A deathbed confession allowed authorities in West Virginia to locate the remains of a woman and her daughter who had been missing for nearly 24 years, according to officials.
Larry Webb was in a hospice unit at the Mount Olive Correctional Complex when he suffered a “medical episode,” prompting his transfer to Montgomery General Hospital, where he died Monday.
Prior to his death, he provided a “detailed, undeniable, unconflicted” account of how he killed Natasha “Alex” Carter, who was 10 at the time, and her mother, Susan Carter, Raleigh County prosecuting attorney Benjamin Hatfield told reporters during a Tuesday press conference.
Carter had been mired in a custody battle with Alex’s father and was living with her daughter at Webb’s house in 2000, CBS News reported. When some cash at the residence went missing, Webb told investigators he was quick to accuse Carter, sparking a feud that would ultimately turn deadly.
“They had an argument about it, and he shot her,” Hatfield said.
At that point, Webb said he knew he had to kill Alex “to avoid detection for having killed Susan.”
The case eventually went cold and remained that way for years, but in December 2021, the FBI Pittsburgh office announced renewed efforts and a reward in a bid to solve the decades-old case. What’s more, the $10,000 reward was increased to $20,000 in September 2023.
In both 2022 and 2023, authorities executed search warrants at Webb’s home and recovered additional evidence in the case. He was indicted for first-degree murder in Alex’s death in October 2023, but neither Carter nor Alex’s bodies had been found at the time. He was then arrested on April 12 after being medically cleared for incarceration, Hartfield said.
During his recent confession, Webb revealed that the bodies of his victims remained on the floor of his basement for days while he dug a pair of graves on the property of his home in Beckley.
Some six hours after his death on Monday, investigators uncovered human remains in his backyard. The investigation is ongoing and the remains are with the coroner’s office, authorities said.