Mountain State Mysteries contains adult content that may not be said well for all audiences.

Listener discretion is advised.

I'm your host Mark.

And I'm Courtney.

And this is Mountain State Mysteries.

The case we have for you today has to be our most personal case to date.

A case that is still active so some details are going to be left out.

This is the story of Natasha Alexander Augusta Carter, better known as Alex.

Alex Carter was born on December 22, 1989 to Ricky Harold Lafferty and Susan Gale Carter.

Growing up, it's said that Alex was like a little old lady.

Ricky said that Alex was the absolute best child growing up and that she was the best

child any parent could have.

During this time, Alex for the most part lived with her father Ricky in Pumble, West Virginia.

During this time, Susan wasn't really in the picture.

He was diagnosed as a paranoid schizophrenic, manic depressive and bipolar type one.

Ricky said that Susan would go off at the deep end about anything and everything.

Ricky also said you could be with one person one second and then five minutes later you

could be with someone else.

A judge in Wyoming County granted Susan supervised visits with Alex.

Ricky said that Alex was miserable for the entire hour she had to spend with her mother

and that she never wanted to go with her because she was afraid of her mother.

Ricky recalls one day that Susan left Alex outside in a thunderstorm after she got home

from school.

Ricky said when he found out about that, he drove there and picked Alex up.

Ricky agreed to let Susan and her husband Larry Webb take Alex on a trip to Disney

World.

When they got back from their trip, Susan tried to force Alex to go home with her and

Susan was a type to have 80 style big hair and long nails.

She grabbed Alex by the face and scratched her under her chin.

Right then and there, Ricky went to the Wyoming County Magistrate and got a warrant for child

abuse.

Ricky said that it went on and on and that he ended up going through six attorneys.

In a letter from the Pumble Grade School, quote, on January 25, 2000, I was called to

Pumble Grade to help with the situation where Alex Carter would be taken from one parent

and custody would be given to the other parent.

Alex father had came to pick her up and once he was told in new court order, he agreed

that it would be easier for Alex if he wasn't there.

He left and went home.

The mother came with her husband and talked with Sheriff Randall Ailof concerning the

legal documents issuing custody.

When Alex came in and saw her mother, she immediately turned very pale.

As the counselor, I took her into the principal's office to talk with her for a few minutes

while her mother talked with Sheriff Ailof.

Alex was very comfortable with me and talked, explaining she was not aware she would be

taken away that day.

She asked me about her father and I explained.

She cried when she realized the situation.

Her mother came into the room.

Alex's hold demeanor changed.

She became belligerent with her.

I told her mother not to touch her, not to touch her back back.

And then she did not want to go with her.

Alex cried more.

So when her mother walked into the room, it is also from my understanding from Hollywood

Elementary that Alex missed seven days of school in the four weeks that she was enrolled

at the school.

If additional information is needed, please let me know.

Sincerely, Linda G. Phillips, Elementary Counselor, Pineville Grade School.

The custody battle ended up getting heated between Ricky and Susan.

Ricky said that he has every single case file from that battle and that it shows where Alex

told the judge that Susan would do drugs in front of her.

By the end of the custody battle, the judge ruled that the two would have shared custody

of Alex.

Susan told Ricky that he would never see Alex again.

The two would meet at Lester Square in Raleigh County, West Virginia.

Ricky said that was the last place he ever saw Alex.

On August 8, 2000, Ricky and his friend Matthew Schuck let Alex out of the van.

Alex told Ricky that she loved him and goodbye.

At the next hearing, Susan didn't show up, so Ricky was granted custody.

By then, Alex was gone.

A felony warrant for kidnapping was issued for Susan on November 13, 2000.

Many agencies still classify Alex as a victim of a family abduction who may be in the company

of her mother and an adult male that may have left the state.

Decades passed without any sign of Alex or Susan and authorities began to look into the

possibility of foul play.

Alex's case sadly went cold as the West Virginia winner.

For 21 years, there was barely any movement in the case.

