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

[pjcitizen]

I am wondering what the local public mood is.
LE seems to be keeping things close to the vest but how long can the public continue to put faith in LE while their children and family are possibly living amongst a killer.

Do most people in town feel safe? Has LE come out and said, we think it is someone who knew Mickey and we do not feel it is a stranger so yall do not have to worry and be vigilant or has LE left it hanging?

I'm not saying it well but I hope you understand the question. At some point I think LE should reassure the community that they have information and its people are safe. If they are not safe then give them information to keep themselves safe.
JMO

A few of my friends are taking a concealed carry course. That is something new.

 

[helpful]

I just finished reading all of Mickey's threads. She seems like such an awesome person.

I'm a pretty small twentysomething woman and I walk places alone after dark all the time. Every Tuesday I walk home from a bar in a nearby town, about five miles total, because none of my friends live in the same direction I do. I walk to and from work by taking a shortcut over a fairly untraveled road, mostly because it's pretty and I like to hear the birds (I listen to people talk all day so the silence is nice). I live in a "safe" town and carry a knife just in case. I really thought I was taking reasonable precautions and felt like I didn't need to worry because my city is relatively low-crime. I read stories on WS all the time about people who disappear, but this one is hitting home. From what I can tell, Mickey wasn't doing anything wrong, she was just a kid who probably made an error in judgment and was caught in the wrong place at the wrong time. It could have been me or any of the people I know.

Since reading these threads, I am thinking twice about my habits. I realize that I shouldn't walk with my iPod anymore, and I should wait to text until I'm at my office or at home. There's a route to work that uses a busy, well-lit street, and it won't take that much longer. I am guilty of so many careless behaviors. I am kind of freaked out, to be honest. I never even stopped to think about what could happen,and in fact, I actually considered myself a cautious person. Then I read the posts from older (wiser) people here who couldn't believe that Mickey was riding her bike alone at 2 AM or that her friends didn't offer to drive. I would not have thought twice if someone I knew had been in the same situation.

Mickey is just like me and so many of my friends. I think we'd get along. I guess a lot of us just don't stop to think that we aren't invincible just because we're young. I hope that she comes home safely very soon and can enjoy the summer with her friends, like all twentysomething kids should be able to do.

Rambling now. Come home, Mickey.

 

[chicken fried]

A few of my friends are taking a concealed carry course. That is something new.

Just myself, I feel the town is growing more and more unsafe. It's still a nice town, but since Katrina and especially the last 3 years or so, it just seems like more and more thugs are coming to town... a situation we didn't used to have. There are a growing number of bad dudes here, and I myself, as a man, am thinking about getting a permit myself.

 

[jennapuppy]

The guard related a poignant story about another guard confronting Mickey about cutting across a part of the lot, coming up from St. Mary one time, asking why she was out so late by herself because it wasn't safe... and Mickey talked back, saying, "well if it's so dangerous, then what are you doing out here at 2 a.m. then? The guard told her, "because we can go inside if we need to. Mickey laughed it off and rode away. Both guards are pretty upset, the one guard told me, especially that one, because she said she wished somehow she could have gotten through to Mickey how unsafe it was. Mickey's friends swarmed the grounds looking for her, and the cops went through the hopital and parking structures with a a fine-tooth comb.

Oh, my...

 

[chicken fried]

Oh, my...

The guard seemed like a hardened lady, and she was fighting back tears talking about Mickey. It really hit her hard.

 

[kantoo]

I just finished reading all of Mickey's threads. She seems like such an awesome person.

I'm a pretty small twentysomething woman and I walk places alone after dark all the time. Every Tuesday I walk home from a bar in a nearby town, about five miles total, because none of my friends live in the same direction I do. I walk to and from work by taking a shortcut over a fairly untraveled road, mostly because it's pretty and I like to hear the birds (I listen to people talk all day so the silence is nice). I live in a "safe" town and carry a knife just in case. I really thought I was taking reasonable precautions and felt like I didn't need to worry because my city is relatively low-crime. I read stories on WS all the time about people who disappear, but this one is hitting home. From what I can tell, Mickey wasn't doing anything wrong, she was just a kid who probably made an error in judgment and was caught in the wrong place at the wrong time. It could have been me or any of the people I know.

