LA - Mickey Shunick, 21, Lafayette, 19 May 2012 - #4

[Schmidty]

In Baton Rouge and New Orleans, we call them 'ditches'.

Lemme get pedantic for a sec. LOL Ditches are those things that run near the street between the street and a yard to catch overflow rainwater and are usually connected to the underground drainage system that leads back to the water processing system. They're usually just scooped out dirt, not cement lined, and lead to culverts.

A coulee (in town) is generally a cement lined waterway designed to catch and funnel large amounts of water and route it to the bayous or river waterways. Out of town, a coulee can just be a lil strip of recessed land that collects water and may be dry during periods of little rain.

/for the uninformed, out of town coolees are where the kids drop strings with a piece of meat tied on the end to catch crawfish one at a time and bring them up.

//at least, that's how my native eyes see it

 

[MissEm]

Here's more educational material for us peeps who aren't familiar with Louisianna's terrain. What is a coulee? lol!

Coulee - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

That page doesn't give an exact definition of it, as it applies here. Basically, a coulee is a large, cement-lined drainage ditch. They're usually about 10 feet deep and several feet wide. They're required for drainage because the water table at this elevation is almost at ground level, so when it rains, it floods very quickly. You can see these ditches on a lot of the aerial views on Google maps. For example, if you look at the corner of St. Landry and St. Louis, you can see a coulee running parallel to St. Louis and then stopping (it enters an underground drainage system at that point). There's another one that runs along the East side of the Cajundome and Blackham Coliseum (easy to spot on the aerial view of town; they're the big round circles). There are several throughout town, weaving through residential neighborhoods. Generally speaking, they're not enclosed or covered, though they run under the road at certain points, it's still open under there.

Someone said that the folks from the local biking club rode through them all, checking for anything, and came up short.

 

[Schmidty]

The photo of the white truck shows that it is getting ready to take a left from St. Landry onto University. I just looked closely at Google map of the area. If the driver was really out to get Mickey, it looks like he would have taken the first left (off of University) which is Azalea to Parkside. It looks like this route would take him onto St. Mary's which intersects with St. Landry. I think that is close to the Lourdes Hospital which many have said is abandoned. Question for locals: what is it like on St. Landry’s right after crossing St. Mary’s? Is that the dark and abandoned looking area others have referred to? Sorry if this post is confusing! I’m just trying to get a sense of the area – kind of hard to do here in New Hampshire!

Yes, that's what I thought also. Exactly. The could have caught him on that cam and then again on the cam at the funeral home (on the corner of St Mary and St Landry), turning right to come out behind her.

 

[wfgodot]

The Grand Coulee Dam being one of the bigger ones.

 

[JW1893]

That page doesn't give an exact definition of it, as it applies here. Basically, a coulee is a large, cement-lined drainage ditch. They're usually about 10 feet deep and several feet wide. They're required for drainage because the water table at this elevation is almost at ground level, so when it rains, it floods very quickly. You can see these ditches on a lot of the aerial views on Google maps. For example, if you look at the corner of St. Landry and St. Louis, you can see a coulee running parallel to St. Louis and then stopping (it enters an underground drainage system at that point). There's another one that runs along the East side of the Cajundome and Blackham Coliseum (easy to spot on the aerial view of town; they're the big round circles). There are several throughout town, weaving through residential neighborhoods. Generally speaking, they're not enclosed or covered, though they run under the road at certain points, it's still open under there.

Someone said that the folks from the local biking club rode through them all, checking for anything, and came up short.

Yeah, from those not here, they'd be a drainage ditch/drainage systems. When it rains, everything flows from residential ditches to the main drainage systems. The coulees are deep and concrete, and help water flow out, especially after a heavy rain (to prevent flooding--we're above sea level, but not very much so)

 

[jessien{N}jess23]

:welcome::fireworks: Great first post. and welcome to WS.

Are you talking about the smell by the old our lady of lourdes.. we were there this morning and smelled it too... ut a man and a woman looking around told us theres a dead animal across the street.. and b/c its so hot i think thats why it smells so bad

 

[tarabull]

You walk on them everyday, they are right underneath you - but you don't notice them:

http://youtu.be/udLbH779YDI

About 2.5 miles of tunnel, with approx. 60 entrances, although off limits - none are locked.

