LA - Mickey Shunick, 21, Lafayette, 19 May 2012 - #1

[Knox]

Wow, BW is a hard core cyclist, that trip would not be for the faint of heart.

http://www.desertdispatch.com/articles/bike-11260-first-build.html

 

[PHB]

BW seems like the kind of guy who would have a girl as a best friend (I'm not saying he's gay, he just seems like the sensitive, artsy, non-threatening type).

JMO

 

[ktgirl]

I am looking again at the route Mickey would have taken home. The area to the east and north of where BW lives becomes somewhat dangerous at night and I know some who wouldn't walk there during the day.
North of Cameron St. as well as east of Evangeline Thruway (Hwy 90) is where the neighborhood really changes (maybe somewhat before that even- this is kind of common in Louisiana cities- expensive, middle class, or college neighborhoods that back up to very poor neighborhoods or neighborhoods with high crime levels). I know it's in the opposite direction of where she was headed but maybe someone tried to rob her for money and/or her bike and something happened and she and/or her bike ended up a few streets over in this neighborhood. I hope these areas close to the north and east have been searched or will be searched soon. There are some abandoned houses, overgrown fields, etc....and I hope everyone is posting flyers with a pic of her bike in these areas in case someone in the neighborhood is riding it or has found it...

Frustrating that we have no word on whether or not they can use GPS from her phone, etc and security cameras. Praying we find out something soon.

 

[Knox]

BW seems like the kind of guy who would have a girl as a best friend (I'm not saying he's gay, he just seems like the sensitive, artsy, non-threatening type).

JMO

On the dramatic side, I guess maybe that's what makes him seem a little hinky. The more I read though, seems as if he has lot's of support from the close circle of friends. I wonder if her family feels the same way? Anyone seen a comment from them on BW?

 

[PHB]

She didn't have a boyfriend, I know this as fact. There are a lot of people in the pictures, I'm in one of them in fact. I know with my friends and I, I ask people to take pictures of me all the time because I'm usually the one behind the camera and never in photos on my own phone. I don't know BW well, but my sis in law does, these kids have all been friends for years, and she's adamant that he's a good guy.

Also, I see what you mean about the dramatic thing, esp. in that first news video. But in his defense, he's missing his friend, and as the last person to see Mickey I bet he was grilled by LE, so maybe he's just emotionally exhausted.

JMO

 

[shefner]

I think, after years at Websleuths, you just get a skeptical view of everyone...because stats show us that when someone goes missing, we should look at close family and friends first. It is much more likely that someone who knows the missing person has some clue as to what happened. We also, automatically, look at the last person to see the victim.

In doing this, we sometimes read too much into things...and we can certainly get it wrong.

I feel torn. Part of me says that something happened and Mickey never biked home that night. Another part of me says she did and one of the following things happened:
1) She had some type of accident and became incapacitated.
2) She was hit by a driver (drunk or otherwise) and the driver panicked, taking her and
the bike.
3) She met with foul play
4) She left willingly just to get away.

I think the most likely things are 2 or 3...or she never biked home at all.

 

[LadyL]

Shades of Stephen McDaniel in the Lauren Giddings case.

http://www.firstcoastnews.com/video/1092207112001/0/Full-Stephen-McDaniel-Interview-June-30-2011

I thought of that perp when I saw the video too.

 

[Kaliste]

I just wanted to toss in that Lafayette has a very strong "community" feel to it. I've never lived or even vacationed anywhere with that same vibe. I also use instagram and there are already many posts with the #findmickey hashtag. Anyone without Instagram should be able to check out the pics and comments on the website Statigram (by entering the findmickey hashtag).

If any of that is against WS rules I apologize.

 

[queenofcorona]

while I haven't always been super active in terms of posting here on WS, I understand sleuthing, especially in regards to the last person seen with the missing person. it's just different when you actually know the people involved. when the police aren't revealing any information, it's easy to grasp at anything. but MOO, I have no reason to believe BW has anything to do with this.

 

[hollyblue]

On the dramatic side, I guess maybe that's what makes him seem a little hinky. The more I read though, seems as if he has lot's of support from the close circle of friends. I wonder if her family feels the same way? Anyone seen a comment from them on BW?

I like to know what he is like when angry...or frustrated...still. Passive? Not saying he's involved, but would like to have verification of a siting on video, etc to rule it out.

May have missed it if posted earlier, but she may have had bike troubles like a flat tire or chain problems.