Since reading these threads, I am thinking twice about my habits. I realize that I shouldn't walk with my iPod anymore, and I should wait to text until I'm at my office or at home. There's a route to work that uses a busy, well-lit street, and it won't take that much longer. I am guilty of so many careless behaviors. I am kind of freaked out, to be honest. I never even stopped to think about what could happen,and in fact, I actually considered myself a cautious person. Then I read the posts from older (wiser) people here who couldn't believe that Mickey was riding her bike alone at 2 AM or that her friends didn't offer to drive. I would not have thought twice if someone I knew had been in the same situation.

Mickey is just like me and so many of my friends. I think we'd get along. I guess a lot of us just don't stop to think that we aren't invincible just because we're young. I hope that she comes home safely very soon and can enjoy the summer with her friends, like all twentysomething kids should be able to do.

Rambling now. Come home, Mickey.

Oh honey, i am so glad to hear that you have figured out what is safe and not so safe these days. We don't want to be talking about you on a thread here, we want to be talking WITH you. :heartbeat:

 

[Backwoods]

Though I'm reading as much as I can, when I can, I'm finding it impossible to read all posts in every thread, just purely impossible (and I think I'm still 7 or 8 pages out from the most recent posts in this one), -- so I apologize if this is something that may have been discussed.

Just something that keeps crossing my mind and wondering whether anyone else thinks it's worth pondering: Maybe the bike was dismantled or partially dismantled when found.

Nothing to make me think that, except the weird thing about it being mentioned by the LE officer about the handgrips being found in the same location as the bike, as though they weren't hard to find but maybe were not on the bike.

Just made me start wondering if the person who placed the bike there may have dismantled it --maybe they originally planned to dispose of it piecemeal? -- and placed the parts in some kind of large container -- say, a large cooler. (That's something folks wouldn't think twice about, I bet, in a place where fishermen come and go). It could have been placed where it was found or placed elsewhere by boat, maybe partially weighted, and floated there.

I know this is sort of "out there", but it keeps occurring to me, so thought I'd mention it. If nothing else, maybe it will spark a related but more likely idea from someone else.

 

[chicken fried]

Though I'm reading as much as I can, when I can, I'm finding it impossible to read all posts in every thread, just purely impossible (and I think I'm still 7 or 8 pages out from the most recent posts in this one), -- so I apologize if this is something that may have been discussed.

Just something that keeps crossing my mind and wondering whether anyone else thinks it's worth pondering: Maybe the bike was dismantled or partially dismantled when found.

Nothing to make me think that, except the weird thing about it being mentioned by the LE officer about the handgrips being found in the same location as the bike, as though they weren't hard to find but maybe were not on the bike.

Just made me start wondering if the person who placed the bike there may have dismantled it --maybe they originally planned to dispose of it piecemeal? -- and placed the parts in some kind of large container -- say, a large cooler. (That's something folks wouldn't think twice about, I bet, in a place where fishermen come and go). It could have been placed where it was found or placed elsewhere by boat, maybe partially weighted, and floated there.

I know this is sort of "out there", but it keeps occurring to me, so thought I'd mention it. If nothing else, maybe it will spark a related but more likely idea from someone else.

I think the bike and the handgrips floated to the same place.

Trapped air may have helped them pop off.

 

[chicken fried]

A cooler.. you mean for camouflage? So as to make it easy to put in a boat without suspicion??

 

[perpetual curiosity]

Though I'm reading as much as I can, when I can, I'm finding it impossible to read all posts in every thread, just purely impossible (and I think I'm still 7 or 8 pages out from the most recent posts in this one), -- so I apologize if this is something that may have been discussed.

Just something that keeps crossing my mind and wondering whether anyone else thinks it's worth pondering: Maybe the bike was dismantled or partially dismantled when found.

Nothing to make me think that, except the weird thing about it being mentioned by the LE officer about the handgrips being found in the same location as the bike, as though they weren't hard to find but maybe were not on the bike.

Just made me start wondering if the person who placed the bike there may have dismantled it --maybe they originally planned to dispose of it piecemeal? -- and placed the parts in some kind of large container -- say, a large cooler. (That's something folks wouldn't think twice about, I bet, in a place where fishermen come and go). It could have been placed where it was found or placed elsewhere by boat, maybe partially weighted, and floated there.

