Missing Person

Carla Corley

Carla Rebecca Corley was 14 when she vanished from her Birmingham home in August 1980 after an apparent disturbance. Her disappearance date differs across news accounts, and her NamUs case remains open and unresolved.

Incident date: Not documented
Location: Birmingham, Jefferson County
Independent sources: 4

The record

Carla Rebecca Corley was 14 when she disappeared from her Birmingham home in August 1980. Her case remains open and unresolved in the U.S. Department of Justice’s NamUs database, with the Birmingham Police Department listed as the primary investigating agency.1

NamUs says Carla was last seen in her house around bedtime. Later that night, furniture was found overturned, the doors were wide open and Carla was gone.1

NBC News reported that Carla was last seen during the evening of Aug. 12, 1980, at her family’s apartment in the Eastwood public-housing complex on Airport Highway. According to that account, Carla’s mother said they had watched television before she went to bed while Carla remained awake. At about 4:30 a.m., her mother reportedly found the front door open and signs of a struggle.2

WBRC published a different chronology in 2012. Carla’s older sister said Carla failed to make an expected telephone call on Aug. 8 and that she contacted police on the fourth day. WBRC quoted Birmingham police Sgt. Sam Noblitt recounting the mother’s statement that Carla remained awake watching television after her mother went to bed. The mother later awoke, WBRC reported, and found Carla gone, her shoes still inside, chairs and a soda bottle overturned, and the door open.3 The discrepancy between Aug. 8 and Aug. 12 is unresolved in the supplied records.

Both news reports discussed family accounts of an alleged earlier abduction and sexual assault near Lake Purdy. NBC said relatives placed the alleged incident in July 1980 and reported that no police report was filed at the time; police reportedly learned of it 18 years after Carla disappeared.2 WBRC reported that Carla’s sister later heard the alleged attack occurred a few days before the disappearance.3 These allegations have not been established by the supplied official record.

WBRC reported that the case was once closed after information suggested Carla was alive in south Alabama and had left voluntarily, but police later reopened it. The station also reported that a person who said he knew what happened later recanted, and that police conducted several excavations based on tips, most recently in 2005.3

In 2012, Noblitt told WBRC he had a person in mind but lacked enough evidence to file charges or make a public accusation. WBRC reported that there were no suspects at that time.3 NBC reported in 2017 that tips had produced no publicly named person of interest or suspect and that detectives continued investigating.2 No one is identified here because the supplied sources report no charges.

Carla was declared legally dead several years after her disappearance, according to NBC; WBRC attributed that action to her mother.23 Despite that declaration, her NamUs record is open and unresolved.1

The fourth supplied source, a WVTM article concerning the family’s appeal for information on Carla’s 50th birthday, could not be retrieved and therefore provides no independently reviewable details for this account.4

Timeline

August 1980Confirmed
Carla Rebecca Corley, 14, disappeared from her Birmingham home after furniture was overturned and doors were found open.
Aug. 8 or Aug. 12, 1980Disputed
WBRC's chronology begins with a missed telephone call on Aug. 8; NBC says Carla was last seen on Aug. 12.
Several years after the disappearanceReported
Carla was declared legally dead; WBRC reported that her mother obtained the declaration.
By 2005Reported
Police had reportedly conducted several excavations based on tips, with the latest in 2005.
May 2012Confirmed
Sgt. Sam Noblitt told WBRC he lacked sufficient evidence to file charges or make a public accusation.
August 2017Reported
NBC reported that detectives continued investigating and that no person of interest or suspect had been publicly named.
Current supplied NamUs recordConfirmed
Case MP2345 is listed as open and unresolved.

Documented claims

Carla Rebecca Corley was 14 when she disappeared.
Confirmed
Source: U.S. Department of Justice NamUs · Corroborated by 2 additional sources: https://www.nbcnews.com/feature/cold-case-spotlight/no-answers-anniversary-alabama-teen-s-disappearance-approaches-n790066, https://www.wbrc.com/story/18558388/birminghams-coldest-case-what-happened-carla-corley/
Carla's NamUs case, MP2345, is open and unresolved.
Confirmed
Source: U.S. Department of Justice NamUs · Single-source claim.
The Birmingham Police Department is the primary investigating agency.
Confirmed
Source: U.S. Department of Justice NamUs · Single-source claim.
Carla was last seen in her house around bedtime; later that night, furniture was found overturned, the doors were wide open and she was missing.
Confirmed
Source: U.S. Department of Justice NamUs · Corroborated by 2 additional sources: https://www.nbcnews.com/feature/cold-case-spotlight/no-answers-anniversary-alabama-teen-s-disappearance-approaches-n790066, https://www.wbrc.com/story/18558388/birminghams-coldest-case-what-happened-carla-corley/
The disappearance date is disputed: NBC News reported Carla was last seen on Aug. 12, 1980, while WBRC reported that her expected telephone call did not arrive on Aug. 8 and police were contacted on the fourth day.
Disputed
Source: NBC News · Single-source claim.
Carla was last seen at her family's apartment in the Eastwood public-housing complex on Airport Highway in Birmingham.
Reported
Source: NBC News · Corroborated by 1 additional source: https://www.wbrc.com/story/18558388/birminghams-coldest-case-what-happened-carla-corley/
Carla's mother said she went to bed while Carla remained awake watching television; she later found Carla gone and the home disturbed.
Reported
Source: NBC News · Corroborated by 2 additional sources: https://www.namus.gov/MissingPersons/Case#/2345, https://www.wbrc.com/story/18558388/birminghams-coldest-case-what-happened-carla-corley/
Family members described an alleged earlier abduction and sexual assault near Lake Purdy, but the timing is disputed: NBC reported July 1980, while WBRC reported that Carla's sister heard it occurred a few days before the disappearance.
Disputed
Source: NBC News · Single-source claim.
No police report was filed concerning the alleged earlier assault, and police learned of the allegation 18 years after Carla disappeared.
Reported
Source: NBC News · Single-source claim.
The case was reportedly closed after information suggested Carla was alive in south Alabama and had left voluntarily, but police later reopened it.
Reported
Source: WBRC · Single-source claim.
A person who told investigators he knew what happened to Carla later recanted.
Reported
Source: WBRC · Single-source claim.
Police conducted several excavations based on tips, with the latest reported excavation occurring in 2005.
Reported
Source: WBRC · Single-source claim.
In 2012, Birmingham police Sgt. Sam Noblitt said he had a person in mind but lacked sufficient evidence to file charges or make a public accusation.
Confirmed
Source: WBRC · Single-source claim.
NBC reported in 2017 that tips had not led to any publicly named person of interest or suspect and that detectives continued investigating.
Reported
Source: NBC News · Single-source claim.
Carla was declared legally dead several years after her disappearance; WBRC reported that her mother obtained the declaration.
Reported
Source: NBC News · Corroborated by 1 additional source: https://www.wbrc.com/story/18558388/birminghams-coldest-case-what-happened-carla-corley/
The supplied WVTM article could not be retrieved, so its details could not be independently reviewed.
Unknown
Source: WVTM 13 · Single-source claim.

Sources

NamUs case MP2345: Carla Rebecca Corley — U.S. Department of Justice NamUsOpen
No Answers as Anniversary of Alabama Teen's Disappearance Approaches — NBC NewsOpen
Birmingham's coldest case: what happened to Carla Corley? — WBRCOpen
Family seeks info on long-missing woman on her 50th birthday — WVTM 13Open