LA - Mickey Shunick, 21, Lafayette 19 May 2012 - #25

[cluciano63]

If we knew for sure that her bike was not functional due to the damage, we might have a better idea of what she might do...still, why not call a friend? Go over to Circle K and wait for a ride? I think she was ambushed. I do not believe she would get into a vehicle at 2am with strangers, unless possibly LE.

 

[Woe.be.gone]

If BW did have a crush on her and she received a text from another guy before leaving, then she wouldn't have told BW who sent it. And, if she'd started seeing someone, that would have been kept a secret too. That's what I would do in the situation, at least until I knew if it was going anywhere.

Sorry LSUFan. I reacted a little too soon because I'm uncertain that MS was sneaking off anywhere. It was late and she was tired and wanted to go home. I find myself wondering if she may have decided after all to try to meet up with the peeps she had been with earlier in the evening.

Being linked to the crush idea, makes it look like I was to one who suggested that and I did not.

 

[nola]

I agree with you woe.be.gone. It is possible BW had a crush on her. No matter what none of us feel he is the least bit responsible. However, she may not have shared key info on other guys with him if this were the case.

Bottom line is, none of us know, and this is just working another angle. I was confused about whether BW knew who sent the text before she left his house. He said their other friends had called them to go to Mel's but then he just mentioned a text, but other info. The LE could have told him not to say who sent it. Either way, the LE know who sent the message through getting info from her service provider.

JMO and I know I'm grasping at straws. This could all be completely irrelevant.

I think that you are correct about LE wanting to keep somethings under wraps. Based on the number of LE (40 officers) working this case, I feel good about the idea that all known leads (texts, calls, etc) have been followed up on and cleared. That WT may be the big exception - but I am sure that it is not because they haven't tried to locate and identify this potential witness/suspect.

 

[Woe.be.gone]

I agree with you woe.be.gone. It is possible BW had a crush on her. No matter what none of us feel he is the least bit responsible. However, she may not have shared key info on other guys with him if this were the case.

Bottom line is, none of us know, and this is just working another angle. I was confused about whether BW knew who sent the text before she left his house. He said their other friends had called them to go to Mel's but then he just mentioned a text, but other info. The LE could have told him not to say who sent it. Either way, the LE know who sent the message through getting info from her service provider.

JMO and I know I'm grasping at straws. This could all be completely irrelevant.

Sorry LSUFan. I reacted a little too soon because I'm uncertain that MS was sneaking off anywhere. It was late and she was tired and wanted to go home. I find myself wondering if she may have decided after all to try to meet up with the peeps she had been with earlier in the evening.

Being linked to the crush idea, makes it look like I was to one who suggested that and I did not.

I never said anything about a possible crush. It was another poster. Somehow I'm being quoted as having said that. Posting for the record.

 

[RWRNHZ40]

Thanks for your post...I'm not from Lafayette and when I google map St. Landry the hospital is showing up on the left side (headed in the direction that Mickey was going) of St. Landry. What is in that space now? I was wondering why there were no ER surveillance cameras at the hospital to capture more images. That explains that! If this building is empty and dark, then that stretch between where Lourdes was and Coliseum Road may have given the perp a good location to grab her without causing much of a disturbance. Locals will have better insight into that stretch than me. What do you think?
...You know, even if the perp offered to drive her to the new hospital location (not sure which Lafayette hospital might be closer), it could still be a viable reason for Mickey to have gotten in or been helped in the vehicle without much protest. If her bike is damaged, she can't continued riding it home and she is still a good walking distance from home. As for texting someone, she may have been about to do this - I guess, she would have carried the phone in her backpack and this would have taken effort to retrieve. She may have planned to do this in his car/truck; but when she takes it out, the phone could have been taken from her and turned off by the perp. Heck, the perp could have offered to phone someone for her with his phone, if she were injured. It may have happened so fast that reasonable thought was just not applied by Mickey. I do agree that if she were injured (bleeding) then evidence should have been noticeable on the street. So that is hopeful perhaps, that Mickey did not have serious injuries at the scene of the abduction. JMO

I also saw that the bike was missing the gold handle bar covers? Did you all see that...it made me think of a "stranger danger" tip that my kids were taught. The tip was if someone tries to grab you off of your bike to hold on to the handle bars with your hands and wrap your legs around the frame. Grabbing a child and throwing them in a car is one thing, but grabbing a child and bike to throw in your car is quite another.

Understandable. I'm from around the area but not actually in Lafayette. The building that housed the hospital is still there if I"m not mistaken, but is abandoned. There were plans to graze it and make it parking space for students of the college, but I suppose that never came to be.
It could definitely be a possibility, for certain. Unfortunately, all we can do is speculate on what might have happened, that is, until further information is revealed. But you've definitely given some great thought to the entire situation. I wasn't even aware of that bike thing with the stranger danger, but it's an excellent point.

 

[chicken fried]

Following is a photo essay of my trip to Whiskey Bay today.

After the trip, seeing how slow the current is, I don't think the bike floated downstream. I also don't think it was thrown off the bridge. The crown of the bridge is so close behind a stopped car at the point that it's incredibly dangerous. I also don't think a vehicle was driven down to the shoreline, due to the terrain. I believe the bike was thrown in by a person standing on top of the base of a bridge pillar

The nerves in my hands are inflamed so I'm going to post this stuff and back out and let's y'all discuss.