I just wish someone could have driven her home and she could go back the next day to get her bike. :banghead: I was independent and adventurous too, but not at 2AM. ...and alone.

Knox, you'd be surprised how quickly 50 miles on a bike can go when with a group and the scenery is engulfing your senses. Less the hills...of course....they were never my cup of tea.

 

[tarabull]

Where are you Mickey???

 

[diamond12]

Just watched:
http://www.katc.com/videos/search-is-on-for-missing-woman-10pm/

At first I felt really bad seeing her friend hurt so much. Then I noticed one thing, when he gets all emotional...I see no tears. Maybe I'm just tired and the video quality is not good enough. Please someone correct me if I'm wrong

I'm not saying he is involved, but I just noticed that detail. Perhaps I saw wrong.

 

[Kimberlyd125]

I was in Lafayette all weekend at a softball tournament and am just now hearing about this.

I hope Mickey is found soon.

Going back to read the thread.

 

[nursebeeme]

http://www.theadvertiser.com/articl...1026/FBI-national-media-involved-Shunick-case

FBI is on the case now

 

[WideOpen]

Mickey doesn't stay at other people's houses, Mickey doesn't have boyfriends, Mickey doesn't have people that are mad at her," said Betty Wilson, a friend. "Your usual suspects here really aren't going on. She really would have just been going home."

Note; The reporter above mistakingly identified Brettly as Betty in the article.

http://www.wafb.com/story/18579934/search-intensifies-for-missing-bike-rider

We don't know what context the reporter asked BW about his friend but this emotional comment does come across strange especially after watching the video of BW. He does seem over dramatic and forced. Many of her friends and family (Ashley and her sister) have been interviewed and remain calm, strong, informative and appear like they are holding it together. Again, BW is hinky compared to the others.

What is really starting to nag at me is the bike.
I'm fairly new to sleuthing and follow along with some missing cases. If a random kidnapping/perp had abducted Mickey wouldnt they have left the bike or just tossed the bike and it should be found fairly quickly?

A bike is a large item to try to conceal. Thats what makes me wonder if this was closer to home. Someone into biking would know how to dismantle and hide a bike making it all the harder to find.
jmo

 

[CCK]

I think, after years at Websleuths, you just get a skeptical view of everyone...because stats show us that when someone goes missing, we should look at close family and friends first. It is much more likely that someone who knows the missing person has some clue as to what happened. We also, automatically, look at the last person to see the victim.

In doing this, we sometimes read too much into things...and we can certainly get it wrong.

I feel torn. Part of me says that something happened and Mickey never biked home that night. Another part of me says she did and one of the following things happened:
1) She had some type of accident and became incapacitated.
2) She was hit by a driver (drunk or otherwise) and the driver panicked, taking her and
the bike.
3) She met with foul play
4) She left willingly just to get away.

I think the most likely things are 2 or 3...or she never biked home at all.

Yes, LE is going to need to determine very quickly if she did in fact ever leave to go home (I think she did, but you never know). With the amount of cameras up in our city, and on the routes she likely would've gone home on, they should be able to find her if she rode home...at SOME point. Not to mention the many businesses that have cameras that could've caught her on there. I don't think (and it seems very much NOT her personality to do this from what everyone says about her) that she left willingly to get away. This girl really doesn't seem like the type, especially because of her brother's HS graduation she missed. If they CANT find her on any camera and begin to believe that she never actually left the house of BW, LE is going to have an issue on their hands there...that house is the base camp of the searches, etc., for her. I would say thousands of people have probably been through there by now. Of course I guess they could also look into BW's phone records to see what towers he may have bounced off of or phone calls he made on early Saturday AM...and they could check his vehicle...but the house that could be possibly containing evidence is crawling with people.

I still do think she left though. I just feel like it was probably closer to where she left that something happened. I would consider the areas she would've been riding in the first half of that trip more dangerous (and you run across a whole SLEW of people in town who are setting up for a carnival/fair) rather than the areas closer to her home.

 

[CCK]

Mickey doesn't stay at other people's houses, Mickey doesn't have boyfriends, Mickey doesn't have people that are mad at her," said Betty Wilson, a friend. "Your usual suspects here really aren't going on. She really would have just been going home."

