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Southern Fried True Crime

218: The Kidnapping of Carrie Lawson, Part 1

Southern Fried True Crime

Erica Kelley

True Crime, Society & Culture, History

4.610.5K Ratings

🗓️ 13 June 2024

⏱️ 44 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

In the wee hours of September 11, 1991, Earl and Carrie Lawson were awoken by an urgent phone call from a woman claiming to be a nurse who said Earl’s father was hospitalized and might not make it through the night. The couple threw on clothes and rushed out the door, only to be stopped by a masked man as they were getting in their Ford Explorer. He bound Earl with duct tape, then forced 25 year-old Carrie into the Explorer and raced off into the darkness. Their families were shocked to discover this was a kidnapping for ransom. It seemed like something you only saw in movies…but it was very real and they were terrified for Carrie. **Part 1 of 2.

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: https://www.southernfriedtruecrime.com/carrie-lawson

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Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0

Southern for a true crime covers cases that are not suitable for young listeners,

0:10.0

and there may also be some explicit language used.

0:14.0

Listener discretion is advised.

0:17.0

Jasper Alabama is a charming little city

0:22.0

nestled in the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains.

0:25.8

Incorporated in 1887 Jasper is the seat of Walker County.

0:30.3

With a population that has hovered around 14,000, the town doesn't seem to have changed that much in the last 30 or so years.

0:37.0

It's a tight-knit community where folks wave at each other at stop signs, bring baked goods over to new neighbors, and wrap their grieving

0:45.2

friends and hugs, prayers, and casseroles.

0:48.8

No small town is complete without tree-lined streets in a picturesque town square, and Jasper's historic square almost looks

0:56.0

frozen in time. Imagine store signs with loopy cursive writing and red brick facades. There's even an old-timey Rotary street clock.

1:04.8

Jasper still has a drive-in restaurant that opened in 1950 called the Frosty Mug,

1:09.6

where you can get the best cheeseburger in town as well as milkshakes and banana splits.

1:15.2

You may also have heard an urban legend that Walker County is the place to go to hire a

1:19.4

hitman in the south.

1:21.2

And while that is as silly as it sounds, there is undoubtedly real-world problems caused

1:26.7

by the opioid epidemic in the foothills of Appalachia.

1:30.5

And yeah, there might be meth and trailer parks, but there are also many low-key blue bloods who have

1:36.5

lived and prospered in Jasper for generations.

1:39.9

Famed actress to Lila Bankhead was from a rich political family within a state called Sunset in Jasper.

1:46.3

In 1991, the Law sons were a prominent family in Jasper.

1:50.9

So even though a kidnapping for ransom seemed like something straight out of a bad 90s thriller,

...

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