Here's a LINK to the entire Photobucket album.

I am now going to go step by step. Obviously I can only post two pics at a time, and so there will be comments in between.

 

[LSUFanGirl]

STOP. read my post carefully. I have not said anything bad about BW. I'm trying to understand who MS is. touchy.

I know you weren't. That wasn't how I meant anything I said anyhow. I just meant it wouldn't be the first time a guy had a crush on a pretty friend. I know you weren't implicating him. I've got to be careful how I word how I respond to these posts. I wasn't upset at you or attacking you. No testiness was intended

 

[chicken fried]

First pic is from near the bank, where cars can park, looking eastward back down the small access road toward Hwy 975 (the north-south blacktop road that goes under the bridge)

Turning around, you can see a fisherman's truck parked near the drop-off (not my car!)

 

[Artis]

Sorry. The part I read (not sure if it was from the original poster's thread or maybe a re-typed version) said:

"Originally Posted by JenMom
I read this today and though it was an astounding fact...
In 1961, 93% of murders were solved. In 2009, only 62% of them were."

Maybe I misunderstood?

Oh, no, YOU are correct. My bad!

 

[LaffySleuth]

I'm close to ruling 2010 out as a possible. Stupid truck.

:banghead::banghead::banghead:

 

[Isabelle]

Which would arguably make it one of more dangerous spots along her route.

Am surprised vagrants hang out at the abandoned hospital, when there is a security guard present. But, I guess it's ok??

 

[chicken fried]

Approaching the base of the bridge support, the ground drops away due to erosion, to the left and right, and there's a small bridge of land remaining that lets one walk right up to the support.

Looking down to the right, there is a very narrow, treacherous foot path that skirts the base of the support, leading to the shoreline. There was a fisherman down there with his young daughter.

 

[nola]

If we knew for sure that her bike was not functional due to the damage, we might have a better idea of what she might do...still, why not call a friend? Go over to Circle K and wait for a ride? I think she was ambushed. I do not believe she would get into a vehicle at 2am with strangers, unless possibly LE.

Maybe Mickey got further down St Landry? If that is the case, the Circle K could have been too far back - and she may not have suspected anything from the perp. With her bike's rear frame damaged (that's the description I saw in the news reports) it could have been too hard to push for any distance.

 

[chicken fried]

Looking up from the shore, you can see that there is no way a vehicle pulled down there. it's a sharp, crumbling, mud mesa-like lip, and there is no visible evidence that a vehicle went over it. Plus, it's taller and steeper than it looks on camera.

Looking to your right on the shoreline, one can see the right bank. The view is looking north - upstream.

 

[chicken fried]

Now, going back up to the top, let's explore the left path leading down the left side of the bridge support. Again, narrow and steep, but I did it on foot with my hip replacement.

Looking to the left, you see the same sharp drop-off as on the right. Not something a vehicle - even a 4-wheel-drive, would descend.

 

[bessie]

I read someplace that Mickey wanted all to go to a local diner and eat, but seems like BW convinced her to stay saying that he would ride (bikes) back with her to his house and take her (in his car) to get something to eat.

Thinking about what's been written about the actual abduction...it could be that this was a crime of opportunity that started with the perp intentionally hitting her (while she rode her bike), but acting like it was accidental. If he played this role convincingly, Mickey may have gotten into his vehicle to accept a ride home with her damaged bike in-tow and with all of her belongings---or if she were injured, she may have eagerly accepted the prep's offer to take her to the hospital (which was just a few blocks away) on St Landry, in the same direction she was traveling. Mickey's abductor could have taken her completely off-guard acting as if he hadn't seen her and wanted to make sure she was ok. This would explain no belongings being found on St. Landry or surrounding streets and be a reasonable explanation as to why Mickey would have "willing" gotten into a stranger's vehicle. Once in the vehicle, everything could have changed. All speculation on my part, of course.

:goodpost: That's been my favorite theory for awhile now, nola. As you said, it explains a lot.

 

[Schmidty]

Am surprised vagrants hang out at the abandoned hospital, when there is a security guard present. But, I guess it's ok??

Are there guards there? Does anyone know for sure one way or the other?

 

[LSUFanGirl]

Yeah, but she left Artmosphere and went with Brettly to Taco Bell and back to his house. If she felt odd around him, why would she go with him?

Because they were close friends. I only said anything about the BW possible crush because that could mean she didn't talk to him about other guys. Those possible other guys could be people who had something to do with her abduction. We all know BW did not.

 

[chicken fried]

Looking to your left at the bottom, the view is south, downstream, along the left bank.

Turning around, one notices that the path takes one by the flared base of the left bridge-support pillar, and, upon climbing up, there is a 18-inch wide ledge that allows one to walk around the pillar to the back side of the bridge support, completely invisible from anyone in the parking lot.

 

[chicken fried]

Walking carefully around the back side of the bridge support one finds this: an alcove in back, 10 feet up in the air off the channel, with enough room to take a couple strong steps and heave a bike quite a way out.

Not seen in the pictures, due to privacy, is the fisherman's daughter. She was standing about 10 feet out from shore, and only about 12 years old. The water was not quite up to her hips. Depending on the water level compared to today, June 9, and the day the bike was found (was it May 27?), computations and guesses can be made.

So, there you have it.... again, the

LINK to the Photobucket album is HERE.

I am going to stop typing now - having real trouble with my hands.