A woman in Alabama is in custody, accused of killing another woman by pushing her off a cliff in 2021.
The deceased woman, Mary Elizabeth Isbell, 37, had been considered a missing person in the town of Hartselle, just north of Birmingham, since late 2021.
On Sunday, DeKalb County Sheriff’s Department announced that Loretta Ray Carr, 43, of Fort Payne, Alabama, had been arrested and charged with Isbell’s murder.
According to the police, Carr abducted and killed Isbell by pushing her off of a cliff on October 18th, 2021.
However, since Isbell was first declared a missing person in early 2022, her family have maintained that she was last seen in November 2021, a month after the supposed murder took place.
DeKalb County Sheriff’s deputies are now searching for Isbell’s remains in an undisclosed location, WAAY 31 reports, while Carr is being held without bond. DailyMail.com has reached out to the agencies investigating the crime in relation to the discrepancy.
Mary Elizabeth Isbell was officially reported missing in January 2022, three months after police say she was killed
Loretta Ray Carr, 43, of Fort Payne, was arrested Sunday for allegedly kidnapping 37-year-old Isbell and pushing her off a cliff to her death
Carr’s lawyers are arguing in court documents obtained by AL.com that there is no evidence she murdered Isbell
Isbell pictured with her young son in 2020, on Mother’s Day 2022 he wished her a ‘Happy Heavenly Mother’s Day’
Carr’s lawyers are arguing in court documents obtained by AL.com that there is no evidence she murdered Isbell, as it remains unclear whether there was any connection between the two women.
DeKalb County District Judge Steven Whitmire has set a preliminary hearing for August 21.
In December 2021, the father of Isbell’s son made a post on social media asking for information about her whereabouts.
‘I actually hate to put this out here on social media but Facebook covers a wide area. [her son] hasn’t heard from his mom since September 6th on his birthday and he’s really worried about her bc she always at least calls him on the holidays,’ Steven Isbell wrote on December 27th.
‘I’ve talked to her family and no one has heard from her. So we thought about doing a missing person report,’ he added.
An official missing persons report was made in January 2022 with both the Hartselle Police Department and the DeKalb County Sheriff’s Office. A Facebook group seeking information about her disappearance was set up in April 2022.
A month later, her son paid a heartbreaking Facebook tribute on mother’s day.
‘Happy Mother’s Day momma if your out there and if not happy heavenly mother’s day. I love and miss you so much there’s not a day that goes by that I don’t think about you!,’ he wrote in part.
Isbell pictured with her boyfriend James Allen Wright, just prior to her disappearance he was arrested and sent to rehab in Florida
Isbell’s car, a black Jeep, with Alabama tags
Isbell’s mother said in a 2022 interview that her daughter was living ‘where she could’ in DeKalb County
At the time she was last seen, Isbell was living with her boyfriend, James Allen Wright, in DeKalb County.
WAAY reported in the summer of 2022 that Isbell suspected of theft prior to her disappearance.
The station reported that James Allen Wright was arrested by the sheriff’s office in September 2021 for an undisclosed crime and was released to a rehab facility in Florida in November 2021.
While he was in jail, the sheriff’s office said, Isbell was ‘living where she could in DeKalb County.
‘I think she got mixed up with some wrong people,’ her mother, Debbie Wood, told the local news channel last year.
She described Isbell’s relationship as ‘new but troubled,’ saying they were always getting into fights.
Authorities have previously said Isbell was last seen on November 23, 2021 when she visited her mother in her hometown of Hartselle, and was spotted again the next day across the street from her son’s school.
But according to the criminal complaint filed Monday, Isbell was killed one month prior to her reported appearance at her mother’s house.
Speaking of her pain while her daughter was still reported missing, Wood said: ‘Part of me wants to believe she’s still here, the other part says “Get ready for a funeral if we can find her remains.”‘
In a statement DeKalb County Sheriff Nick Welden said: ‘DCSO along with several other Law Enforcement entities and Emergency Services personnel are currently on the scene of an undisclosed location attempting to recover possible human remains. At this point, no other information is available.
‘The case is top priority and further information will be released when available and no risk of jeopardizing the case is considered.’
Last year, Isbell’s mother told how she worried her daughter may be dead
On her Facebook page, Isbell wrote on her Intro section: ‘It is not how much we have, but how much we enjoy, that makes happiness.’
Multiple tributes on social paid tribute to her as a loving mother who loved life. News of Carr’s arrest for her murder came two days before what would have been her 39th birthday.
Following the news that Isbell had been murdered, a Facebook group set up entitled ‘Search for Beth Isbell Wright’ became flooded with people expressing their grief.
‘There are no words to describe the sadness and heartache. I’m so sorry for you all and loved ones,’ one woman wrote on Thursday.
Holly Douglas also posted: ‘Sweet Beth, when I first found out I was speechless but now my heart just aches for all of your loved ones.
‘You always had such a big personality and even bigger smile. We had a lot of good talks about life and where it takes us. You are loved and greatly missed.’
And Shea Gonzalez wrote: ‘RIH Beth you will be truly missed.
‘I’m still in shock from this news… As you’re one of a kind and most definitely didn’t deserve this,’ Gonzalez continued, as she promised to keep watching over her son.
‘I know you have everyone up there laughing boo… And family y’all are in my thoughts and prayers. So sorry y’all [are] going through this.’
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