 

[Eskimo]

That page doesn't give an exact definition of it, as it applies here. Basically, a coulee is a large, cement-lined drainage ditch. They're usually about 10 feet deep and several feet wide. They're required for drainage because the water table at this elevation is almost at ground level, so when it rains, it floods very quickly. You can see these ditches on a lot of the aerial views on Google maps. For example, if you look at the corner of St. Landry and St. Louis, you can see a coulee running parallel to St. Louis and then stopping (it enters an underground drainage system at that point). There's another one that runs along the East side of the Cajundome and Blackham Coliseum (easy to spot on the aerial view of town; they're the big round circles). There are several throughout town, weaving through residential neighborhoods. Generally speaking, they're not enclosed or covered, though they run under the road at certain points, it's still open under there.

Someone said that the folks from the local biking club rode through them all, checking for anything, and came up short.

That sounds downright scary to me. I'd be afraid to bike at night past giant ditches that run underneath roads. Yikes! But I guess it all depends on what you're used to. I'm sure that route during the daytime felt totally safe and Mickey rode it so many times that she came to believe no one would harm her.

 

[concernedformickey]

St. Landry between St. Mary's and St. Julien is not necessarily poorly lit... just deserted since Lourdes hospital moved across town.

I sometimes go down St. Julien to avoid the field. Go along Johnston (traffic is bad but there are sidewalks and a sort of deserted gas station at the corner of Johnston and St. Julien) and connect to Cajundome Blvd.

I don't know if now, I'd dare do even that.

 

[Artis]

This is a human trafficking question, as it seems to be a hot theory in various threads involving missing girls.

I actually live near Atlanta and have read a bit about trafficking. I recently walked the streets of Atlanta searching for a vulnerable girl who was missing for 4 days and interacted with some amazing volunteers who work hard to free women from this business. Most of those women were desperate, vulnerable, from difficult backgrounds...

I am CERTAINLY far from an expert--but my impression of trafficking in the states is that most of those young women are vulnerable mentally or because of addiction and are groomed for the work and kept high, provided for physically. It would seem that, unfortunately, there are enough runaways and/or vulnerable women who would be far easier prey than an athletic, intelligent, seemingly healthy (physically/mentally/emotionally) woman stolen at random.

Take it easy on me if I am way off base, I really am curious about this aspect since it seems to come up with fair regularity on these boards. Can anyone cite cases in the US where otherwise self-sufficient women were randomly drawn in to trafficking by abduction?
TIA.

Hi, I'm new and have been waiting (impatiently, lol) to address this. You are right. Human traffickers don't abduct well adjusted women and keep them in chains. As you've pointed out, they are women already at risk due to prostitution and addiction. That would include run-aways who get tangled up with bad people. These are the women and girls who could walk away, if they chose, but are manipulated and brow beaten into thinking they can't. Mickey does not fit this profile.

I also want to address a couple of other things I've seen gone over in the threads:

Her cell was off for one of two reasons - her abductor turned it off or something happened to separate her from the phone and it was damaged (thrown in water, for instance). I don't know what's hard to get about that. She would not have turned off her phone, especially while riding, when she might need it the most. Whatever happened happened fast because she never had time to call 911.

This stuff about about seeing someone in a truck bed is just nutty. No abductor is going to put a girl in a truck bed where she can jump out or be seen.

And, last, the stuff about Brettly was just SO WRONG. How would anyone like to be the last person to have been with a missing person and have every nuance of your facial expressions, speech, body language, etc, being fodder for people on the internet?! Yes, it's logical for the police to check him out and they did. Now the videos prove that Mickey biked away exactly as he said. People need to remember that there but for the grace of God go they. It's one thing to acknowledge that he needs to be eliminated as a possible suspect but it's quite another go on and on about crackpot projections. That's exactly how innocent people get convicted by juries of over eager and quick to judge (and not to THINK) people. Lynch mob mentality comes to mind. Thank goodness others here spoke up about it!

 

[wfgodot]

Hello Artis, and welcome to WS.

