Mickey Shunick's (22) body was found buried near a remote cemetery

[rachy]

Police: Torso not that of missing Lafayette woman

BAY ST. LOUIS, MS (WLOX) -

Officials in Lafayette, LA say a woman's torso found washed up on the beach in Bay St. Louis is not that of missing woman Mickey Shunick.

Officials had been in contact with investigators in Bay St. Louis since the body was discovered Thursday. There were several body piercings found on the torso, but Corporal Kyle Soriez with the Lafayette Police Department said they do not match those of Mickey Shunick.

An autopsy was underway Friday morning on the remains. Officials hope to have an identity later today.

Hancock County authorities said the torso appears to be that of a white female in her late teens or early 20s. They aren't sure if the limbs were intentionally removed. The body was stabbed once in the chest, and had three piercings, one in each nipple and one in the navel.

The torso was found near Bay Oaks Drive in Bay St. Louis where crews are working on the county's beach replenishment project.

Three young women from the Gulf South area are currently missing: Mickey Shunick from Lafayette, Jaren Lockhart from New Orleans and Brittany Nicole Wood from Alabama.

http://www.wlox.com/story/18738953/p...afayette-woman

eta it belonged to jaren =/

[itai]

Interesting. I think they could possibly be connected. This person is going to keep taking girls until he/she is caught. I'm glad one of them turned up, but it makes me afraid for the Shunick family, if they are connected.

[PCP777]

Police: Torso not that of missing Lafayette woman

BAY ST. LOUIS, MS (WLOX) -

Officials in Lafayette, LA say a woman's torso found washed up on the beach in Bay St. Louis is not that of missing woman Mickey Shunick.

Officials had been in contact with investigators in Bay St. Louis since the body was discovered Thursday. There were several body piercings found on the torso, but Corporal Kyle Soriez with the Lafayette Police Department said they do not match those of Mickey Shunick.

An autopsy was underway Friday morning on the remains. Officials hope to have an identity later today.

Hancock County authorities said the torso appears to be that of a white female in her late teens or early 20s. They aren't sure if the limbs were intentionally removed. The body was stabbed once in the chest, and had three piercings, one in each nipple and one in the navel.

The torso was found near Bay Oaks Drive in Bay St. Louis where crews are working on the county's beach replenishment project.

Three young women from the Gulf South area are currently missing: Mickey Shunick from Lafayette, Jaren Lockhart from New Orleans and Brittany Nicole Wood from Alabama.

http://www.wlox.com/story/18738953/p...afayette-woman

eta it belonged to jaren =/

Does jaren have a thread?

[Xanoca]

Does jaren have a thread?

indeed

http://mydeathspace.com/vb/showthrea...jaren+lockhart

[Olivia]

http://www.ksla.com/story/18960184/s...y-shunick-case

An arrest has been made in the case of Mickey Shunick.

According to KLFY-TV, the Lafayette Police Department, working with the multi-jurisdiction task force, have arrested Brandon Scott Lavergne, who is from the Lawtell area. He is a registered sex offender.

LPD and Saint Landry Parish sheriff Deputies are executing a search warrant of Lavergne's residence on the 100 block of Elaine Lane in the Swords area. Saint Landry Parish sheriff Bobby Guidroz says they are there investigating a major crime.He would neither confirm nor deny that the operation was in connection with the Shunick case.

Lawtell is along Louisiana Highway 190 just west of Opelousas.

Shunick, of Lafayette, was last seen just before 2am on May 19, when she left a friend's house to go home. She was riding a bicycle at the time. Friends believe she was heading to her home near the intersection of Ambassador Caffery Parkway and Congress Street in Lafayette. Days later, police found her bicycle abandoned in a swampy area off Interstate 10 more than 20 miles east of where she was last seen.

A news conference is scheduled for Friday at the Lafayette Police Department regarding new information in the Mickey Shunick case. Police say there will be no comment on the investigation until the press conference. The investigation remains ongoing.

[kevansvault]

http://gma.yahoo.com/mickey-shunick-...opstories.html


A registered sex offender has been arrested and charged with murder in connection with the disappearance of Mickey Shunick.

Cops arrested 33-year-old Brandon Scott Lavergne Thursday at his home in Church Point, La., just six miles from where Shunick was last seen riding her bike. Lavergne has been charged with first degree murder and aggravated kidnapping.

St. Landry Parish Sheriff Bobby Guidroz told The Associated Press that the arrest came as his department helped Lafayette police search Lavergne's residence for evidence. Police would not comment on how they connected Lavergne to the Shunick case.

