It has been more than four years since an Alabama woman and her daughter kidnapped another woman and brought her to an overlook, where she was forced off of a cliff and died, according to authorities.
Now, Loretta Carr, 45, has been sentenced to life in prison for the murder of Mary Beth Isbell, and an additional 20 years in prison in connection with Isbell’s kidnapping, according to District Attorney Summer Summerford, of the 9th Judicial Circuit in Alabama.
Carr pleaded guilty on Thursday, February 5, to first-degree kidnapping and murder in connection with Isbell’s death on October 18, 2021, according to court records viewed by AL.com.
Us Weekly was not able to confirm whether Carr had an attorney who could comment on her behalf.
The night of Isbell’s death, Carr and her daughter, Jessie Kelly, are accused of visiting Isbell’s home, where they confronted her over “a relationship she had with Carr’s significant other,” Summerford said in a news release issued Friday, February 6.
An investigation revealed that the mother-daughter duo attacked Isbell and kidnapped her, according to Summerford.
They put Isbell in their car and drove her to the Wolf Creek Overlook at the Little River Canyon National Preserve, Summerford said.
There, Carr secured herself to a barrier at the overlook with a rope and made Isbell climb over the barrier, according to Summerford.
Then, Carr was accused of pushing her off the canyon cliff’s edge.
Isbell’s remains were ultimately found at the bottom of the canyon, according to Summerford, who said Isbell was also a mother herself.
“This is an example of a senseless act destroying a family,” Summerford said in a statement. “A mother is left without a daughter, sisters are left without their sibling, and a son is left without his mother.”
Isbell’s ex-husband reported her missing to the Hartselle Police Department in December 2021, according to the DeKalb County, Alabama, Sheriff’s Office. She had been living in the area of DeKalb County when she disappeared.
Her remains were not found at Little River Canyon until about a year and a half later, on June 28, 2023, the agency said.
Two days after the discovery, on what would have been Isbell’s 39th birthday on June 30, 2023, the remains were identified as hers, according to the sheriff’s office.
In August 2025, Carr’s daughter — Jessie Kelly of Union City, Pennsylvania — pleaded guilty to a murder charge in connection with Isbell’s death, AL.com reported.
Kelly was sentenced to 40 years in prison, according to court records viewed by the outlet. She was 24 at the time.
AL.com did not mention whether Kelly had an attorney representing her.
Isbell’s son, Skylar, was 16 years old when his mother disappeared, according to WAAY 31.
“I always just sit there and think about, like, when I graduated high school, bought my first car — like, it just sucks that she wasn’t there for all of that,” Skylar said in a previous interview with the TV station.
He described her as a “light to this world,” adding that “she would put a smile on anybody’s face.”
