"And still do," Lawson said. 2023 Advance Local Media LLC. The kidnapping happened about 3 a.m. at the home Lawson, 25, shared with her husband, 26-year-old Earl Lawson, also an attorney. In 2000, the Smiths met with FBI agents and pleaded with them to reopen the case, but were told all leads had been exhausted. On December 6, 1991, firefighters in the capital city of Austin, Texas, responded to a suspected arson at a strip mall. Without a suspect and no information that could lead to one, detectives kept following leads without any success. Indeed, believe it or not, American citizens are currently living in a time of unprecedented peace.[1]. Have a news tip or suggestion on how I can improve Tuscaloosa Patch? Upon further investigation, the employee found $500 missing, along with four other employees. It's a case that people still talk about. Instead, after Bland's voice was identified as the kidnapper making ransom demands, agents surrounded the house and waited to obtain a warrant. He drove away with Carrie as Lawson assured himself she would be OK. She had to be OK. "Back in 1991, nobody got kidnapped. }else{ In response to the murders of 17-year-old Ruth Shelton, 20-year-old Jayne Friedt, 16-year-old Mark Flemmonds, and 16-year-old Daniel Roy Davis, Burger Chef offered the public a $25,000 reward for any clues that could lead to an arrest. Mitchell started a group called Concerned Citizens of Jasper Countyand made t-shirts with every murder victim whose family has not gotten justice. And it bothers me that my kids have to read stuff like that.". The next to die were Cliff, Jimmie, and Debbie. Copyright 2019 WSFA 12 News. Cold Case e-mail: coldcasetips@AlabamaAG.gov. On Saturday, Sept. 28, 1991, federal agents searched Bland's home. Unsolved Crimes If you have information concerning any of these crimes, please contact our Criminal Investigations Division through our Report Form or by phone at 205-669-4181. The case of Jack Kelly made things a little interesting. It was not uncommon for all three to clock in hours of overtime in order to accomplish projects. Click here to subscribe to our free daily newsletter and breaking news alerts. Throughout the county and city, similar stories of prolonged grief are being played out; 28 unsolved homicides since 2009. However, the true motives behind these horrid crimes may never be known, given their unsolved character. Christmas is usually a time of good cheer, good food, and good times spent with family. The cases are not forgotten, not collecting dust and not being ignored. Earl Lawson was bound, and Carrie Lawson was never seen again. Keith (his preferred name) was not one to skip work, so his supervisor first called Keiths parents. "He called the payphone and said, 'I'm watching you right now. Glenna was found naked from the waist down and gagged with a blue bandana and her own panties. There weren't a lot of murders in Jasper," Lawson said in a recent interview, his first about the case in more than 20 years. The newborn girl was pulled into the world and then summarily beaten to death. "It's obvious we're not happy with the result of the kidnapping investigation and I was in charge of it," former FBI Special Agent in Charge Allen P. Whitaker said in 1993. Authorities searched to no avail. Even we have a limit that you can push us to before we stand up and cry foul.". Whited's lawyer in the drug case, Griff Belser, said he was unaware of the arrest in the slaying until after it was announced by police. Both beepers, however, transmitted on the same frequency and when the drop was over, the agents -- who had air support -- unwittingly followed Lawson's vehicle instead of the money. The sheriff admitted 10 years is a mighty long time for any family to suffer without any sort of resolution, but he insists its not a lack of trying on the investigators part. Kubiszyn stayed in the guest room at her sister's house that had a window on the front side of the home. RELATED: Details About The Murder Of Arkansas Teen Dana Stidham And Why Police Have Yet To Find Her Killer Alabama. "Most of those people didn't know us at all," he said. Bland left behind a suicide note of which the full contents have never been released. Hinsons body was located in the front bedroom, Gierses was located in a back bedroom, and Barkers corpse was found in the bathroom that lay between both rooms. Authorities remove the body of Jerry Bland from his Jasper home on Oct. 1, 1991 after he committed suicide while FBI agents surrounded his home. The most recent in May 2017 Jamol Horton who was shot and killed in his home in Ridgleand. "Financially, my dad has spent hundreds and hundreds of thousands of dollars.". Carrie, the daughter of a Tennessee millionaire, had also just graduated from UA's law school. [5] Such overkill caused Plumas County Sheriffs Office special investigator Mike Gamberg, along with Sheriff Greg Hagwood, to suspect that as many as six people may have taken part in the murders. "He had duct tape and told Carrie to duct tape my hands behind my back. And, of course, there were people who thought Lawson was somehow involved in Carrie's abduction. The numbers are only getting. The killer or killers had also left each corpse in separate rooms. When Lawson Sr. arrived at the site, however, there were about five police cars there totally unconnected to the kidnapping case, purely a coincidence. While never closed, the case went cold without new evidence. Investigators found that Glenna, John, and Dana had been bound with white medical tape and appliance wire, and all three had suffered stab wounds along with being bludgeoned and strangled. Friends, family and federal agents descended upon the small town. A month later, an anonymous tip led searchers to Lake Tuscaloosa near the Alabama 69 bridge about 10 miles north of Northport. [4] All victims were shot in the head before the two criminals set fire to the bowling alley. I've got a rifle pointed at your head. Then they got in my car and they left.". On November 18, 1978, an off-duty employee of the Burger Chef, a local fast food joint in Speedway, Indiana, found the restaurant's back door wide open. Carrie Lawson was declared dead two years after her disappearance. I use it as an example when people have a horrible tragedy and their entire world as they know it has been obliterated. Jeremy Bryan Jones is shown Thursday, Dec. 1, 2005 during the sentencing phase of his capital murder trial in Mobile, Ala.. Judge Charles Graddick gave him