Kidnap Suspect Kills Self; Woman Missing

JASPER, Ala. - The man authorities say collected $300,000 in the kidnapping of an industrialist's daughter took his knowledge of the woman's whereabouts to the grave, officials said.

Jerry Bland, who police believe abducted Carrie Lawson on Sept. 11, shot himself to death early yesterday as FBI agents staked out his house.

"He did not leave us any clues about the whereabouts of Carrie Lawson," District Attorney Charles Baker said. He would not say whether he thought she was alive.

Meanwhile, a cousin of Bland's, Karen McPherson of Cullman, Ala., was being held on a kidnapping charge.

Authorities did not say what role McPherson is alleged to have played in the kidnapping, but Baker said a significant amount of cash was found in her home.

The district attorney said that evidence provided by McPherson had Bland "nailed to the wall" for the kidnapping. But he added that authorities still had no idea where Lawson was.

Lawson, 25, is the daughter of Harriett and David Smith, a Cleveland, Tenn., industrialist. She was abducted from her home by a gunman who tied up her husband, Earl Lawson Jr.

The last her family heard from her was when she called the next day, saying she feared for her life.

The day after that, Lawson's in-laws met a kidnapper's demands to leave $300,000 in a dark culvert, but the kidnapper failed to keep his promise to release her.

Baker said Bland, 49, left behind a suicide note claiming that the more than $200,000 FBI agents found in his home during a search yesterday was drug money, not ransom money.

Baker added, however, that he didn't believe that.

"We knew beyond all doubt that Jerry Bland was the man," the prosecutor said. Bland's note also said McPherson not involved in the kidnapping.

Baker said he had told Bland's attorneys that he would help him with a plea bargain if he would reveal where Lawson was.

He said he had another meeting scheduled with the attorneys yesterday, when Bland killed himself before dawn.

Hundreds of volunteers have scoured the area for any trace of Lawson. Among the searchers have been several students she helped as an orientation counselor at the University of Alabama, where she completed her law studies earlier this year. Her husband is a lawyer.

FBI investigators last week released tape recordings of ransom calls made after Lawson's abduction, and Baker said analysts believe the voice on the tapes was Bland's.