NQL Case File

Circumstances

Date of Disappearance

September 17, 1973

Notes

Janet Gail Carter grew up in Winston-Salem, North Carolina but was living as a single mother in Hueytown, Alabama in 1973. Janet and her husband had divorced a couple months prior, and Janet was working at an insurance company in Birmingham trying to make ends meet for herself and her daughter Christina. Janet had recently begun dating again and was going out with a new boyfriend; his identity is not public but it does appear he was still married. Some sources state he was a local policeman in Hueytown, but it is not clear how reliable that information is. According to Janet, she was planning to go with him on a journey to the Great Smokey Mountains. It is not clear how long she was thinking they would be gone or whether he was expecting her to bring along Christina. Janet and Christina were last seen on September 17 in Hueytown before disappearing without a trace. At the time, family and friends assumed she and her boyfriend had started their trip to the Smokies. There was also however a small possibility that Janet left with Christina to avoid an upcoming custody battle with her ex-husband. In any case, she appeared to have taken Christina with her or at least did not leave the child with anyone her family knew. Then, a few weeks later on October 7, tragedy struck. Janet had been found deceased but there was no sign of Christina. The cause of death was suffocation, likely the same day her remains were found. Janet had been left naked and tied up, her remains hidden in a duffle bag that was left on the side of Clingmans Dome Road near the top of the peak in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. The road and park straddle the Tennessee and North Carolina border. She was found near Bryson City, North Carolina. The FBI later said they believe she was still alive that morning, but whether Christina had been with her or had been left with a carer is not known. The FBI were quickly included in the initial investigation because Janet was recovered on the ground of a national park (under federal jurisdiction). Unfortunately, because Janet was not a local, she was initially a Jane Doe until the investigation into her identity could be carried out. It was not until a month after her body was recovered that identified her and realized Christina was nowhere to be found. This meant that police and federal law enforcement were not aware to look for Christina in the area until substantial time had already passed. Although her boyfriend was found to have been in the vicinity, his wife provided him with an alibi and he was not listed as a suspect in the murder or disappearance. Janet’s murder has not been solved and Christina’s disappearance remains a cold case.

Location of the Disappearance or Crime Scene

National Park

Potential Circumstances

Isolated Location, Long-Distance Trip, Multiple Victims, On a Date, Parent and Child, Prior Communication, Wild Outdoors

Vehicle

License Plate

Photo of Vehicle

Suspect

Suspect Description

Photo of Suspect