- The case of Mary Elizabeth Isbell, a mother of 38, who mysteriously disappeared in late 2021, has finally reached a chilling denouement with her remains discovered in a national park.
- After a two-year-long investigation spanning two police forces, a woman named Loretta Carr, aged 43, has been charged with a grim crime most foul – capital murder.
- In a twist that adds to the macabre nature of the case, Carr’s own daughter, Jessie Kelly, 21 years of age, has been apprehended on suspicion of participating in the abhorrent act.
- Despite the grave accusations, Carr’s defenders argue there is not enough evidence to keep her detained, claiming there is no clear connection between Carr and the victim.
In the quiet town of Hartselle, Alabama, in the year of our Lord 2021, the townsfolk were thrown into disarray. One of their own, a dear mother by the name of Mary Elizabeth Isbell, fondly known as Beth, vanished without a trace. For two long years, the good officers of the law tirelessly scoured every corner, turning every stone, with a singular purpose – to locate the missing Beth.
Their pursuit led them to the unlikeliest of culprits – a woman by the name of Loretta Carr, of 43 years. The charge against her was as grim as it was shocking – capital murder. But the plot thickened, as the tendrils of suspicion reached out to ensnare another – Carr’s own flesh and blood, Jessie Kelly, a young woman of just 21 summers.
The accusation was a grave one – that Carr had abducted the hapless Beth and sent her plummeting from a cliff on the 18th of October, 2021. Carr’s counsel, however, contended there was little evidence to support such a monstrous allegation. They maintained there was no apparent link between the two women, much less a motive for such an atrocious act.
However, the law of Alabama is clear – premeditation and planning in the act of murder can warrant the sternest of punishments, including the death penalty. In the midst of these dark proceedings, DeKalb County Sheriff Nick Welden thanked all those who had given their time and effort to the investigation, and pleaded for prayers for Beth’s grieving family.
In a further twist, an inspection of the home where Beth had been residing yielded physical evidence, though its nature remained undisclosed and its significance unclear. Yet, on a fateful day in June, the relentless efforts of the investigators bore fruit – Beth’s remains were found. The date of the grim discovery was poignant – the 30th of June, what would have been Beth’s 39th birthday.
Beth’s former husband, Steven Isbell, has remained silent publicly, but had previously expressed his concerns over social media. Beth’s teenage son, in a heartfelt tribute to his mother, shared a link to Carr’s arrest, pledging eternal love to his lost mother.
Beth had been residing with her beau, James Allen Wright, in DeKalb County at the time of her disappearance. Wright himself had run-ins with the law and had been sent to a rehabilitation facility in Florida. While he was away, Beth was left to fend for herself, seeking shelter wherever she could in DeKalb County.
Beth’s mother, Debbie Wood, described her daughter’s life as ‘new but troubled,’ fraught with discord and disputes. Authorities last placed Beth visiting her mother in Hartselle on November 23, 2021, though the criminal complaint suggests the poor woman was murdered a month prior.
Debbie Wood, in her heartache, had expressed a wistful hope that her daughter was still alive, but also braced herself for the grim possibility of arranging a funeral, if only they could find her remains. A mother’s intuition, it seems, is not to be doubted.
It is with a heavy heart that I pen this tale. As a storyteller, I’ve often spun tales of mystery and murder, but it’s always been with the comfort of knowing that they are just that – tales. The stark reality of such a horrific crime happening in our midst is sobering, to say the least.
I can’t help but sympathise with Beth’s family, especially her son. It’s a tragedy that no child should have to experience. It’s also disconcerting to see a family member implicated in such a heinous act. It reminds me of the time I penned ‘Crooked House’, where suspicion also fell on kin. But, in my story, it was all resolved neatly in the end, with the guilty brought to justice. I only hope that justice is served in this case too, and the true culprits are brought to light, providing some modicum of closure to the grieving family.
