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

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Thanks Secrett! Been lurking here a few days reading the threads. I think this website is really great. It's nice to see such observant discussion and to see how many people care about the missing.

And it's good to see that it's been confirmed per police. At least that gives them an area to concentrate on.
 
My heart just sank. :mad:

I am trying to find anything positive in this discovery. But sadly, if they took her to this desolate location, and dumped her bike, then I feel the worst case scenario unfolded. :rose: I hope I am wrong, but I feel so hopeless right now.
 
My heart just sank. :mad:

I am trying to find anything positive in this discovery. But sadly, if they took her to this desolate location, and dumped her bike, then I feel the worst case scenario unfolded. :rose: I hope I am wrong, but I feel so hopeless right now.

I'm there with you katy.
 
I wonder if there are any traffic cameras on that bridge.
 
Thank you all for helping us better understand and visualize that area/exits. Unfortunately, it seems like a likely place for them to find something. As others are aware of the likeliness as well, I wonder if they had a search team there today. Or I guess perhaps just a random spotting by a passerby.



ETA: I now see the article posted of how it was reported.

You're right...likely....Seems like that should have been one of the first places they searched....like on Monday after she went missing or something.
 
There are cameras in-lane right at the truck stop weight station near Henderson.

If working, they see (record?) every vehicle approaching the bridge.



I wonder if there are any traffic cameras on that bridge.
 
I just joined. Am a local. Whiskey Bay is, of course, where two of Derrick Todd Lee's victims were found. There is nothing there but a boat ramp. No gas stations, no buildings, no nothing. It's a jumping off point to take a boat deep into the Atchafalaya Basin, and also the only exit nearby that can be completely deserted at night, due to the lack of any businesses. I have worried about Whiskey Bay because it's so obvious that it's almost not obvious, if that makes any sense. Let's hope this bike rumor is a false alarm, because there are "better" places for the bike to be found, as far as a good outcome.

To help eliminate this sort of outcome, I took my boat on the Vermilion for 7 hours last Tuesday. I put in at the Hwy. 92 bridge at Milton (a few miles downstream of Lafayette). I headed upstream and check every side cut and coulee mouth I found, and went as far up every coulee as I could get until I grounded. Went up past the airport until the Vermilion split into two bayous. Went up those bayous for about half a mile each until they became impassable. Then I came back down through the entire city, past Milton, and went down to Abbeville and back. No sign, no circling birds, no odor.

I was glad to hear that they put boats on the river yesterday, because almost no one uses the Vermilion at all. It's the most unused river going through a largish city I have ever seen. In those 7 hours, covering maybe 30 miles, I saw exactly one boat. The folks hanging out at the Milton Landing said that right before I pulled up again heading south from the city, they had seen a Vermilion Parish Sheriff's boat heading south toward Abbeville, with three officers. During my ride, as I passed some black fishermen on the banks near Hwy. 90, volunteers were going from person to person passing out flyers. I was impressed at the blanket coverage.

The main reason I signed up is that I wanted to help ID the car in the photos. I'm an old car buff and have studied the photo for awhile. In my opinion, that car is either a 1979-'86 Cadillac Fleetwood Brougham, or an '87-'89 Cadillac Brougham.

There are two points that inform my conclusion:

1. The back windshield is pretty small, due to the overlap of the vinyl top. From the research I did, the back windshield was bigger from '78 on back.

2. In '90, Cadillac extended the vinyl top to encircle the back half of the rear passenger windows. Looking at the photo, you can see the vinyl top reflecting white. Had it been a '90 to '92 Brougham, you would have seen the white reflection on the right-rear passenger window extending forward.

So, that's my opinion. That car should be easy to find, because there looks to be body damage to the right quarter, possibly involving the right taillight.
 
IF someone dumped Mickey in or around where they dumped her bike (and I am still holding out that's she alive, but just "IF") then maybe the fact that it's a holiday weekend and so many people are out fishing (fishing and boating are HUGE in South Louisiana) is a good thing for this case. In addition to any searchers that will be sent out there, I feel like it's positive timing with the holiday weekend for fisherman or boaters to find something else. More eyes help, even if they aren't necessarily searching. They can happen upon stuff. Find it quickly where a ton of forensic evidence can still retrieved. (And I hope it is Mickey's purse or something...not Mickey)
 
I just joined. Am a local. Whiskey Bay is, of course, where two of Derrick Todd Lee's victims were found. There is nothing there but a boat ramp. No gas stations, no buildings, no nothing. It's a jumping off point to take a boat deep into the Atchafalaya Basin, and also the only exit nearby that can be completely deserted at night, due to the lack of any businesses. I have worried about Whiskey Bay because it's so obvious that it's almost not obvious, if that makes any sense. Let's hope this bike rumor is a false alarm, because there are "better" places for the bike to be found, as far as a good outcome.

To help eliminate this sort of outcome, I took my boat on the Vermilion for 7 hours last Tuesday. I put in at the Hwy. 92 bridge at Milton (a few miles downstream of Lafayette). I headed upstream and check every side cut and coulee mouth I found, and went as far up every coulee as I could get until I grounded. Went up past the airport until the Vermilion split into two bayous. Went up those bayous for about half a mile each until they became impassable. Then I came back down through the entire city, past Milton, and went down to Abbeville and back. No sign, no circling birds, no odor.

I was glad to hear that they put boats on the river yesterday, because almost no one uses the Vermilion at all. It's the most unused river going through a largish city I have ever seen. In those 7 hours, covering maybe 30 miles, I saw exactly one boat. The folks hanging out at the Milton Landing said that right before I pulled up again heading south from the city, they had seen a Vermilion Parish Sheriff's boat heading south toward Abbeville, with three officers. During my ride, as I passed some black fishermen on the banks near Hwy. 90, volunteers were going from person to person passing out flyers. I was impressed at the blanket coverage.

The main reason I signed up is that I wanted to help ID the car in the photos. I'm an old car buff and have studied the photo for awhile. In my opinion, that car is either a 1979-'86 Cadillac Fleetwood Brougham, or an '87-'89 Cadillac Brougham.

There are two points that inform my conclusion:

1. The back windshield is pretty small, due to the overlap of the vinyl top. From the research I did, the back windshield was bigger from '78 on back.

2. In '90, Cadillac extended the vinyl top to encircle the back half of the rear passenger windows. Looking at the photo, you can see the vinyl top reflecting white. Had it been a '90 to '92 Brougham, you would have seen the white reflection on the right-rear passenger window extending forward.

So, that's my opinion. That car should be easy to find, because there looks to be body damage to the right quarter, possibly involving the right taillight.

Thank you for your efforts and your information. Bless you. :)

ETA: Welcome to Websleuths. (sorry about my bad manners initially)
 
Good post, chicken_fried, and thank you for joining and giving your input. Thank you also for your initiative on the waterways.

I agree with you re the Whiskey Bay area.
 
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