Police 'unable to verify' Carlee Russell claims after disappearance -

Carlethia “Carlee” Nichole Russell went missing after calling 911 to report a toddler on the side of an interstate, then turned up at home 48 hours later. Now, police say they are “unable to verify” many of the claims she made when she reappeared, leaving many questions unanswered about what happened while she was missing.

Russell, 25, told detectives that after she got out of her car to help the toddler, she was abducted and held captive, police in Hoover, Ala., said at a news conference Wednesday. Russell said she eventually escaped and found her way home.

Police said its investigation, which is in its fifth day and remains ongoing, has not turned up any evidence to substantiate these claims. They added that, in the hours before she disappeared, Russell looked up information about Amber alerts and “Taken,” a movie about a kidnapping.

Detectives also “did not locate any evidence of a small child walking down the interstate,” and “have no reason to believe that there is a threat to the public safety related to this particular case,” Hoover Police Chief Nick Derzis said.

Here’s what we know about the case — and what we still don’t know.

Who is Carlee Russell?

Russell lives in Hoover, Ala., with her family. She studies nursing at Jefferson State Community College as part of a joint program with the University of Alabama at Birmingham, the school said. She works part-time at the Woodhouse Spa at the Summit mall in Birmingham, according to local news outlet AL.com.

When Russell was first reported missing, Jefferson State said it was “extremely concerned” for her safety.

The entire Jefferson State community is extremely concerned for the safety of Student Carlethia “Carlee” Nichole Russell and we are praying for her safe return as soon as possible. Anyone with any information should call the Hoover Police Department at (205) 444-7562. pic.twitter.com/9gn9OesFPs

— Jefferson State (@jeffstate) July 14, 2023

When did Carlee Russell go missing?

Russell went missing Thursday night while driving on I-459 South. Derzis, the police chief, said Russell left work around 8:20 p.m. that day. Surveillance footage shows Russell “concealed” items belonging to her employer, including a dark bathrobe and a roll of toilet paper, Derzis said. She then picked up food at a Mediterranean restaurant roughly 1.4 miles from her workplace, and bought granola bars and Cheez-Its at Target, he said. She spent time at the parking lot there, and then drove on to I-459, he said.

According to an earlier statement from Hoover police, Russell called 911 at 9:34 p.m., claiming to see a toddler wandering by the side of the interstate. Police said Russell stopped her car to check on the toddler and called a relative to make the same report. The relative “lost contact” with Russell, but “the line remained open,” police said. Russell’s mother, Talitha, had also called 911 to report that the relative “heard Carlee scream” on the phone, Derzis said Wednesday.

Derzis said officers arrived at the scene of the 911 call within minutes, where they found Russell’s car but could not find her. Russell’s wig and cellphone were in the grass nearby, and some of her belongings, including her purse and the takeaway food she bought, were inside the vehicle. The items she took from work and bought from Target were not located, he added.

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Her disappearance sparked national interest and a search involving local and federal law enforcement agencies. During a news conference before Russell turned up, Hoover Police Department spokesperson Daniel Lowe described the case as “a unique instance in our city.”

Where was Carlee Russell found?

Hoover police said they received a 911 call at 10:44 p.m. Saturday notifying them that Russell had returned to her family home on foot. Medics and police went to the home, and emergency services took Russell to a hospital for evaluation, they said.

Surveillance footage showed Russell “walking down the sidewalk alone prior to her arrival at her residence,” Derzis said. When detectives arrived, Russell was conscious and speaking with paramedics. She had a small lip injury, her shirt was torn, and she had $107 in cash in her right sock, Derzis said. She told detectives her head hurt, and paramedics took her to a hospital, Derzis said.

What happened to Carlee Russell?

It remains unclear where Russell was between Thursday night and Saturday night, and why she abandoned her vehicle.

In the initial statement she gave detectives on Saturday, Russell said that a man forced her into another car when she got out of her own to check on the toddler, Derzis said. She said a man with orange hair and a bald spot, accompanied by a woman, took her to a house and held her there, according to Derzis. She told detectives the pair blindfolded her and made her get undressed, and said she believed they took photos of her, Derzis said. She said she was able to escape and “ran through lots of woods” until she found her home, Derzis said.

Detectives did not immediately press Russell but “made plans to speak with her in detail” after she had time to rest, Derzis said. However, her family has not allowed Hoover police to do so, citing her fragile emotional state, he said.

Police said they still did not know what happened to Russell during the time she went missing. But they highlighted several elements that they said cast doubt on some of her allegations.

According to Derzis, Russell’s cellphone data showed that while she was on the phone with the 911 dispatcher Thursday night — where she stated that she had eyes on the toddler throughout — she had traveled 600 yards. That’s the equivalent of about six football fields, Derzis said, adding that he had a “very hard” time understanding how a toddler could walk that distance in such a short amount of time without crying or attracting further attention. No one else called 911 about a toddler on the interstate, and police said they received no reports of missing children, Derzis said.

Russell also made several “relevant” internet searches in the hours and days before she disappeared, Derzis said. She looked up “how to take money from a register without being caught” and whether “you have to pay for Amber Alert.” On the day she disappeared, she searched for a one-way bus ticket from Birmingham to Nashville, he said.

Russell’s parents told NBC News in an interview released Tuesday that their daughter “definitely fought for her life,” both physically and mentally. They declined to go into details about what their daughter told them about what happened, and they asked the public to let the investigation run its course before making judgments.

At the news conference Wednesday, Hoover Mayor Frank Vrocato said that Russell’s disappearance “sent fear and pandemonium not just through our city but the entire state and the nation as well.”

Still days later, many questions about the case remain — “but only Carlee can provide those answers,” Derzis said.

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