LA - Mickey Shunick, 21, Lafayette, 19 May 2012 - #2

[reedus23]

For everyone wondering about the taco bell trip and why she wasn't dropped off at home afterwards instead...
I think that they went to another taco bell (on campus) that was not that far from BW's house, and in a different direction from her house.

But still a very good question: Why didn't he just bring her home and grab something to eat on the way if she was so sick and tired?

That does take away some of what wasn't sitting well with me. Thanks. Like I said, not being familiar with the area, the one I saw was on the way to her house.

 

[nursebeeme]

scanner thread started for Mickey:
[ame="http://www.websleuths.com/forums/showthread.php?p=7961912#post7961912"]Websleuths Crime Sleuthing Community[/ame]

**for any new members: anything that happens in the scanner thread STAYS in the scanner thread... if something is heard that peeps upstairs would want to check out you can post "check the scanner thread", etc... but anything heard on the scanner stays on the scanner thread**

 

[nursebeeme]

bon bon: MOO is my opinion only... and we even have a smilie for it: :moo:

 

[pjcitizen]

The link just brought me the main news page. Was it the story about LPD?

Lafayette PD Uncovered

Yep that's it.

 

[radiator]

For everyone wondering about the taco bell trip and why she wasn't dropped off at home afterwards instead...
I think that they went to another taco bell (on campus) that was not that far from BW's house, and in a different direction from her house.

But still a very good question: Why didn't he just bring her home and grab something to eat on the way if she was so sick and tired?

If I was feeling a little sick/tired (particularly from a hangover, as has been suggested) I would want to bicycle home. If you're not a cyclist this may sound crazy but I guarantee that a brisk ride of a few miles can really make me feel better!

Although since it's been brought up I am now wondering if she did have a plan to stop in somewhere else and was only complaining of sickness as an excuse to leave.

IMO, BW didn't drive her home because she didn't want him to, for whatever reason.

 

[GulfCoastKAT]

[

The link just brought me the main news page. Was it the story about LPD?

Lafayette PD Uncovered
1:26 PM
A restraining order filed by five officers with the Lafayette Police Department against Chief Jim Craft and Chief Administrative Officer of the Durel administration Dee Stanley has been signed by District Judge Kristian Earles. As proof they point to secretly recorded tapes obtained by Eyewtness News. Tapes the officers contend will help shed some light on how crime stats were allegedly manipulated to reflect a safer Lafayette.


RESPECTIFULLY SNIPPED.

KAT,

You may want to edit your post. It is against copyright laws to copy and paste the story in it's entirety. Just put a few sentences and then provide the link.

BTW - Welcome!

Thank you for letting me know. I'm new and still trying to read all the rules and TOS. I edited the post.

 

[bekind]

scanner thread started for Mickey:
Websleuths Crime Sleuthing Community

**for any new members: anything that happens in the scanner thread STAYS in the scanner thread... if something is heard that peeps upstairs would want to check out you can post "check the scanner thread", etc... but anything heard on the scanner stays on the scanner thread**

sorry but what exactly is scanner thread?

 

[nursebeeme]

sorry but what exactly is scanner thread?

it is a thread dedicated to listening to the scanner (police scanners etc) during the active search

 

[nursebeeme]

latest updates:

http://www.theadvertiser.com/article/20120524/NEWS01/120524019

 

[mahmoo]

Thank you, it is great to have another confirmation that Mickey's sister did not disagree with her parents and friends' statement that it was not unusual for her to ride alone at night.



Nice to know that LE isn't looking at BW as a person of interest.

I've been noticing that Chief Craft says "when you cut it off" when he talks about the phone.....does that mean they think it was deliberately switched off? IOW: does that differentiate between the phone going dead and being physically switched off?



mahmoo, YIKES! A coed missing, and the girls still aren't being careful!!

BTW, are you the same mahmoo I remember from the Court TV boards, during the search for Derrik Todd Lee?

Yeppers, the same Mahmoo lol.
I told daughter yesterday she needs to let their sorority president know about the door incident.

 

[Chili Fries]

2:30 p.m. — Police Chief Jim Craft says there is so far no reason to believe Brettly Wilson had anything to do with the disappearance of his friend, 22-year-old Mickey Shunick.

Craft confirmed Thurday that Wilson was given a polygraph test, but he said he could not reveal the results of that test.

“Polygraphs are part of many investigations,” Craft said, “but we’re not going to release any information along those lines that could maybe hamper our investigative efforts.”

Craft also revealed the existence of video footage from the Taco Bell Wilson told investigators he and Shunick went to the morning she disappeared. In that video, Craft said you can see Wilson, but you can’t see his passenger.

“But we know [Shunick] was there because she told a friend on a phone call she was there, and her ATM [card] was used there,” Craft said. “And you can see him turning in the vehicle, so he’s talking to someone.”

