Chilling photos have emerged showing a woman accused of killing a mother, 38, by pushing her off a cliff, posing near the alleged Alabama murder spot.
Loretta Kay Carr, 43, and her daughter Jessie Kelly, 21, were both been charged with murder on Sunday, two years after Mary Elizabeth Isbell, 38, went missing.
Authorities searched far and wide for Isbell’s body, but were unable to find any trace of the missing Hartselle, Alabama mother until this week.
Two days after Carr and her daughter were detained, the remains of Isbell were located.
It now emerges that Carr in 2019 shared a photo of herself by the murder spot, posing in January 2019 at Little River Canyon national preserve.
Loretta Kay Carr in January 2019 posted this photo to Facebook of herself by the spot where this week Isbell’s body was found
Mary Elizabeth Isbell, 38, was last seen in the fall of 2021. She was officially reported missing in January 2022, and two women were arrested on Sunday on charges of her kidnapping and murder. Isbell’s remains were found on Tuesday in an Alabama nature preserve
Loretta Carr (left) and her daughter Jessie Kelly (right) have both been arrested and charged with Isbell’s murder
Carr posed at the national preserve with her fiancé, Robert Mitcham
‘Day trip to Little River Canyon and Falls,’ she wrote, posting photos of herself with her fiancé Robert Mitcham.
‘Was beautiful and only a little ways from the house.’
Carr has been held since Sunday at DeKalb County jail in Fort Payne, Alabama.
She is charged with kidnapping and capital murder, with police saying she pushed Isbell off a cliff – but Carr insists there is no evidence.
Carr’s attorneys are arguing the state does not have enough evidence to justify confinement or to send the case to a grand jury, AL.com reported.
Her daughter was arrested in Pennsylvania and is being extradited to Alabama.
A preliminary hearing has been scheduled for August 21.
Isbell, 38, was living an unsettled life in the run up to her disappearance. Her boyfriend was in prison and then rehab, and she was moving from place to place. She was reported missing in late 2021 by her family after she vanished from her home in Hartselle, Alabama
Carr, 43, of Fort Payne, was charged on Sunday with capital murder and faces life in prison or the death penalty if convicted
Her teenage son has since posted a heartbreaking tribute to his mother, sharing a link to Carr’s arrest, writing: ‘Love you forever, like you for always, as long as I’m living, my mommy you’ll be’
Carr is accused of abducting Beth before pushing her from a cliff on October 18, 2021.
It is unclear how the women knew each other.
DeKalb County Sheriff Nick Welden said: ‘We would like to thank the Pennsylvania State Police Corry Barracks, Huntsville Search Dog Unit, State of Alabama Aviation Unit, Jackson County Sheriff’s Office, Fischer Rescue Squad and all the volunteers who helped during this investigation for all their hard work and dedication.
‘Each individual played an important role in bringing Beth home and holding those responsible for this horrific crime accountable.
‘We would ask that you pray for Beth’s family and give them privacy as they navigate through this difficult time.’
Beth’s ex-husband, Steven Isbell, declined to comment when contacted by DailyMail.com, but had been posting on social media asking for help looking for the mother of his son Skylar
Carr’s lawyers are arguing that there is no evidence she murdered Beth (pictured) and claim there is no link between the two women
The timeline of her disappearance remains muddled.
In the months leading up to her disappearance, she was suspected of a theft in DeKalb County.
The sheriff’s office said the theft involved an apartment she was living at with her boyfriend, James Allen Wright.
James Wright was arrested by the sheriff’s office in September 2021 and released to a Florida rehab facility in November 2021.
The sheriff’s office said while he was in jail, Isbell was essentially homeless, moving between friends’ houses and ‘living where she could in DeKalb County.’
Her mother, Debbie Wood, told a local news channel last year that Isbell became entangled with a ‘bad’ crowd.
‘I think she got mixed up with some wrong people,’ she said.
She described Isbell’s relationship with Wright as ‘new but troubled,’ saying they were always getting into fights.
Carr is accused of abducting Isbell and pushing her from a cliff on October 18, 2021.
Yet according to another police report, on November 22, 2021, she visited her mother’s home in Hartselle.
She was spotted the next day, November 23, 2021, across the street from her son’s school, also in Hartselle.
Isbell’s ex-husband, Steven Isbell, said on December 27, 2021 that she was missing.
Isbell had been living with her boyfriend James Allen Wright (right) , in DeKalb County when she vanished from their home in Hartselle
Authorities have previously said Isbell was last seen on November 23, 2021 when she visited her mother in her hometown of Hartselle
News of Carr’s arrest for her murder came two days before what would have been her 39th birthday
‘I actually hate to put this out here on social media but Facebook covers a wide area,’ he wrote.
‘[Her son] hasn’t heard from his mom since September 6th on his birthday and he’s really worried about her because she always at least calls him on the holidays.
‘I’ve talked to her family and no one has heard from her. So we thought about doing a missing person report.’
Harselle PD detectives searched the home where Isbell was staying on the day of Steve Isbell’s Facebook post, December 27, 2021.
Physical evidence was recovered from the home and entered into a national database, but no match was found at the time.
Relatives officially reported her missing in January 2022 to the Hartselle Police Department and the DeKalb County Sheriff’s Office, and on January 19, 2022 a missing poster was placed on their website.
The case went quiet until June 20 this year, when DeKalb County investigators received information about Isbell’s disappearance and interviewed two people in connection with her killing.
Carr was arrested on June 25.
Officers discovered remains on June 28, with forensics confirming they belonged to Isbell on June 30 – what would have been her 39th birthday.
Her teenage son posted a tribute to his mother, sharing a link to Carr’s arrest, writing: ‘Love you forever, like you for always, as long as I’m living, my mommy you’ll be.’
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