In December of 2021, the FBI announced they were looking into the case of Natasha Alex

Carter.

At the time of the disappearance, Alex was living with Susan's husband, Larry Dale Webb,

in the 100 block of Cal Wang.

In August of 2023, the FBI searched Webb's home looking for evidence in the disappearance

of Alex.

Larry told reporters that he had no idea why authorities were searching his property,

though he said Alex's name, and I'm going to use air quotes here, sounded familiar,

and that he and Susan were married, I think.

He stated that he was away on a trip at the time of their disappearance.

Larry's live-in caretaker, Terry Lilly, told press that the FBI found a bullet in the wall

of a bedroom with Alex's DNA on it, something that was not confirmed by law enforcement.

The FBI also removed tile from the floor in the basement.

On September 3, 2023, Larry's live-in caretaker, Terry Lilly, suddenly passed away.

No funeral was held for him.

In October of 2023, Larry Webb was charged with first-degree murder in the death of Natasha

Alex Carter.

He has not been charged in the disappearance of Susan Carter.

Larry Webb is still awaiting his trial.

If you have any information on the case of Natasha Alex Carter, please contact the West

Virginia State Police at 304-746-2100, or you can contact the FBI with their hotline,

1-800-FBI.

Courtney, do you want to tell everyone why this is our most personal case today?

Alex is my cousin, her father Rick is my uncle, so this has been very difficult for my family.

We are very grateful for the help of the FBI and the West Virginia State Police for finally

getting involved with her case.

A lot of people don't know was Alex's case was actually closed and we had no idea that

it was closed.

But with Homeland Security, they got like an as to why there were so many missing children.

And these cases were cold and the FBI out of Pittsburgh reopened up Alex's case and

they had been going nonstop on this case with it.

For those who don't know, Alex was just, she was like a little old lady, she really was.

She had the most distinguished little voice.

She would call my mom and she would talk and she would say, I bet she don't know who this

is or she would say that to my grandmother anytime she called.

She loved Ricky more than anybody you would ever seen.

She would very, very rarely stay away from him.

Ricky was in college at one point and Alex would get a class with him and they would

even put her on the roll just to call her name whenever she was in there.

Ricky would go by his way for that little girl.

She only stayed with us a couple of times, since she loved her daddy so much.

It would be with him all the time.

She would do all kinds of different things.

We would take her swimming up at the lake.

He would take her to the playground.

Everything, I mean you name it.

He would do for that little girl.

Her mother was not a good person.

I don't know if she was who I was saying no.

She wasn't a good person.

She did do drugs in front of Alex.

Alex was so terrified.

She would put the knife under her pillow because she was terrified of her mother and her stepfather.

She was just a sweet, normal little girl whose life ended way before.

It should have.

It's not right.

It's not fair that her life was cut short and that piece of trash has gone to live his

life out.

It's not right.

I wish there was so much more I could tell but I can't because we're not going to jeopardize

this case.

And I was just so bad for her is what I want.

And who all the little comments I've seen online have actually said, sent the mystery

and wrong for the mother.

I mean to flee with the child.

You have no idea what you're talking about.

There's just sometimes a mother is not a good person and she done this for pure evil and

to get back at my uncle because she knew that this is the one thing that would destroy him

was taking Alex away.

So before anybody starts commenting about stuff, you need another full story about it.

You do.

To everybody who has supported our family, thank you.

And please just pray that justice will be served for Alex.

Stay tuned for our next episode, which will be the premiere of season three of Mountain

State Mysteries.

If you find yourself enjoying Mountain State Mysteries, take a second to follow and rate

it on your favorite podcast platform.

It helps others find good West Virginia true crime podcasts.

Don't forget to follow us on Instagram, Facebook and Tech Talk.

All at Mountain State Mysteries.

Do you have a case you want us to cover in season three of Mountain State Mysteries?

Send us an email at mountainstaymysteries304 at gmail.com.

For the show notes, check out our website, mountainstatemysteriespodcast.com.