LA - Mickey Shunick, 21, Lafayette, 19 May 2012 - #5

[kgeaux]

It's Louisiana, where education comes last. Said by a lifelong Louisiana native!

I home schooled my boys, most of them all the way until they entered college. But a couple of them wanted to go to middle or high school, and I let them. Lord God. I used to make red circles around the spelling and grammar mistakes.....didn't make many friends! One I remember clearly was a safety notice that urged parents to ask their children "where you at?". Instead of where are you. Sheesh.

 

[wfgodot]

And hello Jbiggoose, and also welcome to WS.

 

[charminglane]

Thanks, I'll read him.

FWIW, my best friend, in east Texas, told me there's no way in hell she would ever venture into those areas off the interstate. She mentioned Deliverance.

I'm a librarian and have been told time and time again that James Lee Burke is "it!"
Now it's my turn to start reading him, too. Thanks for the reminder!

 

['Ailina]

chicken fried...Haha! See? I think your "mistaken identity" thing is a good omen! Lafayette folks are keen, everybody's related somehow, and if one person knows, everybody knows!

You may become something of a celebrity if you're not careful. ;D We'll all recognize you as "Yacht Guy"!

 

[JurysOut]

Thanks, I'll read him.

FWIW, my best friend, in east Texas, told me there's no way in hell she would ever venture into those areas off the interstate. She mentioned Deliverance.

They're everywhere. Pennsylvania has its share of Deliverance-esque patches.

Some may be scarier than others, but I don't know a single interstate I'd wander far from after dusk.

(blasted i-devices are rendering me incapable of hitting shift at the beginning of a sentence. Insidious)

 

[insaneatlast]

Alright, here's a little more from me. Once again, Lafayette native my whole life.

After thinking about the bike and where it was dropped all day long, IMO I believe that she will not be found around there. I believe this gives me hope she could still be alive and here's why...

LE and all involved are looking in Whiskey Bay and the surrounding Basin Swamp for her. But if they were to dump her in the water around there, why would they not do the same with the bike?

If they were thinking the last place they would find her would be in the swamp, why leave a piece of evidence where it could possibly be found. Why not dump it all in the place you believe would be best to get rid of all evidence?

Although I know this case may turn out with the worst outcome, I choose to believe and pray that they got rid of the bike but kept her alive.

BRING MICKEY HOME!!!

 

[chicken fried]

So, dude! I think I've seen you around town! You look tres cool in your land yacht!

Yeah tell my family that; they think I'm nuts to drive old cars. I enjoy fixing them. Glad someone appreciates them. Comfortable ride, Quadraphonic 8-track, and 8 mpg in town

On topic: though the Caddy driver on the surveillance photo is more likely to have been a witness, I will say that the trunks on those are almost as big as the trunk on my Lincoln. If it wasn't full of tools, parts, etc. like mine usually is, you could easily fit a bike AND rider in there and close the lid. The old saying is that they were built for the Mafia :-(

So, the Caddy was only seen once, if I'm not mistaken, and going the same direction as the truck until the truck turned around? I know the exact camera timeline is somewhere upthread, but was the Caddy behind the truck.... before the turnaround? That's what I thought I gathered. if so, the driver could have seen something. AND, on streets as deserted as those were, could possibly have taken a good look!

 

[Isabelle]

Again, no sweat. But if you go to Albertson's tonight, I will be showered... just got done with a tre dirty job and even I won't go there looking like I do right now!

Aww, Chickenfried, I bet you have a heart of gold!

 

[JurysOut]

I home schooled my boys, most of them all the way until they entered college. But a couple of them wanted to go to middle or high school, and I let them. Lord God. I used to make red circles around the spelling and grammar mistakes.....didn't make many friends! One I remember clearly was a safety notice that urged parents to ask their children "where you at?". Instead of where are you. Sheesh.

OT, I had to hide half my friends from my Facebook timeline. I was grammar and spelling correcting people to death.

 

[Secrett]

to all the new posters here-locals and otherwise:

:Welcome1::wagon::welcome3:

I don't post a lot- but I'm an avid reader. It really helps to see all the local input! Thanks!

 

[chicken fried]

I'm a cup half full thinking person. I see the bike being found on land as a good thing. Why would someone put her in the water and not the bike also? I'm still very hopeful that she will be found alive. I was actually happy that the bike was found on land and not in the water.

Just a wishful thinker from the south side of Lafayette.