the death sentence. var zoneid = '30'; "He has not mentioned anything about this other matter to me," Belser said. Former Washington Post reporter Ron Kessler, in his book "The FBI: Inside the World's Most Powerful Law Enforcement Agency," called the case one of the agency's "biggest failures." Other clues at the crime scene included the position of the bodies. These murders became known locally and state-wide as "The Mars Hill Murders". Its not quite as prevalent in the county with two unsolved cases on the books. I was a problem child as I was coming up, and you know got in trouble and things of that nature, he said, I met this guy and he told me, he said You know, you need to be part of the solution and not the problem and thats pretty much what changed my life., My cousin Sean Jones, he went missing February 18, 1999, he said, And 2017, on the same exact day my first cousin, Darnell Williams, he was murdered on Hilton Head Island. Mitchell added, Just like any other family we want justice.. Jump to a detailed profile, search site with google or try advanced search. These three would be overpowered and shot dead by the gunmen. Maybe you're interested in having your business become one of the latest sponsors for Tuscaloosa Patch? When they failed to provide any information about Keiths whereabouts, the police were notified. If you have any information on an unsolved murder, you can make an anonymous phone call to the LowcountryCrimeStoppers at 843-554-1111. This was due in part to the case of Detective Hector Polanco, who was investigated for coercing 13 false confessions. First of all, Sheriff Perry Johnson told the press that the scene inside of the Hair Gallery was horrific and that all three victims throats had been cut deeply. My uncle called me, and then my dad got on the phone and told me that Carrie had been kidnapped," Carrie's older sister recalled. Patrice Endres was abducted from her Cumming, Ga. hair salon on April 15, 2004. ", Lawson concedes there might have been mistakes during the investigation, but, "To a T, those guys gave 200 percent every day, every minute. Mobile County Sheriffs Office Capt. You have no idea what God can do.". The murder was the latest in a violent year for Tuscaloosa, marking the ninth homicide investigated by the multi-agency unit in 1996. Closure came tantalizingly close when four young men were arrested in Texas and West Virginia in October 1999. After more than two decades, different potential leads in the case have grabbed headlines, but formal charges have never been brought against a single suspect. 2020 The Associated Press. "I was 26 years old, and I still had to work and earn a living somehow.". Registration Opens For Hospice Of West Alabama's 13th Annual 5K, Teen Victim Identified After Fatal Crash On 15th Street Tuesday, UWA's Woodruff Earns Back-To-Back GSC Coach Of The Year Honors, Commission Considers New Storm Shelter For Jerusalem Heights Community, Commission Moves Forward On New Fosters Farmers Market, Tuscaloosa Public Library To Kick Off Summer With Free Northport Event. In a sick twist of fate, police learned early on that the witness who found the first body may have arrived at the scene barely minutes after the murders. For two days, police and citizen volunteers searched the area for the missing workers. if (document.referrer) document.write ("&referer=" + escape(document.referrer)); And when Bland killed himself, state charges were being sought because Carrie had not been taken across state lines, which would have constituted a federal crime, they said. Upon a close examination of the crime scene, police discovered that each victim had been struck in the head with some kind of blunt object. She didn't say anything that was true.". Given the absolute horror of the crime scene, locals began to blame Satanists for the crime. Making an arrest in these cases, helps families, it gives them some kind of closure, but it will never completely heal, Mitchell said. Use of and/or registration on any portion of this site constitutes acceptance of our User Agreement, Privacy Policy and Cookie Statement, and Your Privacy Choices and Rights (each updated 1/26/2023). The material on this site may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, cached or otherwise used, except with the prior written permission of Advance Local. It just so happened that Smith and Hickock had driven to Florida in a stolen Bel Air. The Federal Bureau of Investigation released a report in 2019 that explained that 250,000 is the number of unsolved murders in U.S. 2019 or unsolved murders USA 2020, and that the number rises by around 6,000 each year that passes. Upon further investigation, the employee found $500 missing, along with four other employees. Unsolved Alabama Murders According to Project: Cold Case, from 1980 to 2019 there were 20,003 homicides in Alabama alone, leaving 7,893 unsolved murders in Alabama. Also, the killer did not seem to be motivated by lust, for none of the victims had been sexually assaulted.[7]. Before 10:45 AM, four customers, the stores manager, and a part-time employee were taken to the back of the Lane Bryant store located at the Brookside Marketplace shopping mall. Not only does this list deal with some of the worst mass murders in American history, but each remains unsolved to this day. Despite being shot five times, Melissa managed to call 911. More horrific still was the fact that Elaine had been pregnant at the time of her death. But everyone that knew her felt like they were loved by her, and that was extraordinary.". If you purchase a product or register for an account through one of the links on our site, we may receive compensation. The show helped capture some of Alabama's most wanted fugitives, including one now on Death Row. With no football fans or tourists in town, the cool but clear fall weekend had been a relatively uneventful one for Tuscaloosa. Fear and not wanting to get involved are perhaps the primary reasons why the murders remain a mystery. She wasn't a spectacular student, she wasn't a beauty queen, she wasn't someone who leaves their mark by being famous. I couldn't believe this was happening. Investigators quickly learned on that awful morning that they had a terrible and inexplicable crime on their hands. Early in the morning, Carolyn Elizabeth Lawson, then 25 years old, answered her phone, and was informed that she had a family member in the hospital, severely injured. 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