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

[PlainJaneDoe]

Some women don't need a man in their lives, and don't mind being single. It doesn't mean she is a lesbian.

:rocker: when I first separated from my stbx, I thought I would be miserable and lonely. I thought i would always feel like the third wheel and like everyone would think there was something horribly wrong with me if i went out and did stuff (go to a restaurant, the movies, a party) on my own. I had panic attacks when I thought about living alone and going off on my own to do a post-doc abroad or even in another state. I don't know about the post-doc cuz I'm not there yet, but I'm happy to say I couldn't have been more wrong about it so far! Part of that is the busyness of being a grad student (which maybe could be a factor to MS as iirc it has been said that she was vey focused) and part of it is the great friends I have to work and hang out with, who have made me feel very included and appreciated on my own. Which brings me to my next thought...when I first heard "Mickey doesn't have boyfriends," my gut response interpretation is that there was no one guy that she was "serious" about, that she just wasn't into the monogamous committed relationships for whatever reason. Some people I know, and I mean no offense or disrespect by this because most of them have been lovely people and those I was friends with were great, are "serial monogamists." Like their dating style is to be very exclusive with whomever they're "talking to" without much "dating around" in between one relationship and the next. I just took it as MS didn't have this way of socializing, with her it was more casual and less "being an item." All JMOO of course.

 

[Kateinfl]

I was reading Jaren's thread and she worked as a dancer at a club and was living in a motel ...i was also reading the thread on Tara Hawkins who is missing from jacksonville fl ...who also worked at a gentalmen's club ...only as a waitress ..not a dancer....and she lived in a extended stay motel also. I would maybe <just speculation> think that those two might be connected. Maybe someone who lives in La and travels and stays at motels. I don't see this related to Mickey ..unless she passed a motel that time of morning on her bike?

 

[Schmidty]

Charlie said on NG that they were mad at her for missing the graduation.

Their reaction and what they said about her just does not match to me.

I am not saying they had anything to do with it. I think they were just leaving out some things about her in order to paint her in a better light than what some people would see her in if they knew the truth.

More people are going to volunteer to search for a "nice" girl than a prostitute. (Not implying she was a prostitute or anything close to that.)

With a nod to the earlier post about people in the south/Lafayette being conservative, etc (which I tend to disagree with re Lafayette. I see Lafayette as one of the most tolerant places I know - but they still cherish family values) ...I will say that one characteristic of southern folks is that private is private, laundry is not aired in public, and secrets can be kept secret for generations. Public appearance and perception is still important and valued. I agree with the 'paint her in a better light' statement. It would be a natural inclination in these parts.

 

[LafayetteMom]

LE probably has the details regarding Mickey's friends and closer relationships but, for some reason, no one has clearly stated the answer to what we're talking about here. It is 2012 afterall.

That's another thing, I don't know if southern people are (there's no way for me to say this without offending peeps) open to being open. :waitasec:

bbm. Yes, after interviewing people for 16+ hours, I'm quite certain they know who Mickey has been in relationships with, for how long each time, etc. They haven't told the general public, but they know. If it's relevant to the case, they might not want to release it. And if it's not relevant to the case, they still might not want to release it. She still has the right to privacy. We are not entitled to know every detail of her personal life.

 

[Woe.be.gone]

No, Charlie stated that they were getting 'mad' at Mickey for being so late.
They weren't thinking she was gone of course. I can understand that - my mom gets 'mad' at me when I'm late because it inconveniences her and/or worries her.

That said, to me that would imply that MS isn't always on time/there when she's supposed to be. If it was somebody who is always on time, you'd go right to worried skipping the mad. :twocents:

 

[StreetcarRider]

About the lesbian question ~ I think I've got my answer ~ the answer came from some reactions on this board. just say'n. taboo.

That's an awfully wide brush you're using to paint the South. Contrary to what you seem to think, there are plenty of openly gay people here.

If you need proof, just listen to the Advertiser's video interview with Brettly Wilson. Everyone seems to forget about that one.

