Around 3:00 a.m. on September 11, 1991, 25-year-old Carrie Smith Lawson and her husband Earl received a phone call from a woman claiming to be a nurse stating a close family member was in the hospital. As Carrie and Earl exited their home to go to the hospital, a gunman appeared at their vehicle and forced Carrie to bind Earl. He then took Carrie away from the home. The assailant was later identified as 49-year-old Jerry Bland.

Two days later, Bland made a ransom demand of $300,000 to Carrie's family, which they paid. Three weeks later, on October 1, 1991, law enforcement agencies, including the FBI, surrounded the home of Bland, however, Bland died by suicide before ever revealing Carrie's location. Law enforcement recovered the majority of the ransom money in Bland's home.

Bland's cousin, Karen Lancaster McPherson, allegedly dropped Bland off at the Lawson home the evening of Carrie's abduction. McPherson also reportedly told authorities she had spent several hours with Carrie in the first day or two of her abduction. McPherson was sentenced to life in prison for her role in Carrie's abduction.

In 1993, Carrie was declared deceased.

Over the years searches have been conducted in an effort to locate Carrie's body, but those efforts have been unsuccessful. Almost 31 years later, Carrie Smith Lawson still has not been located.