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

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Listener discretion is advised.

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I'm your host Mark.

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And I'm Courtney.

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And this is Mountain State Mysteries.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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child any parent could have.

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

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

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

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

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

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could be with someone else.

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

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

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

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

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from school.

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

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

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World.

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

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

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

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

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abuse.

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

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

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

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and custody would be given to the other parent.

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

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

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He left and went home.

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

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legal documents issuing custody.

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

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

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while her mother talked with Sheriff Ailof.

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

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taken away that day.

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She asked me about her father and I explained.

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She cried when she realized the situation.

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Her mother came into the room.

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Alex's hold demeanor changed.

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She became belligerent with her.

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

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And then she did not want to go with her.

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Alex cried more.

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

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

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at the school.

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If additional information is needed, please let me know.

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

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

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

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

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

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of Alex.

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Susan told Ricky that he would never see Alex again.

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

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

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

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Alex told Ricky that she loved him and goodbye.

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

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By then, Alex was gone.

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

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

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

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

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possibility of foul play.

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

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

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

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Carter.

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

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in the 100 block of Cal Wang.

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

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of Alex.

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

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

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and that he and Susan were married, I think.

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

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

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

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

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

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No funeral was held for him.

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

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Alex Carter.

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

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Larry Webb is still awaiting his trial.

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

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

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1-800-FBI.

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

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

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

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getting involved with her case.

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

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it was closed.

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

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

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they had been going nonstop on this case with it.

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

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She had the most distinguished little voice.

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

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

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She loved Ricky more than anybody you would ever seen.

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She would very, very rarely stay away from him.

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

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

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Ricky would go by his way for that little girl.

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

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It would be with him all the time.

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She would do all kinds of different things.

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We would take her swimming up at the lake.

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He would take her to the playground.

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Everything, I mean you name it.

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He would do for that little girl.

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Her mother was not a good person.

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

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She wasn't a good person.

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She did do drugs in front of Alex.

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Alex was so terrified.

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

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

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It should have.

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It's not right.

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

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life out.

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It's not right.

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

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this case.

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

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

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and wrong for the mother.

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I mean to flee with the child.

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You have no idea what you're talking about.

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

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

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was taking Alex away.

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

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You do.

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To everybody who has supported our family, thank you.

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

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

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State Mysteries.

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

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it on your favorite podcast platform.

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It helps others find good West Virginia true crime podcasts.

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

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All at Mountain State Mysteries.

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

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Send us an email at mountainstaymysteries304 at gmail.com.

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