 

[Darcyline]

I feel like statements can very easily be mis-worded accidentally and cause confusion, but that doesn't mean they are lying, hiding something, or contradicting themselves.
For example, I can almost guarantee they thought (at first) that Mickey probably got a little too drunk and passed out somewhere and overslept. That explains the initial anger. I bet her sister even told about the night before when they drank together. It may be extremely uncharacteristic for her to do that, but when someone doesn't show up you don't always jump to the worst possible conclusion (IE she has been abducted and is dead now). You sometimes jump to less horrifying and statistically more likely conclusions (she might have been drinking two nights in a row I bet she is just hungover and sleeping it off). Remember some of the statements came AFTER they realized something was really wrong and I bet they sure do regret not calling the cops sooner and their initial anger. I bet they wish they had listened to the probable nagging feeling (This isn't like Mickey) that they probably felt and then dismissed for a less horrifying conclusion. But, what can they do now? Without a time machine, absolutely nothing.


I hate to see this thread die down a bit. Hoping something new breaks every day.

 

[Isabelle]

Shunick and Brettly Wilson were planning on meeting up to make a video on Saturday morning.

"In addition to her graduation (ph), me and Mickey had planned on going out earlier that day before and videotaping her doing some riding on a horse she was trying to sell. So she had really just been ready to get to bed at that point."

http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/1205/24/ng.01.html


It's quite possible that her parents didn't realize she'd never come home the night before, and imagined that she'd already left the house that morning.

Is it out out the realm of possibilities that MS did arrive home, slept in her bed and left early the next morning to head to the stables on her bike?

 

[MLE]

Our society thinks there is something wrong with a woman who doesn't have a man in her life. How can she function without a man?! She couldn't possibly want to be independent. There has to be an explanation: Oh, maybe it's because she doesn't like men.

(Not saying you think that; but that's the general viewpoint of society, and I bet it's even more prevalent down South where a lot of women are already married or have kids by 21)

When it comes to hate, sometimes perception is even more important than reality.

When I was in my early 20s, I had long hair and earrings. Even though I'm straight, I was sometimes called a "*advertiser censored*" by people in middle Tennessee. While I never felt in danger and never was physically attacked, maybe it could've been different if I would've been in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Fast forward to my late 20s. I had a full beard. People thought I was an Arab Moslem even though I'm an agnostic ethnic Jew. Total strangers in parking lots would say things like, "Go back to Saudi Arabia, Osama!" Eventually, I was even receiving death threats over the phone and in the mail. Nobody ever made good on the threats, but by 2006 I was getting mentally fatigued by it and I not only moved out of Nashville, but out of the USA entirely, having since lived and worked mostly in China and South Korea.

Some Sikh taxi drivers with beards and turbans were murdered in the USA after 9/11 because people thought they were Moslem.

Check out how Sacha Baron Cohen was booed and yelled at in the University of Alabama's football stadium. He's straight, but people thought he was gay. He had to have a police escort in order to leave the stadium safely.

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SnB5vqObkLw"]Bruno (Ali G) in Alabama - YouTube[/ame]

We can only wonder what could've happened to him if he would've been riding a bike around Tuscaloosa or Birmingham at 2 a.m.

 

[nutkin]

There have been adults in my life who were far from reliable, but when they would be late, my mind would automatically go to: Were they in an accident? Are they injured? Did something bad happen? Did they get taken to jail?

And for someone who is always reliable? I would wake up in a panic if they were not at home and were supposed to be and their phone was going straight to voice mail.

 

[Kateinfl]

Have the people out searching today gotten back with any news?

 

[Isabelle]

50 minutes left! Sad.

 

[Schmidty]

Wow! Too often, the public tries to find a reason why something horrible would happen to another human being. I think comments like yours are a good example. Sorry Nutkin, but I think you are out of line. :seeya:

IMO, the reason people try to find a reason something horrible would happen to another human being is because it's a useful tool in living one's own life. It plays into the whole survival of the species instinct. We gather knowledge and make assessments on how best to stay safe in our own lives, and the lives of those we love.

Whether we like it or not or whether it is an inconvenient fact, certain lifestyles are higher risk than others. Is it always a factor? No. But it is worth considering when making lifestyle choices.

