Left: Loretta Kay Carr (via Dekalb County (Ala.) Sheriff's Office). Right: Mary Elizabeth Isbell (via Hartselle (Ala.) Police Department).
Two people have been charged in the death of a missing woman whose remains were recently identified since her disappearance in 2021.
Loretta Kay Carr and Jessie Eden Kelly have been arrested and charged with capital murder in the death of Mary Elizabeth Isbell, who was first reported missing in December 2021 by her ex-husband, according to a statement from law enforcement in DeKalb County, Alabama. Carr, 45, was arrested by the DeKalb County Sheriff's office on Sunday, June 25, while Kelly is in custody in Pennsylvania awaiting extradition to Missouri on felony charges, the statement said.
According to Huntsville ABC affiliate WAAY, Carr is Kelly's mother.
Isbell's disappearance had remained a mystery for years until a break in the case came earlier this month, on June 20, when DeKalb County investigators received new information, the sheriff's office statement said.
"Investigators immediately checked the lead and determined it to be credible," the sheriff's office said. The arrests of Carr and Kelly came soon after.
Human remains were found on Wednesday, June 28, at the Little River Canyon National Park by a search team, the statement said. They were positively identified as Isbell on Friday, which would have been her 39th birthday.
According to a criminal complaint filed on June 26, 2023, Carr is accused of kidnapping Isbell in October 2021, Huntsville CBS affiliate WHNT reported.
Court documents say that Carr is accused of "intentionally" causing Isbell's death "by pushing her off a cliff," according to WHNT, citing court documents.
