Deceased/Not Found AL - Carla Corley, 14, Birmingham, 12 Aug 1980

Mullins

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Carla Rebecca Corley has been missing since August 12, 1980 from Birmingham Alabama. Carla was a 14 year old brunette, 5'2'', with hazel eyes, and she weighed 130 pounds. Carla has a brain condition which may cause epileptic seizures. She was last seen wearing blue corduroy pants and a blue blouse with a peter pan collar.

I found the circumstances surrounding Carla's disappearance quite disturbing. They are as follows per DOE network, click on http://www.doenetwork.org/cases/105dfal.html

Carla was last seen in her family's home in the public housing community on Airport Highway where she lived with her mother.
On the eve of Carla's disappearance, she helped her mother wash dishes after supper. Her mother went to bed, awoke about 4:30 and walked into the living room. The chairs were pushed away from the table, a soft drink bottle was turned over and Carla's new tan sandals with a gold emblem were near the couch where she had taken them off the night before. The doors were left wide open.
There was no trace of Carla. A month earlier, a group of men had abducted the girl for about three hours, taken her to Lake Purdy and raped her. About a week before Carla's disappearance, the men came banging on her door but couldn't get in. Noone has been charged in connection with her disappearance, but police suspect foul play.


I don't understand who the group of men were and whether or not they were investigated? Why were charges not brought against them for the rape/abduction?

This one bothers me.....


 
It looks like the family has set up their own website (found it through the Charley Project - thanks Meaghan!).

http://find_carla_corley.tripod.com/index.html

On the left hand side there is a link "How to help get justice for Carla Corley". It looks like the family is trying hard to get the case reopened and the circumstances publicized.

Please visit... and maybe help?
 
Mullins said:
I don't understand who the group of men were and whether or not they were investigated? Why were charges not brought against them for the rape/abduction?
Usually in such instances, either there was not enough evidence, or Carla & family did not wish to prosecute. Happens in a lot of rape cases, actually. People don't want the stigma and the hassle.
 
I contacted two reporters listed on Carla's family's web page regarding doing a story on her abduction. I received two replies. Looks like they want to do a story on Carla, but would like to have family contact information. Does anyone know how to put these reporters in contact with Carla's family members? I'm pasting the emails below so that if you know you can either post or contact them directly with the information.
Thanks

John Mann replied:
We are interested in doing a story on Ms Corley. Do you know if her family is still in Birmingham and if so will they or someone who knew Ms. Corley be interested in talking to us?
Thank You,
John Mann
Assignments Editor

I wrote:
Please do a story on the kidnapping of Carla Corley in 1980. The case should be reopened, she was abducted and possibly murdered. She has never been found. Please visit the DOE network on missing or the Charley Project to find out more information about her case, or talk with the mayor of Birmingham about getting the case reopened or the Birmingham police dept. Please help bring this case back to the forefront so that it can possibly be solved.
Cynthia Gould replied:
Do you have contact information for the family? We would need some more details as well.. date , location, picture of Carla, etc. Were there ever any suspects? Has the family contacted Birmingham's cold case unit. I know the two detectives running the program.
My direct line is 583-4372.
Thanks for your help


I wrote:

Please do a story on the kidnapping of Carla Corley in 1980. The case should be reopened, she was abducted and possibly murdered. She has never been found. Please visit the DOE network on missing or the Charley Project to find out more information about her case, or talk with the mayor of Birmingham about getting the case reopened or the Birmingham police dept. Please help bring this case back to the forefront so that it can possibly be solved.
 
PS I also forwarded them links to DOE, Charley Project, and a link to Carla's familly's web site.
 
According to Yahoo people search, there are at least 33 people with the name Corley listed in the Birmingham, AL directory. Though none on Airport Highway. If it was a public housing project it may be long gone now, those places seem to have relatively short life spans.
You might get ahold of the NCMEC -- they'll have contact info if no one else does.
 
Thanks Meggily,

I gave them the site address for Carla at NCMEC and advised them to contact. I also advised them to research class roster for school classmates that she may have attended school with. Sounds like they just want to talk to someone who knew her, family or friend. I also suggested geneology research and offered to help in that regard. I would hate to see the media drop attention and the cold case not be reopened due to them not finding any family / friends to interview. If anyone else has other ideas, please post them.
 
Is it possible Carla had a seizure and wandered away from the house? I have heard that sometimes a severe seizure can cause at the least disorientation and even amnesia. What is the area like -- any bodies of water nearby, or wooded areas? Just trying to look at it from a different angle...
 
Mr. E--anything's possible. I figure the investigators who knew her condition probably considered that angle. I believe that a seizure may have caused her to wander a bit (like around the room or house even) but probably not far. I doubt that she would have made it off the property....but I am not familiar with the type of brain condition she had. Personally, I think it was an abduction/murder.

Mr. E said:
Is it possible Carla had a seizure and wandered away from the house? I have heard that sometimes a severe seizure can cause at the least disorientation and even amnesia. What is the area like -- any bodies of water nearby, or wooded areas? Just trying to look at it from a different angle...
 
I am not an epileptic, but I know someone who is. His seizures have made him commit acts of violence such as breaking windows, but he has never wandered anywhere. Also, I myself once had a seizure a few years ago (don't know why) and I was somewhat confused afterwards, but I knew where I was and I didn't feel inclined to go anywhere else or move at all, because I had a splitting headache.
 
FYI thought I'd put this out here--

http://www.epilepsyfoundation.org/answerplace/About-Epilepsy.cfm

If anyone's interested there's a lot of info on epilepsy, seizures. But, if she had another condition which is indicated (slight brain damage) in the write ups on DOE and Charley Project, she may have acted in a different manner altogether. Hard to know.