I agree. She has a chance. I think there's a decent chance she's alive. And the perp likely doesn't have a boat, or the bike would never have been found, unless he's playing a game.

 

[wfgodot]

If you're following along on local Lafayette news sites, it's not uncommon at all to have horrible grammar and spelling. It's appalling on a regular basis.

Hasn't been that bad at all. I can tell most of the reporters have probably at least gone to journalism school, whether they're great writers or not. They know what goes into reporting a story.

 

[JurysOut]

:maddening:

I agree. She has a chance. I think there's a decent chance she's alive. And the perp likely doesn't have a boat, or the bike would never have been found, unless he's playing a game.

That's my fear - the game.

 

[JW1893]

I home schooled my boys, most of them all the way until they entered college. But a couple of them wanted to go to middle or high school, and I let them. Lord God. I used to make red circles around the spelling and grammar mistakes.....didn't make many friends! One I remember clearly was a safety notice that urged parents to ask their children "where you at?". Instead of where are you. Sheesh.

You should see the letters that come home from my daughter's school...and she's in the highest rated school in the parish. Last year, she had a spelling test review sent home by the teacher with a spelling word misspelled. It's crazy.

 

[o_O]

For those who want to know more about where the bike was found:

http://goo.gl/maps/K3pW

I think that will take you to an aerial shot of the area. It's hard to see in this shot, and hard to picture if you've never been there, but this exit is in the middle of a raised stretch of I-10. About 30 or 40 feet below the interstate is a boat landing and a couple of old poorly lit roads that lead to hunting leases and a camp or two...but not much.

It looks like the bike was left directly below the interstate. They definitely didn't drop it off of the interstate, as they would have had to stop on the downside of a bridge...with virtually no shoulder. However, they could have easily taken that exit, found that no body was down there (which is very common), stopped directly under the interstate (where NOBODY can see you) and tossed the bike out. This could have even been done during the day. From there they could have continued east, or headed back west towards Lafayette.

Whether this was done by the people who have Mickey, or someone who came across the bike and didn't want to talk to the authorities....they are definitely on the DOTD cameras. And those cameras are all elevated so you'd be able to spot a bike laying down in the back of a truck.

 

[charminglane]

I am very surprised that we have not heard a leak regarding the condition of the bike.

 

[Eavesdropping]

In times like these I wish solving mysteries was as easy in real life as it is in TV shows like Criminal Minds, CSI, Bones, etc.

 

[chicken fried]

I'm a librarian and have been told time and time again that James Lee Burke is "it!"
Now it's my turn to start reading him, too. Thanks for the reminder!

Start from the beginning. The series is incredible, and best read in order. Have patience: You also get to watch Burke grow as a writer..... he gets better and better and now, in his 70s, he's unreal. I think he's one of the top couple veteran fiction writers in America.

 

[Isabelle]

Thanks, I'll read him.

FWIW, my best friend, in east Texas, told me there's no way in hell she would ever venture into those areas off the interstate. She mentioned Deliverance.

You can believe her too. There have been many areas I ventured into, not by choice, but because I was a home health nurse. I don't do that anymore, I am very choosy!

 

[A.C.I]

How often do all of us drive past something every day until we barely register that it's there? If I'm pumping gas or running to the convenience store at 1:00 or 2:00 AM in my own or a very familiar neighborhood, I'm probably not paying much attention to details unrelated to the task at hand. Keys, phone, credit card, doors locked, is there a deer in the trees at the edge of the road?.... Evil doers count on that, live by that. Familiarity can be the opposite of safety if the wrong person's watching.

I think about that a lot. Who's actually in this parking lot or the next aisle? I have a grown daughter and three granddaughters and it's scary how the risk increases with each generation.

At the time of the OKC bombing, I remember thinking 'did I ever cross paths with this monster? Brush by him on a street corner, breathe the same air in an elevator, handle the same coins?' Now I'm stuck with that thought. I can't have moved through the world for this many decades without glancing off one of these creatures.

I suppose, like a lot of us, I'm wondering how I can expect to escape life untouched by this sort of thing. And every time it's not my family I'm simultaneously relieved, terrified and guilt ridden.

I'm afraid for this girl. And for my girls.

Having a daughter, it is very disheartening sometimes being a P.I. and seeing how oblivious most people are. I sit in a dark tinted vehicle watching and filming people all day and they have no idea theyre being followed.