Craft also said they have picked up several items of potential evidence, but so far, none of those seems to be connected to the case. He also confirmed that her cell phone was turned off and that police are not able to get any information about her location using that avenue.

“It’s the type of cell phone that, when you cut it off, you can’t ping it,” Craft said.

Wilson was the last person to see Shunick.

http://kpel965.com/latest-information-search-for-mickey-shunick-continues/

If you listen to the audio, Chief Craft also said they searched Brettly's house and car so it does appear that Brettly was telling the truth when he told JVM last night that he allowed LE to search whatever they needed to. Doesn't sound like he's trying to hide anything.

 

[Isabelle]

It's probably in regards to the shooting that took place there Tuesday:
http://www.katc.com/news/two-men-shot-after-bar-fight/

Seems like shooting occurred on Congress and police are at the end of Percy Rd.?? Not from the area, so not sure of the logistics.

 

[Isabelle]

Have you seen this?

http://m.klfy.com/default.aspx?pid=...97674/lafayette-pd-facing?clienttype=rssstory

Wow. And it's probably done all over the place. So much for trust and safety!

 

[Woe.be.gone]

Brettly mentioned that two of the people who were part of the group of ten that had been together at Artmosphere earlier, called him (or them?) while MS was eating her Taco Bell food. It sounded as if they may have wanted BW and MS to join them to get something to eat afterall. MS had just eaten and was about to ride her bike home.* Were the two people told her specific plans in that moment? Which two friends called? Did they call via one phone call or two separate calls? Did they call BW or MS? Or did they call one of them inviting both of them to meet up again? In other words; why, after they had said goodbye already did these two contact MS and/or BW again? Did they or one of them want MS only?

Also, did anyone hear BW say earlier that his friends called him because they needed some help? Am I dreaming?

*Wait, the Chief said that MS received a call from a friend when they were at the TB (did he say Ashley?) - one of the reasons LE thinks MS was at TB as they checked the friend's phone, probably for the time.

Who are these two and could they have hit her while driving in when she was riding her bike out from Ryan Street?
Charlie got to me when, as if she was really talking to someone, she pleaded into the mic on the radio, that if an accident happened please just come forward, even if you had been drinking, etc. Could something bad have happened within the group and they panicked and are now covering something up?

MS may not have been drinking that night but the rest of the group may have been in various states of consciousness after partying all night.

 

[Woe.be.gone]

Seems like shooting occurred on Congress and police are at the end of Percy Rd.?? Not from the area, so not sure of the logistics.

Not sure about the shooting but someone posted a map on the previous page. Percy Road looks to be beyond where MS would turn left on her street for her last leg home. Not sure the distance but a little beyond. Locals, can you tell us more about what's there at Percy Road?

 

[tarabull]

Latest Update - Reviewing home security cameras are urged

04:29 PM



http://www.katc.com/full-coverage/searching-for-mickey-shunick/#fcanchor

 

[tarabull]

Brettly mentioned that two of the people who were part of the group of ten that had been together at Artmosphere earlier, called him (or them?) while MS was eating her Taco Bell food. It sounded as if they may have wanted BW and MS to join them to get something to eat afterall. MS had just eaten and was about to ride her bike home.* Where the two people told her specific plans in that moment? Which two friends called? Did they call via one phone call or two separate calls? Did they call BW or MS? Or did they call one of them inviting both of them to meet up again? In other words; why, after they had said goodbye already did these two contact MS and/or BW again? Did they or one of them want MS only?

Also, did anyone hear BW say earlier that his friends called him because they needed some help? Am I dreaming?

*Wait, the Chief said that MS received a call from a friend when they were at the TB (did he say Ashley?) - one of the reasons LE thinks MS was at TB as they checked the friend's phone, probably for the time.

Who are these two and could they have hit her while driving in when she was riding her bike out from Ryan Street?
Charlie got to me when, as if she was really talking to someone, she pleaded into the mic on the radio, that if an accident happened please just come forward, even if you had been drinking, etc. Could something bad have happened within the group and they panicked and are now covering something up?

MS may not have been drinking that night but the rest of the group may have been in various states of consciousness after partying all night.

He says something like that, about friends calling to see if they needed help (?) he says it during that radio interview he did...the link is here somewhere i will look - ETA:

I just posted the link to the post about the checking of the tires... but here is a direct link to his interview that it came from. I find it odd as well.
http://kpel965.com/mickey-shunick-the-search-continues-in-lafayette/

It's there.....scroll down to where it says "Listen to the interview with Brettly Wilson"

HOPEFULLY IIRC.

 

[mahmoo]

The shooting was in the bar parking lot, not on a dead end gravel road.

wilkie, my apologies ... you are right. From looking at the map that area at the end of Percy is a very large field/wooded area.

