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Subscribe to RSSThe disappearance of a Louisiana college student Michaela "Mickey" Shunick is not related to a similar case in Indiana or any others, Lafayette police said Tuesday at a news conference where they unveiled new evidence.
Shunick disappeared May 19. Her bicycle was found Sunday under water and with a damaged rear tire in Atchafalaya Basin, Cpl. Paul Mouton revealed.
State crime lab investigators are going over the bicycle for evidence but police believe a perpetrator who took Shunick climbed down an Interstate 10 bridge embankment and dumped it in the basin, Mouton said.
Lafayette Police Department via AP
Michaela Shunick, who goes by "Mickey," disappeared May 19 from the University of Louisiana.
Officials could not be sure if the bicycle was damaged before or after Shunick was grabbed, Mouton said.
“We don’t want to jump to conclusions,” Mouton said.
Lafayette police have talked to officials in Bloomington, Ind., where the nearly year-old case of missing Indiana University student Lauren Spierer, 20, remains unsolved, Mouton said.
Both cases involve petite, blonde students, and white pickups with crew cabs were spotted near the last places each student was last seen alive.
“We don’t feel those two cases are connected,” Mouton said. Nor is the Louisiana case connected to any other, he said.
In the Louisiana case, three vehicles were caught on videos near places Shunick had been.
Besides the white pickup, an '80s General Motors sedan with Bondo on the rear right quarter panel and a pickup with a covered bed were also seen.
Shunick left a friend's house alone about 2 in the morning.
Watch US News crime videos on msnbc.com
Spierer, from Greenburgh, N.Y., left her friend's townhome alone about 4:30 a.m. on June 3, 2011. Bloomington police said the white pickup was determined to be the owner picking up an employee.
Bloggers point to 12 cases of petite white females missing around the country, including nursing student Holly Bobo, snatched from her Darden, Tenn., home on April 13, 2011, NBC station WTHR of Indianapolis reported.
Bloomington Herald-Times, Jeremy Hogan / AP
A poster shows for Lauren Spierer, an Indiana University student missing since June 3, 2011.
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The color of the hair is less important than the physical build of these women. They generally seem to be smaller in stature and under 120 pounds. Not to mention the obvious point that it seems to be the white girls that go missing get most of the publicity. I don't want to think about how many women go missing each year. It's shameful that this keeps happening. All women should be able to go about their lives without having to worry about this sort of thing.
I agree and woman of all races or ethnicities, their disappearences should be written about also.
Who says America is racist?
Riding your bike at 2 AM is just plain stupid.
I don't think it's really your place to say what's stupid or not. Don't you have anything constructive to say? What good does it do to make judgements about people you know nothing about? No one cares about your opinion, nor do they want to read it. If you are hell bent on sharing, maybe you should invest in a journal.
I can't beleive that race has been brought into the disappearance. murder has no color idiots
"Petite white females"
The race significance was mentioned by MSNBC. Not so much an idiot, just able to read and note details. Seeing as you are so informed, try naming some black missing women to match the 12 cases mentioned in the article. Not so easy when there is far less coverage. I'll await your reply.......
Seriously, you need to stop. A woman is missing they gave the description and she happens to be white. Get over it. Yes they SHOULD put out publicity on every person who goes missing regardless of sex, gender, age, race, or religion. But that still does not make the fact that this girl is missing any less important. So go spew your rants somewhere else so we can focus on this girl. Thanks.
America has turned into a country where you no longer are safe. It's a sad thing - my heart goes out to the loved ones of the missing - of all races, creeds, friends and family.
America hasn't turned INTO anything. It's always been this way but in a world of 24 hour news, it just seems more common.
Best wishes to the family and my thoughts are with them.
Did she have a boyfriend? Did she have any male/female friends? Did she have parents? Did she have any brothers or sisters? They should have instructed her not to go out by herself. There is more safety in numbers and possibly a witness to any attempted kidnaps. Going out by herself at 2 a.m. is essentially asking for trouble. I believe the I-10 corridor is nearby, anybody could have grabbed her. I been up and down that area hundreds of times when I trucked in 48 States.
I pray for the safe return of these two young ladies. What puzzles me is whatever happened to common sense. Riding your bike at 2:00 a.m. is not safe. Couldn't the friend have driven her home; taken a cab; called her parents?