Hope she can be found someday.
 
http://www.charleyproject.org/cases/c/corley_carla.html


Wow this is crazy.

Missing Since: August 12, 1980 from Birmingham, Alabama
Classification: Non-Family Abduction
Date Of Birth: December 31, 1965
Age: 14 years old
Height and Weight: 5'3, 120 pounds
Distinguishing Characteristics: Caucasian female. Brown hair, hazel eyes.
Clothing/Jewelry Description: A blue blouse with a Peter Pan collar and three white buttons, and blue corduroy pants.
Medical Conditions: Corley has epilepsy and suffers from seizures as a result of her condition.


Corley had been abducted and raped by a group of men in July 1980, one month prior to the time she was last seen. The three-hour attack had taken place near Lake Purdy in Alabama. :confused: :eek:

The men had arrived at Corley's family's residence the week before she disappeared, but they were not permitted inside. It is not known if the previous attack is related to Corley's disappearance. :rolleyes:



It is not known if the previous attack is related to Corley's disappearance.

Okay, Are they kidding ???? Seriously...........Or they are absolute idiots.
Sometimes the things i read about these poor children makes me want to reach out and slap someone. I can't help it.

What is wrong here? A 14 year old girl is raped by a group of animals and they don't know where she is?
ASK THEM ALREADY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

OH MY GOD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! They raped a child for 3 hours. they had the balls to come to the door looking for her? ONE WEEK LATER? I would have SHOT THEM AT THE FRONT DOOR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! A CHILD FOR GOD SAKES !!!!!!

WHAT IS GOING ON ???????
The MAN hours that have already been paid out to uphold the law in this Country we live in and this is the results of TAX DOLLARS.


IT"S A JOKE
 
Wanting to bump this for Carla ... This case should be reopened, it seems apparent to me who is responsible for her abduction. She has been missing since 12th of August 1980
I am going to see if I can find any articles to bring over, especially names of the men who raped her a month prior to her disappearance
 
corley_carla.jpg
 
Circumstances of Disappearance
Carla was last seen on the night of August 12th, 1980, inside her Birmingham home. Her mother last saw her when she herself went to bed, leaving her daughter awake and watching television in the living room. Several hours later, at approximately 4:30am, Carla's mother awoke to find the apartment doors wide open, the living room in disaray, with furniture overturned and a spilled bottle of soda on the floor. Carla was not inside the house, and has never been seen again.

Four weeks before her disappearance, Carla was abducted and raped by a group of local adult males at Lake Purdy. Several days prior to her disappearance, these same males attempted to gain entry to the home, but they were not permitted inside, and they left when Carla's mother threatened to call the police. While it is not known for certain that these men are linked to Carla's disappearance, it does seem like a probable scenario.


Foul play is strongly suspected in Carla's vanishing, and no trace of her has ever been found
http://missingme.2007.angelfire.com/carla_corley.html
 
Unfortunately this looks to me like a classic case where local LE knows very well what happened but doesn't have enough evidence to prosecute. Since kidnapping was suspected, does anyone know if the FBI got involved at some point?
 
Unfortunately this looks to me like a classic case where local LE knows very well what happened but doesn't have enough evidence to prosecute. Since kidnapping was suspected, does anyone know if the FBI got involved at some point?

I don't know I am having a hard time finding information on the case, I might try to contact the investigator on the case if I get the time.
Technology has come so far since then and if they where able to find any evidence there at all it could be looked at again. Plus you never know when you start reinterviewing people later on it is possible to find new info or just someone who may have been afraid to come forward then may do so now.

I just hate seeing this unsolved because it seems apparent like I had said befor. When case's like these are left where they are it makes me wonder if the suspects had some ties to law enforcement such as maybe they where a nephew, son something like that or even related to a public figure at the time. Could be just sure laziness ...
 
http://www.charleyproject.org/cases/c/corley_carla.html


Wow this is crazy.

Missing Since: August 12, 1980 from Birmingham, Alabama
Classification: Non-Family Abduction
Date Of Birth: December 31, 1965
Age: 14 years old
Height and Weight: 5'3, 120 pounds
Distinguishing Characteristics: Caucasian female. Brown hair, hazel eyes.
Clothing/Jewelry Description: A blue blouse with a Peter Pan collar and three white buttons, and blue corduroy pants.
Medical Conditions: Corley has epilepsy and suffers from seizures as a result of her condition.


Corley had been abducted and raped by a group of men in July 1980, one month prior to the time she was last seen. The three-hour attack had taken place near Lake Purdy in Alabama. :confused: :eek:

The men had arrived at Corley's family's residence the week before she disappeared, but they were not permitted inside. It is not known if the previous attack is related to Corley's disappearance. :rolleyes:



It is not known if the previous attack is related to Corley's disappearance.

Okay, Are they kidding ???? Seriously...........Or they are absolute idiots.
Sometimes the things i read about these poor children makes me want to reach out and slap someone. I can't help it.

What is wrong here? A 14 year old girl is raped by a group of animals and they don't know where she is?
ASK THEM ALREADY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

OH MY GOD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! They raped a child for 3 hours. they had the balls to come to the door looking for her? ONE WEEK LATER? I would have SHOT THEM AT THE FRONT DOOR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! A CHILD FOR GOD SAKES !!!!!!

WHAT IS GOING ON ???????
The MAN hours that have already been paid out to uphold the law in this Country we live in and this is the results of TAX DOLLARS.

IT"S A JOKE
But what we don't know is what type of people the rapist gang was. They maybe were a prominet powerful gang in their housing project theat everyone was fearful of. The family could have been too scared to get LE invovled and possibly never gave them their names after she dissappeared. maybe they didn't even know who they were themselves. fear can be quite powerful and let's face it, police can not always protect you.
 
BUMP

Carla has been missing 30 years today. Come home soon.
 

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