Photo: Charlotte Observer
The boys turned up a day ago.
By Bernadette Giacomazzo — Written on May 02, 2019
They were reported missing, but recently found. What happened to Carter and Joel Strother, and where are they now?
On April 30, 2019, police in North Carolina said that they found Carter and Joel Strother — who had been reported missing a few days prior — were found safe and sound with their father.
According to Fox News Carolina, Joel Strother — the boys’ father — was responsible for their initial disappearance. When the boys were found, the elder Strother was arrested on kidnapping charges.
Let’s look at what we know about the formerly missing brothers who were found safe and sound.
1. Their physical appearances were the first details that were released about them.
When Carter and Joel Strother went missing, the first thing that police did was release specific details about their appearances to the press. According to Fox News Carolina, Joel Strother, the elder of the two brothers, is about 5 feet tall and weighs about 90 pounds. He has brown hair and green eyes. Carter Strother, who is the younger of the two brothers, is about 4 feet 6 inches tall and weighs about 100 pounds. He has brown hair and brown eyes.
2. Their father was one of four people initially suspected in their kidnapping plot.
According to ABC11, Joel Strother was initially one of four people suspected in the plot to kidnap the boys. Police began to suspect that Joel Strother was responsible for the kidnapping of his two sons when he refused to cooperate with the police who asked if he’d had any information about his sons’ whereabouts.
3. Joel Strother violated the terms of his custody agreement — and that’s what got him in trouble.
According to WRAL, Joel Strother was in violation of his custody agreement with Joel and Carter’s mother — his ex-wife — when he took them to his sister, Kimberly’s, house. It wasn’t clear how that was a direct violation of the custody agreement, but what is clear is that this was the “beginning of the end” when it came to Joel Strother’s freedom.
It was originally believed that the boys were in Florida, since the elder Strother had family there. Police, too, took to social media to announce that the elder Strother had left with his sons in his 2006 car, and gave a full description of the car.
However, when the boys were found, the police took to social media, again, to announce that they’d been found — after a tip from a neighbor — and that Joel Strother was in custody.
“We have great news! The children have been located and are safe! The father Joel Strother has been arrested and is currently on his way to jail! Joel Strother and the children were located in North Carolina. Thank you everyone out there on Facebook! Because of you all sharing this information and getting the word out, we had a very happy outcome! The information came from a single tip of someone who saw our shared post and decided to call! Well done everyone, we can't say that enough!” the Prescott Isle police department told the outlet.
Indeed, this is a very good thing — especially considering that most kidnapped children who aren’t recovered within 48 hours are usually dead — so we’re glad to here that Carter and Joel Strother are safe and sound!
Bernadette Giacomazzo is an editor, writer, and photographer whose work has appeared in People, Teen Vogue, Us Weekly, The Source, XXL, HipHopDX, The Los Angeles Times, The New York Post, and more. She is also the author of The Uprising series. Find her online at www.bernadettegiacomazzo.com and www.longlivetheuprising.com.