Arrest Made in Mickey Shunick Disappearance, Registered Sex Offender Charged With Murder
Mickey Shunick, a 22-year-old college student in Lafayette, Louisiana, has been missing since May after a late-night bike ride home, and reports indicate a man has been arrested and charged with murder in connection with her disappearance.
Mickey Shunick was first reported missing in late May when she failed to show up at the graduation of her brother. A search for Shunick began, and video surveillance footage of the area from which she disappeared was gathered a few days after she vanished on a Friday night, to determine what may have happened to her in the hours before she went missing.
Shunick left the home of a friend in the early morning hours, and eight days after she disappeared, fishermen found her bicycle submerged in water beneath a bridge. According to a local news source, the man arrested is 33-year-old Brandon Scott Lavergne, who was convicted in February 2000 for aggravated oral sexual battery.
Lavergne was booked on a single kidnapping count for the Mickey Shunick disappearance, but the news source indicates that the case is likely to be far larger than the charge for kidnapping:
“Fifteenth Judicial District Court Judge Marilyn Castle signed the two warrants for Lavergne’s arrest, one for each first-degree murder and aggravated kidnapping. The two warrants for Lavergne’s arrest allege he committed both first-degree murder and aggravated kidnapping on May 19, the same day Shunick disappeared…”
The site continues:
“According to the warrants, Lavergne, 33, is being held on a $250,000 bond for the aggravated kidnapping charge, and Castle wrote ‘no bond – capital case,’ on the warrant for Lavergne’s first-degree murder charge. Castle signed the warrants today.”
Police have not yet disclosed what they may have found in a search of Lavergne’s home in relation to Mickey Shunick’s disappearance — however, a press conference has been scheduled for 1PM Friday to disclose more details about the disappearance and arrest.