ABC News has learned that Lavergne appears on the Louisiana Sate Police website as a registered sex offender. The website says Lavergne was convicted in 2000 of aggravated oral sexual battery. He was released from prison in 2008.

A 1 p.m. press conference is scheduled for Friday afternoon.

Shunick, a senior at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette, left friend Brettly Wilson's house on her bike just before 2 a.m. on May 19. More than a week after she went missing, surveillance video showing her on a bicycle the night she disappeared. Police were trying to track down information about a white pickup truck seen on the same video.

On the sex offender website, Lavergne is listed as to having a white 2011 Chevrolet Silverado.

As news of the arrest spread late Thursday, volunteers who have spent months searching for Shunick said they were crushed.

"Faith and prayers believe me. We're going to be saying them nonstop," said Margaret Bearb.
Also Read

[kevansvault]

There's also video at the link above, my ineptitude keeps me from posting it, however.

[PCP777]

man that's sad, need to let my friend know who knows this family. Thanks for the update. have they found a body?

[kevansvault]

From what I read and saw, the evidence was compelling enough to charge this prick with murder. I doubt they've found a body, though. I think that would have been leaked already. But if they found "personal items" of hers on him? He's in some trouble, for sure.

[strmmrgrrl]

Maaan. Not how I wanted it to end, but who does?

[poppy213]

I caught something on t.v about his vehicle being seen on cameras near where her bike was found.

I picture her being a fighter.

[strmmrgrrl]

I caught something on t.v about his vehicle being seen on cameras near where her bike was found.

I picture her being a fighter.

I guess his was the white pick up truck they were trying to track down?
Ugh.

[Olivia]

I guess his was the white pick up truck they were trying to track down?
Ugh.

Police say it appears Brandon Scott Lavergne, the 33-year-old offshore worker and former Fort Polk soldier charged with first-degree murder in connection with the disappearance of Mickey Shunick, didn't know the University of Louisiana at Lafayette student who has been missing since May 19.

Lafayette police on Thursday charged Lavergne, of Swords in St. Landry Parish with first-degree murder and aggravated kidnapping. Lavergne was taken into custody after State Police arrested him earlier that afternoon on an unrelated charge near the intersection of Interstates 49 and 10.

"I think that, based on the information that we have, maybe he was riding around looking for someone to victimize," Lafayette Chief Jim Craft said Friday at a news conference announcing the arrest.

It was one of few details released about Lavergne, whose arrest drew immediate and strong reaction from a community that has been vigilant about keeping alive the hope of Shunick's safe return. As volunteers marked the 48th day of their efforts Friday, police had no information on the whereabouts of the 22-year-old anthropology major last seen riding her bike near downtown Lafayette.

On June 14, investigators received a pivotal tip from a concerned citizen regarding a white Chevrolet Z71 pickup thought to be involved in the case. Police found that the truck was registered to Lavergne. The truck was previously reported stolen in Montgomery County, Texas. On May 31, it was found burned in San Jacinto County, Texas, about 60 miles north of Houston.

Craft said Lavergne recently purchased another Chevrolet Z71 pickup.

Police continued Friday to search Lavergne's home, which is between Lawtell and Eunice about 26 miles northwest of Lafayette. Investigators also are following up on leads regarding where Shunick's body may be, according to Lafayette police spokesman Cpl. Paul Mouton.

Evidence and information obtained during the investigation suggest Shunick is no longer alive, Craft said.

Investigators believe Lavergne had no prior connection to Shunick. Craft also said he does not expect additional arrests in the case.

http://www.thetowntalk.com/article/2...nclick_check=1

[strmmrgrrl]

Thanks Olivia!

Evidence and information obtained during the investigation suggest Shunick is no longer alive, Craft said.

[beli]

This is so sad.

I did think that this may have been an accidental hit and run and the driver freaked out. With them finding the bike in the water, I just assumed that, I guess.

I feel bad for her and her family. Plus all the volunteers who tried hard to find her.

RIP Mickey

[poppy213]

He very well could have rammed her bike to get her in the first place, since they had found damage to the bike.

[neenerneener]

more info on brandon lavergne (its a long article, so click on the link to read the whole thing):

http://www.dailyworld.com/article/20...troubled-past-

A former classmate, Tanya Meche, who attended Church Point Middle School and Church Point High School with Lavergne, said he was a troubled teen who was bullied and harassed by classmates.

“He was bullied a lot,” said Meche. “It was really bad. He would never talk to anyone and he didn’t have any friends, even though he played football. They gave him hell.”
Meche said she often felt bad for Lavergne and worried that one day he’d snap, though she never imagined he could harm anyone.

