Police clear three areas of what they're calling "suspicious mounds of dirt" in the search for Mickey Shunick. A Lawtell land owner reported the mounds, near Saint Ann Catholic Church in Lawtell, only a few miles from suspect Brandon Lavergne's home. Although the search turned up nothing, police say they will not stop looking. Wednesday night police received a tip from a farmer in Lawtell saying he found suspicious mounds of dirt near his property. police were unable to get permission to search until Thursday morning. Overnight, police protected the property near the church, about one and a half miles from Lavergne's home.
"We had to leave two deputies to protect the area last night and then came back early this morning with permission to search," said St. Landry Parish Sheriff Bobby Guidroz.
Police used special equipment to search the area, including grid searches by Equisearch. Guidroz says even though this search turned up nothing, they will not stop looking.
"The sites cleared officially, it's not declared a crime scene," said Guidroz. "We've determined there's nothing in the mounds so we move on from here."
Corporal Paul Mouton with Lafayette Police Department says this mornings search is only one of many properties the departments will be investigating.
"We've received information of where maybe he's camped or hunted on, regarding property elsewhere in different parishes around," said Mouton. "So we're gonna' still visit those locations even though they're not directly tied to where he lived."
Police are not identifying the farmer who owns the land. But they say he reported the areas to be suspicious because he knew he had not dug them.