a right on St. Mary, and then effectively cut her off just as she reached the intersection of St. Mary and Azalea.
In my opinion, this would have been a prime opportunity for an abduction point. At that time of night, it would have been very, very dark at that intersection, and the perp could have easily pulled all the way out of the St. Mary roadway, blocking Azalea, and even if another car came up or down St. Mary not too far behind it's entirely possible they wouldn't have noticed a thing.
If your theory about her route is correct (and I tend to think it very likely is), then aside from the LCG lot this is the only place in this neighborhood where I can fathom such an incident taking place without attention being drawn. Just as you mentioned before about Brashear Street, this section of the Saint Streets area is very old, the houses are built up right on the road. Also, St. Mary and Souvenir Gate are reasonably well-lit for residential roads...unless (though I would think this unlikely) she did manage to get as far as the Cajundome area -- there is a stretch of Souvenir just before that point that is very, very dark. I jog through that area sometimes after dark, and it even gives me, a reasonably gruff 32 year-old male, the heebie-jeebies.
So, I guess I would lean toward two points to focus on -- the parking lot and the Azalea-St. Mary intersection. I have a hard time believing any type of pursuit could have snaked through the neighborhood without drawing attention, especially considering that, with all the different possible routes, an experienced bicyclist might have stood a pretty decent chance of losing a pursuer.