 

[mahmoo]

Snipped:

The question that nags me is where is her bike? If they were just abducting her, they'd take her and leave the bike in most cases, or ditch the bike somewhere that would probably have been found already. I still believe it's someone she knows who offered her a ride and without resistance had time to clear up evidence and dispose of things more efficiently.

The missing bike is puzzling, I agree.

It leads me to believe the perp(s) has some awareness of forensics and the abduction was not an inadvertent, spur-of-the-moment act by some rookie criminal. If the bike had been left behind LE would know where the initial crime took place giving them a better chance of finding crucial evidence. The perp(s) could have left fingerprints on the bike and possibly even their blood if she put up a strong fight which I imagine she did once she realized what was happening.

I'm leaning more and more towards the theory that MS was being 'watched' and stalked for a while and was not even aware of it. The perp(s) already knew in advance he was going to have to do something with the bike and was prepared to do so when he executed the abduction.

 

[Schmidty]

Yes, that's what I thought also. Exactly. The could have caught him on that cam and then again on the cam at the funeral home (on the corner of St Mary and St Landry), turning right to come out behind her.

I don't recall seeing any discussion about a cam at Martin and Castille Funeral Home (330 St Landry, facing St Landry, on the corner of St Mary) but they definitely do have security cams all over that building. I think (not sure, though) that there is a video camera mounted up on the telephone pole on the corner of St Mary and St Landry as you're sitting on St Mary (right on the side of the funeral home), to the right of you, there at that large empty lot on the side of the funeral home. (Although since the hospital relocated it may not be there; I always thought it was there to ensure the safety of hospital employees parking in that lot.) My point is, perhaps the funeral home cameras offered up more pics of the truck coming back around after he was caught on the cam on the corner of St Landry and University.

 

[concernedformickey]

Are you talking about the smell by the old our lady of lourdes.. we were there this morning and smelled it too... ut a man and a woman looking around told us theres a dead animal across the street.. and b/c its so hot i think thats why it smells so bad

Oh someone found a dead animal. Lord it stank. That smell could be picked up from several directions.

 

[KrazyKatLadi]

Hi, I'm new and have been waiting (impatiently, lol) to address this. You are right. Human traffickers don't abduct well adjusted women and keep them in chains. As you've pointed out, they are women already at risk due to prostitution and addiction. That would include run-aways who get tangled up with bad people. These are the women and girls who could walk away, if they chose, but are manipulated and brow beaten into thinking they can't. Mickey does not fit this profile.

I also want to address a couple of other things I've seen gone over in the threads:

Her cell was off for one of two reasons - her abductor turned it off or something happened to separate her from the phone and it was damaged (thrown in water, for instance). I don't know what's hard to get about that. She would not have turned off her phone, especially while riding, when she might need it the most. Whatever happened happened fast because she never had time to call 911.

This stuff about about seeing someone in a truck bed is just nutty. No abductor is going to put a girl in a truck bed where she can jump out or be seen.

And, last, the stuff about Brettly was just SO WRONG. How would anyone like to be the last person to have been with a missing person and have every nuance of your facial expressions, speech, body language, etc, being fodder for people on the internet?! Yes, it's logical for the police to check him out and they did. Now the videos prove that Mickey biked away exactly as he said. People need to remember that there but for the grace of God go they. It's one thing to acknowledge that he needs to be eliminated as a possible suspect but it's quite another go on and on about crackpot projections. That's exactly how innocent people get convicted by juries of over eager and quick to judge (and not to THINK) people. Lynch mob mentality comes to mind. Thank goodness others here spoke up about it!

:greetings:​

Welcome!

I agree with everything you said. :rocker:

 

[katydid23]

Hi, I'm new and have been waiting (impatiently, lol) to address this. You are right. Human traffickers don't abduct well adjusted women and keep them in chains. As you've pointed out, they are women already at risk due to prostitution and addiction. That would include run-aways who get tangled up with bad people. These are the women and girls who could walk away, if they chose, but are manipulated and brow beaten into thinking they can't. Mickey does not fit this profile.

I also want to address a couple of other things I've seen gone over in the threads:

Her cell was off for one of two reasons - her abductor turned it off or something happened to separate her from the phone and it was damaged (thrown in water, for instance). I don't know what's hard to get about that. She would not have turned off her phone, especially while riding, when she might need it the most. Whatever happened happened fast because she never had time to call 911.

