In the dark morning hours of September 11th 1991, in the small town of Jasper Alabama, a couple named Earl and Carrie Lawson were awoken by a fake emergency phone call that lured them out of the house. A masked man was waiting in their carport. Earl was bound with duct tape and the assailant forced Carrie into their SUV and sped off into the darkness. Carrie had been kidnapped for ransom. It seemed like something you only saw in movies. In the last episode, I told you all about the parade of mistakes the FBI made in this case. Now we’re getting into the repercussions of those mistakes, and even more bad decisions…as Carrie Lawson’s life hung in the balance.

 
 

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Show Notes

Hosted and produced by Erica Kelley 

Researched and written by Erica Kelley & Andrea Marshbank

Original Graphic Art by Coley Horner 

Original Music by Rob Harrison of Gamma Radio 

Edited & Mixed by Brandon Schexnayder & Erica Kelley

Suggested by: Nocturnal Druid, Reagan Williams and Amanda

SOURCES:

  1. Carrie Lawson's kidnapping haunts family, friends and Alabama 25 years later - al.com

  2. Kidnapper's family: 'I don't love what she did, but that doesn't mean I don't love her' - al.com 

  3. Deaton, Inc. v. McPherson, 655 So. 2d 991 – CourtListener.com

  4. Sep 14, 1991, page 1 - Birmingham Post-Herald at Newspapers.com

  5. Sep 14, 1991, page 8 - Birmingham Post-Herald at Newspapers.com

  6. Sep 14, 1991, page 6 - Birmingham Post-Herald at Newspapers.com

  7. Sep 16, 1991, page 1 - Birmingham Post-Herald at Newspapers.com 

  8. Carolyn Elizabeth “Carrie” Smith Lawson (1966-1993) - Find a Grave Memorial

  9. Sep 17, 1991, page 1 - Birmingham Post-Herald at Newspapers.com

  10. Sep 17, 1991, page 10 - Birmingham Post-Herald at Newspapers.com

  11. Sep 17, 1991, page 23 - Birmingham Post-Herald at Newspapers.com

  12. Sep 18, 1991, page 1 - Birmingham Post-Herald at Newspapers.com

  13. Sep 18, 1991, page 3 - Birmingham Post-Herald at Newspapers.com

  14. Sep 18, 1991, page 39 - Birmingham Post-Herald at Newspapers.com

  15. Sep 19, 1991, page 25 - Birmingham Post-Herald at Newspapers.com

  16. Sep 20, 1991, page 30 - Birmingham Post-Herald at Newspapers.com

  17. Sep 21, 1991, page 6 - Birmingham Post-Herald at Newspapers.com 

  18. Sep 21, 1991, page 7 - Birmingham Post-Herald at Newspapers.com

  19. Sep 23, 1991, page 17 - Birmingham Post-Herald at Newspapers.com

  20. Sep 23, 1991, page 18 - Birmingham Post-Herald at Newspapers.com

  21. Sep 24, 1991, page 25 - Birmingham Post-Herald at Newspapers.com

  22. Sep 25, 1991, page 32 - Birmingham Post-Herald at Newspapers.com

  23. Sep 26, 1991, page 23 - Birmingham Post-Herald at Newspapers.com

  24. Sep 26, 1991, page 24 - Birmingham Post-Herald at Newspapers.com

  25. Sep 27, 1991, page 29 - Birmingham Post-Herald at Newspapers.com

  26. Sep 28, 1991, page 1 - Birmingham Post-Herald at Newspapers.com

  27. Sep 28, 1991, page 10 - Birmingham Post-Herald at Newspapers.com

  28. Sep 30, 1991, page 19 - Birmingham Post-Herald at Newspapers.com

  29. Oct 01, 1991, page 23 - Birmingham Post-Herald at Newspapers.com

  30. Oct 02, 1991, page 1 - Birmingham Post-Herald at Newspapers.com

  31. Oct 02, 1991, page 8 - Birmingham Post-Herald at Newspapers.com

  32. Oct 03, 1991, page 31 - Birmingham Post-Herald at Newspapers.com

  33. Oct 03, 1991, page 1 - Birmingham Post-Herald at Newspapers.com

  34. Oct 03, 1991, page 3 - Birmingham Post-Herald at Newspapers.com

  35. Oct 04, 1991, page 1 - Birmingham Post-Herald at Newspapers.com

  36. Oct 04, 1991, page 6 - Birmingham Post-Herald at Newspapers.com

  37. Oct 22, 1991, page 29 - Birmingham Post-Herald at Newspapers.com

  38. Nov 02, 1991, page 19 - Birmingham Post-Herald at Newspapers.com

  39. Nov 05, 1991, page 21 - Birmingham Post-Herald at Newspapers.com

  40. Nov 06, 1991, page 1 - Birmingham Post-Herald at Newspapers.com

  41. Nov 06, 1991, page 8 - Birmingham Post-Herald at Newspapers.com

  42. Jan 13, 1992, page 18 - Birmingham Post-Herald at Newspapers.com

  43. Ancestry.com

  44. Carolyn Elizabeth Lawson – The Charley Project

  45. Harriett Hill Smith (1935-2008) - Find a Grave Memorial

  46. David Franklin Smith (1934-2017) - Find a Grave Memorial

  47. Carrie Smith Lawson Scholarship

  48. Jerry Bland (1941-1991) - Find a Grave Memorial

  49. Amy Sue Bland Johnson (1969-2024) - Find a Grave Memorial

  50. Katherine Lynn “Kathy” Bland (1965-2022) - Find a Grave Memorial

  51. Jerry Bland (1941-1991) - Find a Grave Memorial

  52. Alabama Dept of Corrections

  53. Apr 30, 1959, page 5 - Daily Mountain Eagle at Newspapers.com

  54. Jan 13, 1992, page 18 - Birmingham Post-Herald at Newspapers.com

  55. Apr 11, 1992, page 8 - Birmingham Post-Herald at Newspapers.com

  56. Sep 05, 1992, page 21 - Birmingham Post-Herald at Newspapers.com

  57. Sep 05, 1992, page 23 - Birmingham Post-Herald at Newspapers.com

  58. Apr 29, 1993, page 11 - Birmingham Post-Herald at Newspapers.com

  59. Aug 21, 1993, page 1 - Birmingham Post-Herald at Newspapers.com 

  60. Aug 21, 1993, page 12 - Birmingham Post-Herald at Newspapers.com

  61. May 21, 1994, page 6 - Birmingham Post-Herald at Newspapers.com

  62. May 21, 1994, page 8 - Birmingham Post-Herald at Newspapers.com

  63. May 25, 1994, page 34 - Birmingham Post-Herald at Newspapers.com

  64. Nov 09, 1996, page 5 - Birmingham Post-Herald at Newspapers.com

  65. Jun 17, 1997, page 1 - Birmingham Post-Herald at Newspapers.com

  66. Jun 17, 1997, page 8 - Birmingham Post-Herald at Newspapers.com

  67. Sep 29, 2000, page 23 - Birmingham Post-Herald at Newspapers.com

  68. Oct 09, 2002, page 16 - Birmingham Post-Herald at Newspapers.com

  69. Carrie Lawson kidnapper Karen McPherson again denied parole in lawyer’s 1991 disappearance - al.com

  70. https://www.cbs42.com/news/missing-mysteries-sister-of-carrie-lawson-still-has-questions-after-1991-kidnapping/

  71. https://www.nytimes.com/1991/09/30/us/jasper-journal-familiar-voice-talks-of-kidnapping.html

  72. https://leb.fbi.gov/articles/featured-articles/no-body-homicide-cases-a-practical-approach