It’s unclear what Lavergne did after leaving Church Point High School sometime between 1997 and 1998. By April 1999, he had earned his GED and was in the U.S. Army at Fort Polk.

While at Fort Polk, he was arrested by the Evangeline Parish Sheriff’s Office and charged with one count each of oral sexual battery and aggravated burglary.

According to police reports, around 1:30 a.m. on April 12, 1999, Lavergne allegedly climbed through the window of a home in Redell, an unincorporated area of Evangeline Parish a few miles north of Mamou. The victim’s account of what happened is that she was asleep when Lavergne entered her bedroom. She said he blindfolded her with her own shirt, tied her hands behind her back and forced her to perform oral sex on him.

what a creeper. :/

[itai]

As sad as I am that it's ending the way it is, I am glad they found the guy and I know they will find her or at least what happened to her. Some families of missing people never get answers. I hope they find her body so that she can have a proper burial and the family can begin the healing process...

[itai]

New information added to the timeline!

May 19, 2012, approximately 3:00 pm: According to a police report from Jefferson Parish, Lavergne says he was attacked at a gas station in the New Orleans area, repeatedly stabbed by an unknown man.

Lavergne was treated with stab wounds to his chest, back, neck and hands the day Mickey Shunick went missing!!

[neenerneener]

New information added to the timeline!

May 19, 2012, approximately 3:00 pm: According to a police report from Jefferson Parish, Lavergne says he was attacked at a gas station in the New Orleans area, repeatedly stabbed by an unknown man.

Lavergne was treated with stab wounds to his chest, back, neck and hands the day Mickey Shunick went missing!!

thanks for the update! i just googled and found this article:

We're learning new details of where murder suspect Brandon Lavergne may have been just hours after Mickey Shunick's disappearance. The Jefferson Parish Sheriff's Office says they interviewed Lavergne the same day Mickey was kidnapped.

Deputies say they arrived at Oschner Hospital on Jefferson Highway just after 11:00 pm on May 19, 2012 after a man showed up there after being stabbed. The victim, identified as Brandon Lavergne, told police he was attacked outside of a gas station.

They say Lavergne was unsure where the gas station was, so both New Orleans Police and Jefferson Parish deputies interviewed him at the hospital. The deputy who wrote the incident report says Lavergne told them the attack happened at 3:00 pm on May 19th. Lavergne allegedly indicated his GPS wasn't working, and he was driving around in an unknown area, so he stopped at a gas station to ask directions. The report says that's when a white male, with gold teeth, a neck tattoo, wearing a #24 Saints football jersey and a black hat covering most of his face, attacked him without warning. He was stabbed several times in the chest, back, neck, and hand. Lavergne's wallet was also reported stolen, in it was his license and $40. Lavergne then told deputies he drove around until he found the hospital.

The deputy writing the incident report asked Lavergne if he had any recollection of the location, but Lavergne couldn't provide any more information. The deputy questioned him about street names he saw, building shapes, landmarks, or significant structures, but said Lavergne couldn't elaborate on where the attack happened. He allegedly reported that he was in town visiting a friend and he would be returning home when he left the hospital.

The deputy goes on to indicate the more he would question Lavergne about the attack, the less information he began to provide. The medical staff told police his injuries were non-life threatening, so they allowed him to leave the hospital. Police are classifying this as an aggravated battery and theft under $500, with Lavergne being listed as the victim.

Mickey Shunick was last seen 2:00 am riding her bike in Lafayette on May 19, 2012. Brandon Lavergne is being held in jail on a first degree murder charge in connection with her disappearance.

http://www.katc.com/news/lavergne-qu...rish-may-19th/

i'm wondering if he was really stabbed, and if his injuries were instead caused by a struggle with mickey.

[itai]

i'm wondering if he was really stabbed, and if his injuries were instead caused by a struggle with mickey.

Were the sounds consistent with wounds from a blade? That's what I am wondering. No doubt it has something to do with Mickey. Either there was an ugly struggle, or he injured his self really badly trying to hide the body. That's my guess.

Thanks for the article!

[itai]

***Wounds not sounds lol

[itai]

Another Update!!!

Texas Equusearch is now back in Layfayette! This time they do not want volunteers? Hmm...

"07/14/12 — Texas EquuSearch has returned to Lafatette, LA to assist Lafayetted Police Department in locating Mickey Shunick. We will be using Texas EquuSearch members ONLY. No civilian volunteers will be allowed to search with us on this search."
http://texasequusearch.org/

[itai]

Something tells me Mickey will be found real soon.

[strmmrgrrl]

I wonder if the reason they don't want volunteers is because they desperately need all the evidence they can get and Equusearch are more qualified to search with the least amount of disruption possible.