Carole Embery Hamilton was a 32-year-old woman living in Owensboro, Kentucky, at the time of her disappearance. She was a beautician, a student at Madisonville Community College, and a former high school cheerleader. Relatives reported her missing on September 4, 2003, after their attempts to get in touch with her were unsuccessful. The last confirmed sighting of Carole was on August 20, 2003, when she was stopped for a minor traffic violation.
She had blonde hair, brown eyes, a tattoo between her shoulder blades, and a chickenpox scar between her eyes.
Weeks after she vanished, Carole's 2002 Pontiac Grand Prix was discovered in a rural pond in Fordsville, Ohio County. The vehicle had been cut into more than 30 pieces. There was no sign of Carole at the scene. The investigation into her disappearance eventually led authorities to believe she had been murdered and her death was related to methamphetamine. In August of 2005, several individuals were charged in connection with her case. Carole's boyfriend at the time, William Ashley Yeagle, along with Rodney Wayne Lyle and his wife Michelle Lynn Gaddis Lyle, were charged with murder. A fourth person, Mary Annette Coy, was charged with tampering with physical evidence.
The legal proceedings that followed revealed a grim sequence of events. While initially pleading not guilty, Rodney and Michelle Lyle later admitted their roles in what happened to Carole. They agreed to testify against Yeagle and Coy in exchange for lesser sentences. During Yeagle's trial, the Lyles testified that he had strangled Carole with an electrical cord. In January 2007, William Ashley Yeagle was convicted of Carole's murder and sentenced to 40 years in prison. He maintained his innocence regarding the murder itself but admitted to helping dispose of her body and dismantling her car. It is believed that Carole's body was put into the Green River, but numerous searches of the river have not led to her recovery. Despite the convictions, the case remains a painful and unresolved tragedy for Carole's loved ones as her body has never been found.Last Seen: Aug 20, 2003