 

[LafayetteMom]

They did if she was always so reliable, never slept at others' houses, and didn't have boyfriends. 21 or not, I'd be freaking out. Graduation pales in comparison to having a child missing, whether they are an adult or not. They could have at least called the police. Their reactions don't match their words.

It's not like she was a child. If you can't find your 2 year for several hours, then by all means you should have called the police right away. But just b/c you can't reach an adult by phone, they aren't home, and a couple friend haven't seen them, doesn't automatically mean they are in danger. Sometimes I go out shopping and my phone gets accidentally left in the car, or with me but on silent in my purse, and then later I see my husband has called me 12 times and sent 5 texts and is freaking out. I have to call him, he is all worried, but no, he did not call the police. B/c he figures, "Oh, last time that happened she forgot her phone in the car while trying on clothes...she's a woman...trying on clothes can take a while..." Also, graduation IS a super big deal for the graduate. So, their adult daughter wasn't home, wasn't answering their phone. Are they just supposed to tell their son, "Sorry, we can't make it to your graduation. You go on by yourself and we'll see you later." No, they had to go, wanted to go...take pics, they were so proud of him. I'm sure they were growing more and more worried about Mickey during the ceremony. By the time the graduation was over and she still hadn't shown up, they realized yes, something was indeed wrong were then able to focus on looking for her.

 

[liltexans]

50 minutes left! Sad.

50 minutes of what left?

The searches at Blackham today were only scheduled until 4 pm CDT.

 

[nutkin]

It's not like she was a child. If you can't find your 2 year for several hours, then by all means you should have called the police right away. But just b/c you can't reach an adult by phone, they aren't home, and a couple friend haven't seen them, doesn't automatically mean they are in danger. Sometimes I go out shopping and my phone gets accidentally left in the car, or with me but on silent in my purse, and then later I see my husband has called me 12 times and sent 5 texts and is freaking out. I have to call him, he is all worried, but no, he did not call the police. B/c he figures, "Oh, last time that happened she forgot her phone in the car while trying on clothes...she's a woman...trying on clothes can take a while..." Also, graduation IS a super big deal for the graduate. So, their adult daughter wasn't home, wasn't answering their phone. Are they just supposed to tell their son, "Sorry, we can't make it to your graduation. You go on by yourself and we'll see you later." No, they had to go, wanted to go...take pics, they were so proud of him. I'm sure they were growing more and more worried about Mickey during the ceremony. By the time the graduation was over and she still hadn't shown up, they realized yes, something was indeed wrong were then able to focus on looking for her.

I have freaked out immediately and would continue to do so. Intuition is a very powerful thing. If your gut says something is wrong, something is wrong.

 

[Isabelle]

50 minutes of what left?

The searches at Blackham today were only scheduled until 4 pm CDT.

Yes, but I think that was when the people at Blackham would officially disband.

 

[nutkin]

IMO, the reason people try to find a reason something horrible would happen to another human being is because it's a useful tool in living one's own life. It plays into the whole survival of the species instinct. We gather knowledge and make assessments on how best to stay safe in our own lives, and the lives of those we love.

Whether we like it or not or whether it is an inconvenient fact, certain lifestyles are higher risk than others. Is it always a factor? No. But it is worth considering when making lifestyle choices.

And I wasn't even trying to find a motive necessarily for the crime. I was simply trying to narrow (or widen, depending on how you look at it) the pool of potential suspects.

Nothing a person could ever do would make it ok for another person to harm them.

 

[Darcyline]

nutkin-You may call the police the second you cannot contact an adult, but I don't think that is necessarily the only normal response a human being can have.

 

[nutkin]

nutkin-You may call the police the second you cannot contact an adult, but I don't think that is necessarily the only normal response a human being can have.

If someone is ALWAYS reliable and they are not reachable by phone (it is going to voice mail immediately) and none of their friends know where they are, I am not going to putter around for most of the day wondering. I'm going to be calling hospitals and even jails looking for the them. The police would be called within an hour or two, not 10.5 hours later.