Here's a link to a quick interactive map I pinned showing the Percy Rd area, Shannon's bar where the shooting took place Tuesday, the area where Mickey lives and the location she was last seen:
http://mapfling.com/qg5ojq4
If you switch from map view to satellite view you can see the field/woods at the end of Percy.

 

[OldSteve]

Latest Update - Reviewing home security cameras are urged

04:29 PM



http://www.katc.com/full-coverage/searching-for-mickey-shunick/#fcanchor

Sounds like they haven't seen on any cameras they thought she should be on...
most strange no one has come forward to say the saw her....
A map showing location of known cams would be most helpful. Test runs to see is a person is even picked up by them at night would be good too.
Brings memories of Lauren Spierer's case of her not being seen on camera at crucial time...

 

[Bzarektah36]

Good day to you all. This is my very first post here on Websleuth and I appreciate the forum you guys have set up here to help discuss unsolved crimes in hopes of bringing justice to light. I had no idea such a forum existed before yesterday, but I’m certainly glad that it does. Most forums are set up for a lot of talking but not much actual action. It’s refreshing to know that there are forum’s out there that are used by its members for more than arguing which celebrity wore it best. Thank you for giving me the proper forum, community and opportunity to jot down my opinions on a matter that has hit quite literally close to home in the past week.

I don’t know MS personally, but I have seen her on multiple occasions out in downtown Lafayette and have close friends that are, in turn, her very close friends. I also know a large amount of people that have ridden bikes with her in the city. With the push to go green and the ever popular rise of the hipster culture, Lafayette’s bike community has grown to epic proportions within the last few years; so much so that they have organized community bike rides called “Critical Mass” where everyone meets up and rides together on their respective bikes through various routes throughout the city. It seems like almost everyone here has a bike nowadays. I’ve lived here all 29 years of my life and with this case's media coverage, this is by far the most I’ve heard Lafayette being called a “college town”. Technically, yeah, we have a college. But I wouldn’t go so far as to dub it after just that; especially considering that it is the fourth largest city in the state, and in all fairness, the fastest growing. Look it up. That’s a statistic. However, I understand the logic to the college town tag considering the area and victim in this case. Let's talk about the area for a moment.

In Lafayette, we have a set of parallel streets named after various apostles and collectively nicknamed (unimaginatively) the “Saints Streets” area. The Saints Streets are close to campus and include typically cheap places to rent, luring many students going to UL to seek residence there. I’d venture to say that students and/or their families are the most prominent members of the area, and every semester generally brings about a new cycle of tenants’ to the area as old ones move out. However, it isn’t just students; there are plenty of old couples and families that have lived their whole lives in some of the houses on those streets. Its close proximity to campus, downtown Lafayette and the city park makes it breeding grounds for bike riders travelling to and from class, dining, recreation, shopping, drinking, etcetera. The Saints Streets lie right in the middle of the alleged crime scene and can be seen in a couple of starkly different lights: During the daytime hours you can find your typical college student body throwing a football or Frisbee and plenty of people outside being neighborly. And obviously, a lot of bike riders. But in the night time, things can get a bit hairy in the very same area. You see, not only are the Saints Streets in close proximity to all those nice thing I listed earlier, they’re also very close to what some here in Lafayette may refer to as “the bad part of town”. And during the nighttime, the Saints Streets take on a new form of beast as the dimly lit streets and strangely quiet avenues’ give way to a variety of crime that occur frequently in the area. I’m a full bodied, capable, 29 year old male, and to say that I’d willingly want to travel down Souvenir Gate to Coliseum road at 2am sans motor vehicle would be a lie. That place is so dark and has so many places to lurk, it’s really almost like a turkey shoot for any would be criminal looking for victims to prey on.

This all being said, I think that it’s an absolute shame that MS allegedly chose to venture out that night at that time all alone, but she is an adult and is capable of making her own decisions. Until just recently, when LE finally threw the local public a bone by releasing the information that BW and MS were actually seen on surveillance at Taco Bell at the corresponding time of his statement, I was focusing on BW, just like many others. To an outside observer, it would seem blatantly obvious at first. He was allegedly the last to see her before whatever happened, happened. He had to be dissected if only to prove his innocence, and from reports, he was more than cooperative in every regard and nothing incriminating derived from the various searches of his home, car, and even computer. Sure, the guy has some quirks, but so does everyone. And putting BW’s quirks under a microscope and defaming the guy isn’t right, especially at this point. Believe me, it’s almost like I would’ve wanted LE not to have solidified the Taco Bell story; at least then we could definitely focus on a main suspect, and it would makes things a heck of a lot easier. But justice isn’t always that easy, and in the current light, with the new evidence, it seems that BW’s involvement in MS’s disappearance simply isn’t the case.