This stuff about about seeing someone in a truck bed is just nutty. No abductor is going to put a girl in a truck bed where she can jump out or be seen.

And, last, the stuff about Brettly was just SO WRONG. How would anyone like to be the last person to have been with a missing person and have every nuance of your facial expressions, speech, body language, etc, being fodder for people on the internet?! Yes, it's logical for the police to check him out and they did. Now the videos prove that Mickey biked away exactly as he said. People need to remember that there but for the grace of God go they. It's one thing to acknowledge that he needs to be eliminated as a possible suspect but it's quite another go on and on about crackpot projections. That's exactly how innocent people get convicted by juries of over eager and quick to judge (and not to THINK) people. Lynch mob mentality comes to mind. Thank goodness others here spoke up about it!

:welcome: to WS, and I agree with MOST of your post.

But about Brettly, we might disagree. I am very relieved that they have video showing he was telling the truth. And I WANTED to believe his story initially. But you must understand that we have followed many sad cases here where the 'good friend', and last one to see her, ended up being the perpetrator. So we tend to get jaded and suspicious. I did make a post in which I apologized for feeling so suspicious. But he fit much of the criteria for a valid suspect. And that is what sleuthing is all about-- The percentages and the statistics. Chances are, the last one to see a missing woman, especially if they are intimately involved, is likely to be involved in her situation. But not always.

 

[Wheelz]

I've lurked here long enough to sort of learn the cadence of the site and even some of the members thought processes. I'm impressed.

Many seem to be here here out of pure concern and I can sense growing frustration with the lack of information and simply not knowing what happened to MS. But as they try to figure things out with what information they have...there wil be all kinds of suggestions put forth but I have to caution about calling ANY idea "nutty" for fear the next person might not want to present their thoughts or ideas...

 

[Woe.be.gone]

In Baton Rouge and New Orleans, we call them 'ditches'.

How simple is that? That's what I call them too! lol!

When I was young I met a guy from Alabama. A group of friends and I had traveled out to Colorado and we all met him there. We kept in touch over the next two years or so - I even went to Alabama and met his family (wealthy compared to my family). Shucks, I wasn't in love with him but liked him a lot. Anyway, the man/women issue came into play and we ended on a bad note. Besides that, our cultures were quite different but that may have been more of the wealth factor thingy as they were country club dwellers and had a housekeeper and all that. Oh and my group of friends and I met him at Mardi Gras one year too - we had a blast. It was a kick when he said my name as he always called me Jeuw-lie (Julie) and wrote it 'July' and I called him Al-a-bam. Those were that days!

I'm feeling nostalgic remembering the experiences I had in our great southern states.

 

[Artis]

My opinion is she was abducted either by Coliseum Rd. or in front of the old Lourdes. Once she was on Cajundome Blvd. she would have been in a well-lit area and safer. The hospital just stands out to me because the area is darker, there are ample spaces to be ambushed at, businesses in that area are closed (less residential to hear a commotion)....same with Coliseum Rd.--fields and Blackham and a lack of residences.

The question that nags me is where is her bike? If they were just abducting her, they'd take her and leave the bike in most cases, or ditch the bike somewhere that would probably have been found already. I still believe it's someone she knows who offered her a ride and without resistance had time to clear up evidence and dispose of things more efficiently.

I don't think she took a ride and here's why: If she had wanted a ride home, she could have gotten one from Brettly. She chose to ride her bike, as usual. If she had a flat or some other mechanical problem, she had her phone and could have called any of the friends she had been with just a few minutes prior. They were all nearby. So, because she didn't use her phone, I think she was blindsided and it happened quickly.

 

[MissEm]

That sounds downright scary to me. I'd be afraid to bike at night past giant ditches that run underneath roads.

I can see how they would sound scary, but first off, they're mostly open -- you can see into them for a really long way. They pass under roads, but they're so deep that I think at most overpasses, it would be impossible for someone to, say, hide in the coulee under the road and then climb up and grab you as you came by. It'd be too far of a climb to do quickly, and it's mostly vertical concrete, not an easy climbing surface.

Think of them as small rivers that generally don't have any water in them. (When it rains, though, they fill up shockingly quickly.)