Note; The reporter above mistakingly identified Brettly as Betty in the article.

http://www.wafb.com/story/18579934/search-intensifies-for-missing-bike-rider

We don't know what context the reporter asked BW about his friend but this emotional comment does come across strange especially after watching the video of BW. He does seem over dramatic and forced. Many of her friends and family (Ashley and her sister) have been interviewed and remain calm, strong, informative and appear like they are holding it together. Again, BW is hinky compared to the others.

What is really starting to nag at me is the bike.
I'm fairly new to sleuthing and follow along with some missing cases. If a random kidnapping/perp had abducted Mickey wouldnt they have left the bike or just tossed the bike and it should be found fairly quickly?

A bike is a large item to try to conceal. Thats what makes me wonder if this was closer to home. Someone into biking would know how to dismantle and hide a bike making it all the harder to find.
jmo

Yeah it seems like it would be less likely to be a spontaneous crime with the bike..because if you're trying to take her, you're going to have to leave the bike, or take the bike. They haven't found it yet, so I doubt it was left. But not only taking a person but their bike takes time, and time means you're more likely to be caught. Considering that bars downtown close @ 2 and people begin to drive home, you'd have traffic passing where you'd expect she would be riding home. So if you're a criminal and trying to quickly abduct someone, having to ALSO mess with their bike at that time is going to lengthen the amount of exposure time that you could be caught. Of course, if she was taken, there are a lot of placed to hide that bike that wouldn't require you to conceal it...we have the Vermilion River, plus tons of ponds & such in this area...but mostly the river. And it runs through a lot of the city. And its deep enough to toss in something like a bike...recently someone accidentally drove a vehicle into the river and when they went to get it out, it turns out that there were MULTIPLE vehicles that had been dumped in the water, like 2-3 others I believe. And no one knew they were there. So a bike could def. be thrown into the river. We also have lots of brushy/overgrown areas it could be concealed...but again, the more you are interacting with the bike, the more likely you are to be seen doing so...

 

[CCK]

Just watched:
http://www.katc.com/videos/search-is-on-for-missing-woman-10pm/

At first I felt really bad seeing her friend hurt so much. Then I noticed one thing, when he gets all emotional...I see no tears. Maybe I'm just tired and the video quality is not good enough. Please someone correct me if I'm wrong

I'm not saying he is involved, but I just noticed that detail. Perhaps I saw wrong.

Yeah, he does look very broken up, but I also don't really see tears. Maybe its just hard to see because of his glasses, I don't know. I thought 2 things about the video the first time I watched it- I thought it was kind of odd that he said "You don't know what you've done" (him talking to what seems like who he assumes has taken her) - her family & close friends speaking yesterday speak about her like she WILL come home, that maybe she was in an accident, not necessarily taken...I mean I think they realize what could've happened but he gave that interview pretty shortly after she was missing when I think it was more likely to assume that she could've been in an accident somewhere on the road, and hurt...

And also I thought it was weird when he said "the usual suspects aren't here..." because as the last person to have seen her...well, he would be one of the usual suspects.

I don't know that either of those things means a thing and I really do want to believe she left that house and went home before something happened, I just remember those two things sticking out at me the first time I watched the video.

 

[GateKeeper]

http://www.katc.com/news/the-search-continues-for-micky-shunick/


Volunteers were hitting the pavement along the route Shunick was believed to have traveled. A cell phone was phone this afternoon but it was later revealed that it did not belong to Micky.

 

[LanieCoz]

SEVERAL post on the FB seem to indicate that they are sure she was seen on camera at LHS. However, this hasn't been confirmed by LE. As we all know, it could take a while for LE to confirm it. At first, when I watched the video, I didn't get a genuinely concerning vibe for BW - he looked down a lot when he was talking and that is usually a sign of dishonesty. But, in the same breath, you never know how you would act and which ways you would respond if you were in that situation so I don't think it's for me to judge the sincerety of his words and actions.

I live about two and half hours from Lafayette and have family members who are actively participating in the search for Mickey, which is how I heard about her disappearance. I believe that she was spotted on the LHS camera, which puts her even closer to the area of the cajun dome which is where the carnies are.

I have always been a bit hesistant about carnies. I have an uncle who is/was (don't know if he still is) a traveling carnie and he is just a very odd individual, to say the least. I know it sounds stereotypical and stigmatizing, but it's just MO. I wish there were someway to search the travel trailors and such that these people stay in. I can't help but feel that her bike could easily be in one and perhaps even her. I don't know how long the carnival is in town, but usually they only stay for a weekend which means they will be packed up and have left by Monday morning.