I know this is sort of "out there", but it keeps occurring to me, so thought I'd mention it. If nothing else, maybe it will spark a related but more likely idea from someone else.

could be because it's not real clear if the handle bars were found separately. Hard to tell with the way it was worded:


http://www.lafayettela.gov/Police/Press_Releases.asp?PR_Id=4677

UPDATE VIII: Condition of Bike Released by Detectives
Original Release: May 29, 2012 @ 3:30 pm
Lafayette, LA – Detectives with the Lafayette Police Department have released the condition of Mickey Shunick’s bike as it was found. The bike was found to be submerged except for a small section of the frame. The bike’s rear tire was found to be damaged. It is currently being processed by the Louisiana State Police Crime Lab. Detectives are hopeful that forensic experts can find evidence on the frame, handle bars and handgrips that were recovered at the scene.

 

[chicken fried]

could be because it's not real clear if the handle bars were found separately. Hard to tell with the way it was worded:


http://www.lafayettela.gov/Police/Press_Releases.asp?PR_Id=4677

UPDATE VIII: Condition of Bike Released by Detectives
Original Release: May 29, 2012 @ 3:30 pm
Lafayette, LA – Detectives with the Lafayette Police Department have released the condition of Mickey Shunick’s bike as it was found. The bike was found to be submerged except for a small section of the frame. The bike’s rear tire was found to be damaged. It is currently being processed by the Louisiana State Police Crime Lab. Detectives are hopeful that forensic experts can find evidence on the frame, handle bars and handgrips that were recovered at the scene.

I hadn't thought of that... interesting!
Dismantled it and put it in a large cooler for transportation in tha car or boat... so no one would see a bike... hmmm

 

[BayouBelle_LA]

could be because it's not real clear if the handle bars were found separately. Hard to tell with the way it was worded:


http://www.lafayettela.gov/Police/Press_Releases.asp?PR_Id=4677

UPDATE VIII: Condition of Bike Released by Detectives
Original Release: May 29, 2012 @ 3:30 pm
Lafayette, LA – Detectives with the Lafayette Police Department have released the condition of Mickey Shunick’s bike as it was found. The bike was found to be submerged except for a small section of the frame. The bike’s rear tire was found to be damaged. It is currently being processed by the Louisiana State Police Crime Lab. Detectives are hopeful that forensic experts can find evidence on the frame, handle bars and handgrips that were recovered at the scene.

Strange wording...i wonder if that means the handle bars were also separate from the frame??? Interesting perspection about dismantling that had not occurred to me.

 

[helpful]

Never mind, I think I was wrong.

 

[slowlybutshelly]

I spent my whole day today driving over MS route. There were people walking their dogs and when I drove by slowly, I had to explain that I was driving back over MS route to see if anything jogged my brain. People appeared nonchalant. Even my next door neighbor, a RADIO MAN (not sure what capacity) said 'oh yeah it happened over by the old hospital". (like oh yeah, no big deal..gotta go to work). This nonchalance bothered me. Either people are scared to death and keeping it all behind closed doors; or it really is not affecting people.

I am deeply affected and this why: I drove down Parkside today. IF this perp was a NON LOCAL, there is virtually NO WAY he would have 'discovered' this very obsolete diagonal street in a corner by a graveyard that is virtually hidden from university street traffic (the entrance to the graveyard is on ST JOHN in front of the church). I personally feel that PERP is a LOCAL and that MS could be within an very narrow radius of where she was last seen. I consider myself a local because I have relatives in the area; and it took me a few years to even realize Parkside street existed. One can easily drive past the cemetery every day on university and never see the Parkside Street Entrance.

Since Parkside Street borders the cemetery on University, I am beginning to think that the only locals who could really KNOW about its existence are those having to do with the Cemetery. Or the LCG officals who know Parkside continues on the other side of University.

I find it very hard to believe any nonlocal out for doing mishap while casually going through town (even in the short time for fair workers) would not find out about Parkside unless they took out a Google map (or smartphone) and planned the incident.

That being said, I think MS was either
1. followed by a local who knew parkside and versailles (like the back of his thumb) and followed her up st landry
or
2. it was a local who did not follow her; in which our white truck may not be involved anymore.

