Carla Brogan was born December 7, 1998, in Jackson, Mississippi, to John and Marguerite Brogan. Her older brother, Doug, was stabbed to death four years ago in a mugging in Dallas, Texas.
The Brogans moved to Oxford when Carla was four, and she lived there until she graduated from high school.
Carla was Melanie Daniels's best friend from the time they were young girls. The two of them took dance classes together and were in most of the same classes in school.
They had planned to attend college together, but Melanie disappeared near the end of their junior year. The rumor was that she'd left town to marry a soldier with whom she may have conceived a child. Whatever motivated Melanie to take off, Carla never heard from her after that.
Carla went to school at Mississippi State University in Starkville, where she studied sociology. Unsatisfied with career prospects in that field, she began working for a local caterer and became proficient in food preparation. She dropped out of the university shortly before her brother's death.
Carla struggled to overcome the tragedy of losing her brother, but meeting Terry Greenlee, a Mississippi State agriculture student, was a big help to her. After Terry got his degree, the couple moved to Hattiesburg, Mississippi, and Carla opened her own catering business, The Magnolia Gourmet. Carla and Ted have plans to marry next summer.