The excavation site on Kyle Lane in Beckley. (Photo/Keith Thompson/MetroNews)
BECKLEY, W.Va. — State police and the FBI have a news conference scheduled for 1 p.m. Tuesday to discuss key developments in a nearly 24-year-old cold case.
Authorities discovered Monday what they believe to be the remains of Susan Carter and her daughter Alex Carter on property on Kyle Lane in Beckley.
The property is where suspect Larry Webb used to live.
State police said Webb, who was an inmate at Mount Olive State Prison after being indicted last fall for 10-year-old Alex’s death, suffered a medical episode Monday morning in prison and died later at Montgomery General Hospital, about six hours before the bodies were found.
Webb, who was in his 80s, was indicted by a special grand jury last fall in connection with the disappearances. He was originally held at Southern Regional Jail but moved to Mount Olive because of his medical condition.
Raleigh County Prosecutor Ben Hatfield said following last September’s indictment that Susan Carter was in a heated custody battle with Alex’s father at the time of the disappearance. She was also in a relationship with Webb at the time.
Hatfield said the investigation picked up in the past two years with a joint team made of state police and FBI agents. He said bullet holes were found at Webb’s home.
“The bullet holes had been spackled over and wallpapered over and cleaned up and the blood that was behind the baseboard heater and behind the baseboard underneath the bullet holes belonged to Natasha (Alex) Carter,” Hatfield said last fall.
Excavation began at the Kyle Lane site last week.