And since there is a nationwide alert on this VOI, and nothing has been found on interstates, we can only gather this person is hidden near and deep locally.

very scary

 

[oddball62983]

It may have been explained elsewhere, but there's just so much information here that I'm not sure. However, some bikes, particularly road/racing bikes like Mickey's, have tape on the handlebars instead of a one-piece grip. The tape is kind of rubberized and adheres to itself; you wrap it around your handlebars and it sticks on. I imagine that if it got wet enough, it would come off.

It's hard to tell from the photos what she had on her handlebars, but maybe if it was the grip tape stuff, it came off and snagged on something along the shore. Doesn't it seem like one-piece rubber grips would just float away, being so small and light?

Just another point of view. Sorry if I'm totally off; I'm rather overwhelmed with info in this case.

Quick edit to add a hastily-Googled example of the kind of tape I'm talking about. It comes in a ton of colors and glittery gold isn't totally inconceivable. Click here for the example.

she had fancy gold glittery hand grips on the bike. seem to have been custom maybe? so im thinking it wasnt tape.

 

[LSUFanGirl]

I'm sorry you had to deal with that, JurysOut. I had one of those, as well, but he would only wait places he was sure I'd eventually wind up. (And I'm so glad this was before the internet/cell phones.)

In the scenario you're describing, how do you imagine that the person would have established that Shunick was out that night? A friend, acquaintance, random stranger? I've seen multiple confirmations of Shunick's route home, but no mention if that was the route she took to get there, especially as she was initially heading to a location other than Brettly Wilson's house.

I can see someone being stalked at the job they go to every Monday, or the class they attend every Wednesday, or anything else along those lines. But if Mickey Shunick was accosted by someone who'd seen her before on her bike route, it seems far more likely that it was a case of unfortunate chance than it was an obsession. As always, I could be totally wrong, though.

Maybe the stalker knew enough about her to know she would go to that free concert at Artmosphere (sp?). Or, like I submitted before, possibly spotted her there.

 

[helpful]

she had fancy gold glittery hand grips on the bike. seem to have been custom maybe? so im thinking it wasnt tape.

Yeah, I looked more closely at the photo posted in the first thread and then edited my post. I am pretty certain you're right.

 

[Backwoods]

So, say it's not local and all of these blond young women that seem to be disappearing (see link: http://pibillwarner.wordpress.com/2012/06/03/the-internet-is-forever-did-criminal-minds-episode-plot-a-roadmap-for-abduction-of-petite-blonde-females-like-mickey-shunick-and-lauren-spierer/ ) are related cases by someone who travels a lot.

Is it possible to think that someone might want to get rid of their white truck now that it has possible connections to multiple abductions? "Police investigate vehicle fire
13 days ago - Police are investigating a vehicle fire after finding a white truck fully engulfed in flames in the 300 block of Bailey’s Way Sunday night. Police were unable to locate the owner of the vehicle, according to a report."

http://www.lagrangenews.com/view/full_story/18695988/article-Police-investigate-vehicle-fire?

Just thinking out loud.

Is that in Louisiana?

ETA: Uh, no -- I see it's closer to home (for me)! Sorry, I asked the question while way back in the threads and saw that it was Georgia later on in.

 

[JennMonkey]

The guard related a poignant story about another guard confronting Mickey about cutting across a part of the lot, coming up from St. Mary one time, asking why she was out so late by herself because it wasn't safe... and Mickey talked back, saying, "well if it's so dangerous, then what are you doing out here at 2 a.m. then? The guard told her, "because we can go inside if we need to. Mickey laughed it off and rode away. Both guards are pretty upset, the one guard told me, especially that one, because she said she wished somehow she could have gotten through to Mickey how unsafe it was. Mickey's friends swarmed the grounds looking for her, and the cops went through the hopital and parking structures with a a fine-tooth comb.

Love u chicken butt. You're awesome. :rocker:

 

[JennMonkey]

Just myself, I feel the town is growing more and more unsafe. It's still a nice town, but since Katrina and especially the last 3 years or so, it just seems like more and more thugs are coming to town... a situation we didn't used to have. There are a growing number of bad dudes here, and I myself, as a man, am thinking about getting a permit myself.

I have a .38 and and a shotgun wishin a mf would.....