On August 8, 2000, Susan Carter (41) and her 10-year-old daughter Alex disappeared in Beckley, western Virginia. At the time, the woman was involved in a fierce custody battle with her ex-husband Larry Webb. After Alex decided to move in with her mother and her new partner, the girl and her mother disappeared.
Nothing was heard from them for 24 years. The investigation into the disappearance turned up nothing. The two were nowhere seen. The police investigated several avenues, and at one point assumed that the mother had kidnapped her daughter to escape her ex-husband. The investigation into this also yielded no results, even when the FBI promised a $10,000 reward in December 2021 to anyone who came forward with a tip. That amount was increased to $20,000 in September 2023, but again without success.
Searches
The investigation naturally also focused on Webb at several points. Searches were carried out at the man’s home in 2022 and 2023, but he denied having anything to do with the case. “I don’t remember either,” he said during one of those house searches. “I have dementia. I can not say it.”
After that first search, he became the main suspect in the case, when officers found a bullet in the wall of his daughter’s bedroom. The blood on it turned out to be from his daughter. Webb was officially charged with the murder in October 2023, but due to his precarious medical condition he was only arrested at the beginning of this month.
Deathbed
The man’s health has gone downhill since then. During the first week of this month, he admitted on his deathbed to killing his ex-wife and their daughter. According to the FBI, he explained that he shot his wife after an argument about money, and also killed his daughter to avoid his wife’s murder being exposed. He wrapped both their bodies in linen sheets and buried them in the garden.
That confession led investigators back to the man’s home, where, with the help of a local landscaper, they found both bodies last Monday. Webb died in hospital a few hours earlier. “A bit of a poetic ending to this cold case, which even I couldn’t have written,” said prosecutor Benjamin Hatfield at the press conference between the prosecutor’s office and the police. According to the police, mistakes were made during the investigation. “We’re going to find out now.”
