LA - ***ARREST*** Mickey Shunick, 21, Lafayette, 19 May 2012 #39

[kkdj]

Good catch.

No, they never said when he was there. They said they believe the bike was dumped the night of the disappearance.

By inference, we can posit that if they think BSL dumped the bike, then it was then. But not 100% certain, of course.

They (LE) believe the bike was dumped the "night" of the disappearance, not the early morning darkness?

 

[chicken fried]

i kind of remember you trying to reassure everyone that they must be onto someone, but we were still in a tizzy about the silence. it was really hard not to be.

I didn't feel at the time that it would be responsible to post on-line what had transpired with Charlie. That's why I made that post here. After my conversation with Charlie it was pretty obvious to me that the family did not any more tips....because Charlie knew me, and so knew I wasn't just a crank, and still wasn't interested. It was clear to me they knew who they were after. This would have been about June 26-28.

 

[chicken fried]

Unless they had tire tracks at the scene of the truck burning. The truck had to be driven to where it was burned.

But I don't think it's just tire tracks either.

Excellent point.

 

[justwannahelp]

snipped for brevity:



Hard to believe! Is it possible LE was just keeping quite and began watching what he was doing?

they make it sound as though they really weren't convinced it was him until June 14th. below is part of a Q&A with Cpl Mouton. I didn't remember reading the bolded part. I find that interesting

"Q: How long ago did you get this tip on him? Can you share that?

A: Yeah, if I’m not mistaken, I believe the actual tip came in in June – 14th maybe – we received information from a concerned citizen about the Z-71 pickup. If you remember correctly I believe we had three to four vehicles of interest that were in the immediate area that we were very interested in. And we eliminated three – look, they were in the area, they confirmed they were in the area, but they all had, you know, credible stories and credible information that we felt they were not involved. But we never could find the Z-71. Not the driver, not the person, why wouldn’t that person come forward? Because you would know if you were driving in that area at the time. Fortunately because of the volunteers, because of the friends of the Mickey Shunick family just did such an excellent job with social media and getting the word out – continue to get the word out – that we just felt they would have known. And so we started investigating his background, with the plate, with the owner Lavergne and his background and then based off of that we were able to discover that, in fact, the vehicle had been burned and then after it was burned, that same day that it was reported stolen. You know, that’s some powerful information on top of some other things that we have that we haven’t released yet. So once we were able to gather everything – to get to the day that we were, which was yesterday – that we sat down with members of the district attorney’s office and we felt we have a strong case to get the warrants that we did, which were first degree murder and aggravated kidnapping – and put this guy in jail."

i don't know how to interpret the "with the plate" part. does that mean the Texas had the plate of the burned truck? and they used that plate to begin investigating? surely they didn't have his plate in the surveillance videos!

 

[justwannahelp]

Excellent point.

still though, I just don't see how they could have tracks from WB. there are sooooo many trucks circling around there for fishing trips. AND it rained. it has to be an eyewitness, GPS, or a picture.

 

[chicken fried]

I am amazed at the balancing act that the family - especially Charlie - had to pull off.... knowing that LE was onto the guy - yet still running the Mickey center, etc., without tipping their hand. I do think that the family was told that LE was onto someone (not necessarily whom). That, to me, explains their actions between mid-June and July 5.

 

[justwannahelp]

I didn't feel at the time that it would be responsible to post on-line what had transpired with Charlie. That's why I made that post here. After my conversation with Charlie it was pretty obvious to me that the family did not any more tips....because Charlie knew me, and so knew I wasn't just a crank, and still wasn't interested. It was clear to me they knew who they were after. This would have been about June 26-28.

Yeah and Tom said he knew about a week before the arrest that they were closing in on someone

 

[chicken fried]

still though, I just don't see how they could have tracks from WB. there are sooooo many trucks circling around there for fishing trips. AND it rained. it has to be an eyewitness, GPS, or a picture.

Actually, very few people use the western end of the exit for fishing trips.. they use the eastern end, where the boat ramp is. I have said that I would be surprised if they got good tracks from WB, due to the rain, and due to the hard-packed gravelly area by the bike dump. If you parse the press conference carefully, you find that they said that there were tire tracks there, but didn't say that the tracks linked BSL. To me, it just was a way of explaining to the public that the area the bike was dumped was accessible to vehicles. The specific context of the comments about the tracks was in explaining that LE thought the bike was put there from land, not dropped from I-10.

 

[NewYork625]

still though, I just don't see how they could have tracks from WB. there are sooooo many trucks circling around there for fishing trips. AND it rained. it has to be an eyewitness, GPS, or a picture.

I remember a new article or news video just after the bike was discovered at WB. It clearly showed tire tracks leading into the water. It was either a still shot (most likely) or part of a video. A member of LE made a comment about the tracks and that they led to the spot in the water where the bike was found. I still remember it clearly, and the tracks were deep and clear, and looked fresh. I looked for the article, but can't find it anymore.

