Loretta Carr is an accused killer from Alabama who has been charged with the murder of Mary Isbell who prosecutors claim that she pushed off a cliff
According to police reports Mary Isbell (above photo inset) was reported missing by her ex husband in December 2021. According to early reports police would go to the home of Mary Isbell and believed they found signs of a struggle however they found no sign of the missing woman
In June 2023 police would receive a credible tip that led to the arrest of Loretta Carr and her daughter Jessie Kelly. Eight days later the body of Mary Isbell would be found at Little River Canyon National Park
Police believe that Mary Isbell was kidnapped, brought to the National Park where she was pushed off of a cliff
Loretta Carr and Jessie Kelly have both been charged with kidnapping and murder
Prosecutors have announced they are seeking the death penalty against Loretta Carr
Loretta Carr News
A 44-year-old woman was indicted on a murder charge last week for allegedly kidnapping and pushing a 38-year-old woman off a cliff, killing her.
WHNT-TV reports Heather Carr is being charged with capital murder (kidnapping) in connection with the death of Mary Elizabeth “Beth” Isbell. The state will reportedly pursue the death penalty against Carr. A grand jury also returned an indictment against Carr’s daughter, Jessie Kelly, on the same charges.
Isbell’s ex-husband reported her missing to the Hartselle Police Department on Dec. 27, 2021. Police learned she was living in DeKalb County, so they began working with the sheriff’s to search for her. Detectives searched her home and found physical evidence that they submitted to a national database for identification but could not find a match.
DeKalb County Sheriff’s Office Chief Detective Nick Brown told WAAY-TV there were “signs of a struggle” inside Isbell’s home.
On June 20, 2023, the DeKalb County Sheriff’s Office received “credible” information about Isbell’s disappearance and followed up on the lead. The tip led to the Carr and Kelly’s arrests. Kelly was in custody in Pennsylvania waiting for extradition to Missouri on other felony charges.
Eight days later, investigators discovered Isbell’s body at Little River Canyon National Park. Her remains were positively identified on June 30, 2023, on what would have been her 39th birthday.
WAAY reports investigators determined Carr and Kelly allegedly pushed Isbell off a cliff after kidnapping her.
Brown said Isbell, Carr, and Kelly were “all acquaintances, mainly through a boyfriend,” though it was not clear whose boyfriend specifically.
He added, “They all do come back to one specific person.”
Brown said, “It’s very inhuman, brutal what these ladies did to Mary.”
Loretta Carr More News
The woman accused of pushing another woman to her death over a cliff will be allowed to view the site where the alleged murder took place.
Loretta Kay Carr, 45, was charged in June with the murder of Mary Elizabeth Isbell, who was last seen in 2021 and reported missing in December of that year by her ex-husband. Carr’s daughter Jessie Eden Kelly, 22, has also been charged with killing Isbell, whose remains were found on June 28 at the Little River Canyon National Park, around 75 miles southeast of Huntsville, Alabama.
Prosecutors allege Carr pushed Isbell off a cliff inside the park
The judge overseeing Carr’s capital murder case has agreed to allow the defendant to physically revisit the scene where Isbell fell to her death, Huntsville Fox affiliate WZDX reported.
Carr’s lawyers had argued that “the facts of this case make it impossible for [Carr] to describe the scene to her attorneys in sufficient detail” and asked for the judge to allow her to view the crime scenes, WZDX reported.
In addition to being able to visit the cliff, defense lawyers requested access for other areas deemed crime scenes, including the home of Carr’s fiance, Robert Mitcham, and Isbell’s mobile home, where sheriffs say there is physical evidence that a struggle occurred, according to WZDX.
Local CBS affiliate WHNT reported that Carr’s lawyers also want to use body camera footage involving a police search of Carr’s home and footage from police officers’ interactions with Kelly.
DeKalb County Sheriff Nick Wheldon reportedly said that all the women knew each other and appear to have been connected through someone identified as a “boyfriend.”
According to a criminal complaint, Carr is accused of kidnapping Isbell in October 2021, WHNT reported. Court documents say that Carr is accused of “intentionally” causing Isbell’s death “by pushing her off a cliff,” according to WHNT
Isbell’s remains were positively identified on June 30, which would have been her 39th birthday.