So then, what happened? It seriously gives me chills to think about, and it’s giving me chills just writing this post up. It’s like she vanished into thin air. To me, and I’m assuming most others, this is the most chilling aspect of the entire case. No witnesses. No camera footage (after Taco Bell). No evidence (that the general public has been told) whatsoever; absolutely nothing to go on. There’s only speculation; and (understandably), a lot of it. So much so that moderators of MS’s Facebook page had to step in and tell people to stop the bickering and speculating because it isn’t helping the search, which as of this writing is still live and ongoing. I live on the bank of the Vermillion river that runs through the city and every now and then, I hear and look outside to find a boat cruising along, looking for a bike, a body, something. I can hear helicopters every now and then overhead; some of them doing the very same thing: looking for anything to go on. And both avenues are apparently coming up with nothing. It’s all very disheartening. Especially to the droves of search crews that have been out looking high and low for MS over the past few days.

All these seemingly dark and narrow dead ends lead me to believe that this crime, in all likelihood, was a planned out and methodically mapped act. This is the coldest way to look at it, and it also points to a much lower chance of MS’s survival rate in the matter, and I think it may be something locals here don’t want to accept. Some want to think that a drunk driver hit her and in a panic, they took her and her bike to hide the evidence. This is so unlikely on so many levels, that’s it’s astronomical in my opinion. And with the new evidence of the Taco Bell footage surfacing that corroborates BW’s story, the light of scrutiny (at least in my eyes) has shifted from him as prime suspect. After all, I’m not too sure MS’s killer-to-be would have calmly treated her to a complimentary last meal of Taco Bell before committing the most heinous act he would have ever committed in his entire life.

When you take away those scenarios, along with the scenario that MS willingly went off the grid (which according to everyone who knows her closely, is an impossible scenario), all that you’re left with are two scenarios: one being spontaneous abduction, and the other being planned abduction. Of the two, all signs in the case thus far point to planned abduction. A spontaneous act is just that: spontaneous. Not thought out, on a whim, played by ear. There are way too many factors in this case to trip over and expose oneself as to being the culprit for it to just have happened out of spontaneity. I truly believe that MS was stalked for a substantial period of time leading up to that Saturday night. It could have been a timeline as few as hours, but it was most likely as many as days, weeks, or even months. I find that the people that commit these heinous crimes aren’t given enough credit as to just how ruthlessly cunning they can be. Naturally, abduction, kidnap, robbery and murder aren’t degrees that you earn at a university, but that doesn’t mean that everyone who specializes in these things is stupid. The mysterious green van that was mentioned earlier in this thread is something that immediately caught my attention and I hope that that facet of this case is being thoroughly looked into by LE. While driving yesterday, I saw group’s of police on foot in the middle of widely travelled back roads, apparently glancing into cars as they drove slowly past, possibly looking for something.

I believe that this crime was committed by someone who was watching MS and knew exactly when and where to strike. It was also known that she would be on a bike and that that aspect would have to be dealt with as well when the time arose. Speaking of timing, the timing for the crime was ridiculously eerily and seemingly perfect. The weekend provided a buffer zone for the culprit to distance himself (in all likelihood, a male) from the scene before anyone could get a hold of the managers/owners of retail venues along MS’s alleged route home to have access to surveillance footage to see exactly how far MS might’ve made it before disappearing. The heavy rain the very next day muddled many of the possible clues and prints at places that search parties were to scavenge in the following days. And quite possibly the most incredibly intriguing aspect of timing was the presence of the carnival and its crew setting up for the state fair, which to my understanding, is a strong focal point of the investigation due to its proximity to the alleged crime scene and its transient nature and reputation of carnival workers on a whole. It’s truly almost an Agatha Christie-esque disappearance and it’s really doing a number on the people that knew MS and the citywide community in its entirety for that matter.

LE has posted bulletins in the states the run along I-10, which is a lot of ground. Like, a lot. They are also working with the FBI now as well as TES. These are all good things, but in a sense, they are all very bad things as well, because it all boils down to no one having a single good lead to go on. I just logged into Facebook and now LE is asking the local residents that live on MS’s alleged route for any domestic surveillance footage they may have from their home security systems. To me, it seems as though they are clutching at straws and it is very unfortunate, but also points to my theory of planned abduction. I could go on and on, because there are just so many unexplained facets of the case at this point, but I’ll stop here. I may go join one of the search crews today, even though I truly feel like there’s nothing left of MS or her belongings from that Saturday to find here in Lafayette, or possibly even Louisiana for that matter.

I just hope that MS’s family and friends find some sort of closure somewhere in this ordeal. And if at all possible, I genuinely hope that MS is still okay as you and I read this right now.

All that preceded were my own opinions.​