By . Associated Press Reporter . PUBLISHED: . 16:27 EST, 30 September 2013 . | . UPDATED: . 16:35 EST, 30 September 2013 . Mystery: Kidnap victim Carrie Lawson, who was abducted 22 years ago from her home, was never found . Carrie Smith Lawson has been missing since someone abducted her from her home 22 years ago. Relatives paid a $300,000 ransom, but the prime suspect killed himself as police closed in and no one ever found a trace of the woman. Lawson's family are now opposing parole for the suspect's cousin, who received a life sentence after pleading guilty to kidnapping but never provided any clues to lead authorities to the victim. Margaret Kubiszyn, sister of the missing woman, and father David Smith are rallying friends and supporters to flood the Alabama Board of Pardons and Paroles with letters opposing the early release of Karen McPherson, 52. The state attorney general's office also has written a letter opposing parole for McPherson. Board executive director Cynthia Dillard said a hearing for McPherson is scheduled for Tuesday in Montgomery. Members refused to approve an early release for McPherson during two previous hearings. Kubiszyn said McPherson is likely the 'last link' to finding out what happened to her sister, who was declared legally dead two decades ago. 'I don't think she knows where Carrie is. I think she might know of other people who were involved who could lead us to that,' said Kubiszyn. McPherson pleaded guilty in 1991 to charges that she helped with the abduction of Lawson from her home in Jasper, about 40 miles northwest of Birmingham. McPherson's cousin, Jerry Bland, was considered the main suspect in the case and shot himself to death in his home as police converged outside. Investigators searching Bland's property found most of the $300,000 that was paid in ransom by her family, but they never found any trace of Lawson. A judge declared Lawson legally dead two years after her disappearance and her husband, a Birmingham-area attorney, has since remarried. McPherson admitted she was with Lawson for several hours on the first day or two after the abduction. She also admitted being with Lawson while Bland made the ransom demand. Family affair: Karen McPherson, left, is up for parole after she pleaded guilty to helping her cousin Jerry Bland, right, abduct Carrie Lawson in 1991 . However, she maintained Lawson was alive when she left her in Bland’s custody and claimed she didn't know what happened to Lawson. She has been trying to get out of prison for years and attempted to withdraw her guilty plea in 1994, but a judge refused. In 2003, McPherson wrote a judge that she had the 'stability of mind and character' to be released and could only be rehabilitated fully outside of prison, but the court again refused to set her free. Relatives of the missing woman say they are worried the board might free her to prevent overcrowding at Tutwiler prison, Alabama's lone state prison for women. She has served 21 years and ten months in jail. Lawson, who was 25 and recently had graduated from the University of Alabama law school, was abducted after she and her husband received a telephone call early on September 11, 1991, saying her father was gravely ill at a hospital. Authorities say a masked gunman met the couple as they left home headed to the hospital, forced the woman to tape her husband's hands, and then drove off with her. The vehicle was found in a neighboring county, and Bland killed himself about three weeks later after being identified as a suspect. Officers at the time were outside the home, which already had been searched. 'How could they do that, leave the guns inside?' said Kubiszyn. 'It was all very strange.' Lawson, originally from Cleveland, Tennessee, was never found despite repeated searches of old mines and roadsides and years of work by a private investigator hired by her father. 'I don't know that I think that we'll ever find Carrie, but I know where she is,' said Kubiszyn. 'She's in heaven.'
Carrie Lawson's relatives paid her abductor $300,000 ransom for her safe return .
She was never released by suspected abductor Jerry Bland who killed himself as police closed in .
No trace of Carrie or her body have ever been found .
Her family are opposing parole for Bland's cousin Karen McPherson .
She maintains she left Carrie in her cousin's custody and never saw them again .
By . Associated Press Reporter . PUBLISHED: . 16:27 EST, 30 September 2013 . | . UPDATED: . 16:35 EST, 30 September 2013 . Mystery: Kidnap victim Carrie Lawson, who was abducted 22 years ago from her home, was never found . Carrie Smith Lawson has been missing since someone abducted her from her home 22 years ago. Relatives paid a $300,000 ransom, but the prime suspect killed himself as police closed in and no one ever found a trace of the woman. Lawson's family are now opposing parole for the suspect's cousin, who received a life sentence after pleading guilty to kidnapping but never provided any clues to lead authorities to the victim. Margaret Kubiszyn, sister of the missing woman, and father David Smith are rallying friends and supporters to flood the Alabama Board of Pardons and Paroles with letters opposing the early release of Karen McPherson, 52. The state attorney general's office also has written a letter opposing parole for McPherson. Board executive director Cynthia Dillard said a hearing for McPherson is scheduled for Tuesday in Montgomery. Members refused to approve an early release for McPherson during two previous hearings. Kubiszyn said McPherson is likely the 'last link' to finding out what happened to her sister, who was declared legally dead two decades ago. 'I don't think she knows where Carrie is. I think she might know of other people who were involved who could lead us to that,' said Kubiszyn. McPherson pleaded guilty in 1991 to charges that she helped with the abduction of Lawson from her home in Jasper, about 40 miles northwest of Birmingham. McPherson's cousin, Jerry Bland, was considered the main suspect in the case and shot himself to death in his home as police converged outside. Investigators searching Bland's property found most of the $300,000 that was paid in ransom by her family, but they never found any trace of Lawson. A judge declared Lawson legally dead two years after her disappearance and her husband, a Birmingham-area attorney, has since remarried. McPherson admitted she was with Lawson for several hours on the first day or two after the abduction. She also admitted being with Lawson while Bland made the ransom demand. Family affair: Karen McPherson, left, is up for parole after she pleaded guilty to helping her cousin Jerry Bland, right, abduct Carrie Lawson in 1991 . However, she maintained Lawson was alive when she left her in Bland’s custody and claimed she didn't know what happened to Lawson. She has been trying to get out of prison for years and attempted to withdraw her guilty plea in 1994, but a judge refused. In 2003, McPherson wrote a judge that she had the 'stability of mind and character' to be released and could only be rehabilitated fully outside of prison, but the court again refused to set her free. Relatives of the missing woman say they are worried the board might free her to prevent overcrowding at Tutwiler prison, Alabama's lone state prison for women. She has served 21 years and ten months in jail. Lawson, who was 25 and recently had graduated from the University of Alabama law school, was abducted after she and her husband received a telephone call early on September 11, 1991, saying her father was gravely ill at a hospital. Authorities say a masked gunman met the couple as they left home headed to the hospital, forced the woman to tape her husband's hands, and then drove off with her. The vehicle was found in a neighboring county, and Bland killed himself about three weeks later after being identified as a suspect. Officers at the time were outside the home, which already had been searched. 'How could they do that, leave the guns inside?' said Kubiszyn. 'It was all very strange.' Lawson, originally from Cleveland, Tennessee, was never found despite repeated searches of old mines and roadsides and years of work by a private investigator hired by her father. 'I don't know that I think that we'll ever find Carrie, but I know where she is,' said Kubiszyn. 'She's in heaven.'
ago from her home, was never found . Carrie Smith himself as police closed in and no one ever found a trace of the woman. Lawson's family are now opposing parole for the suspect's cousin, who McPherson's cousin, Jerry Bland, was considered most of the $300,000 that was paid in ransom by affair: Karen McPherson, left, is up for parole she left her in Bland’s custody and claimed she a neighboring county, and Bland killed himself