Police have stated they have arrested a man that they believe is connected to the disappearance of a Lafayette, La. college student.
On Friday, Brandon Lavergne, 33, was charged with first-degree murder and aggravated kidnapping in the disappearance of Michaela “Mickey” Shunick, the 22-year-old LLU college student that went missing while riding her bike home in the early morning hours on May 19.
http://liarcatchers.com/wrongful_death.html
Lavergne, was arrested on Thursday in Church Point after a traffic stop. He was taken into custody on a charge related to his required registration as a sex offender from an incident in 2000.
Lafayette Police Chief Jim Craft said a burned truck that was found near Houston, Texas on June 14 was registered to Brandon Lavergne, reports KSLA news. Craft said that police were able to identify that truck as being the same truck shown in that surveillance video that was released to the media a month ago.
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Craft also said they have evidence that shows Lavergne was in the Whiskey Bay area. Mickey’s bike was found in a swampy area at the Whiskey Bay exit of I-10.
“We can place his vehicle in that area at the time,” said Craft.
Craft said that evidence in the case suggests that Shunick was dead, although her body has not been found.
The Lafayette Police department says that Lavergne is not cooperating with the investigation, and shortly after being brought in for questioning he requested an attorney and refused to answer any further questions.
At the time of his arrest, Lavergne was driving a white truck almost identical to the first one he owned. Records show Lavergne bought another truck after Mickey disappeared, reports KSLA news.
Lavergne was required to register as a sex offender after he was arrested in 2000 for sexually assaulting a 18-year old girl, reports MSNBC news. He served eight years in prison for that offense. Lavergne is classified as a Tier 3-level sex offender and required to register for life according to the Louisiana Sex Offender database.
Lavergne served in the Army, stationed at Fort Polk during the 2000 incident. He was working as an offshore worker before his arrest on Thursday.