 

[chicken fried]

I do not rule out an eyewitness - though BSL would have had to have been very unlucky. It's an isolated, lonely area. But did find what looked like a homeless person's layup spot 100 feet from the bridge pillar - bedding, old clothes. Not unthinkable that LE found a homeless person and that person had a story to tell.

 

[NewYork625]

Yeah and Tom said he knew about a week before the arrest that they were closing in on someone

justwannahelp, I remember your messages at the time. You were very reassuring that there was probably more going on than people knew. They were comforting because it was a very frustrating time, and there was a lot of talk on WS about the case going cold.

 

[chicken fried]

I remember a new article or news video just after the bike was discovered at WB. It clearly showed tire tracks leading into the water. It was either a still shot (most likely) or part of a video. A member of LE made a comment about the tracks and that they led to the spot in the water where the bike was found. I still remember it clearly, and the tracks looked fresh. I looked for the article, but can't find it anymore.

There's got to be something wrong with that. That's just not possible, due to the sheer dropoff. It cannot be done with a car or truck. Had a truck somehow gone off the lip, it would have been stuck and no way it would have come back up without multiple tow trucks. Even driving a 4-wheeler down there would have been almost impossible. And had something been driven down there, there would have been crush marks on the lip of the dropoff. There were none. It was clean and sharp.

 

[Ya-Ma-N-DEM]

still though, I just don't see how they could have tracks from WB. there are sooooo many trucks circling around there for fishing trips. AND it rained. it has to be an eyewitness, GPS, or a picture.

I wonder who his car insurance was with. He obviously had decent coverage to get a brand new truck after burning his. I know some auto insurance companies install a device that monitors driving habits in return for a lower premium. Sure would be helpful if BSL had one IMO!

 

[justwannahelp]

I do not rule out an eyewitness - though BSL would have had to have been very unlucky. It's an isolated, lonely area. But did find what looked like a homeless person's layup spot 100 feet from the bridge pillar - bedding, old clothes. Not unthinkable that LE found a homeless person and that person had a story to tell.

VERY interesting. That's like Castle. They always go questioning the homeless people in the area. :websleuther:

good job Chicken! I sure hope they found that homeless person to question.

Yikes! that's a scary place to live all alone if in fact someone was camping out there

 

[Cajunnurse]

i sure hope they have video of him at a station filling up those red plastic gas cans with gallons and gallons of gas.

Wow! I hadn't thought of anything from that angle! He had to get the gas from somewhere--Great point

 

[NewYork625]

There's got to be something wrong with that. That's just not possible, due to the sheer dropoff. It cannot be done with a car or truck. Had a truck somehow gone off the lip, it would have been stuck and no way it would have come back up without multiple tow trucks. Even driving a 4-wheeler down there would have been almost impossible. And had something been driven down there, there would have been crush marks on the lip of the dropoff. There were none. It was clean and sharp.

What I remember is mud leading into the water. The tracks were in the mud up to the water line, and may have continued into the water as a depression. I've heard that there is a distance the lip continues in the water before the steep drop-off. It was this photo that made me imagine BSL might have backed up the truck to the water, and then stood on the back of the truck to toss the bike out as far as possible into the water. I've got a very good memory, and am certain I saw the tracks.

 

[justwannahelp]

There's got to be something wrong with that. That's just not possible, due to the sheer dropoff. It cannot be done with a car or truck. Had a truck somehow gone off the lip, it would have been stuck and no way it would have come back up without multiple tow trucks. Even driving a 4-wheeler down there would have been almost impossible. And had something been driven down there, there would have been crush marks on the lip of the dropoff. There were none. It was clean and sharp.

i saw that video too, but i think it was media sensationalizing. i think the tracks that they were showing were tracks of police vehicles probably. they were just tracks, but not HIS tracks.

 

[chicken fried]

VERY interesting. That's like Castle. They always go questioning the homeless people in the area. :websleuther:

good job Chicken! I sure hope they found that homeless person to question.

Yikes! that's a scary place to live all alone if in fact someone was camping out there

The lay-up spot was on the edge of the woods... partially hidden by a little rise. But if someone had been there, they would have heard the truck (early in the a.m.?) and for sure looked to see who it was, for their own safety... because that area's isolated. I'm pretty bold about going places myself at night, but I wouldn't have the courage to camp at that spot. I'd be afraid of ghosts and also afraid of anyone who would go down there at night.

 

[Cajunnurse]

snipped for brevity:



Hard to believe! Is it possible LE was just keeping quite and began watching what he was doing?

I do believe they had been watching him for a long time.

 

[NewYork625]

There's got to be something wrong with that. That's just not possible, due to the sheer dropoff. It cannot be done with a car or truck. Had a truck somehow gone off the lip, it would have been stuck and no way it would have come back up without multiple tow trucks. Even driving a 4-wheeler down there would have been almost impossible. And had something been driven down there, there would have been crush marks on the lip of the dropoff. There were none. It was clean and sharp.

The area in the photo didn't look like the boat launch area (drop off?), but along the sides of the water where the mud is. Is it possible to get a vehicle down there?