All about Carlee Russell, the Alabama woman reportedly abducted on the interstate.
Mystery Surrounds Alleged Abduction of Alabama Woman Who Stopped to Help Toddler
Mystery surrounds the alleged abduction of an Alabama woman who stopped on the side of the road to help a toddler — a child who police have been unable to verify even exists.
Carlee Russell, a 25-year-old nursing student from Hoover, Alabama, was reported missing for 49 hours after she disappeared. She placed a 911 call on July 13 to report that she saw a toddler wandering on the side of the highway. Officers arrived at the scene to find her car and her personal belongings — but not Russell.
Existence of Missing Child Questioned
Almost two days later, Russell appeared outside of her home after arriving in the neighborhood on foot. She was taken to a hospital and told detectives she was kidnapped by two people and held until she was able to escape.
Her reappearance has raised many questions for law enforcement, since investigators found muddling details regarding her internet searches and activity prior to her disappearance. Police have also been unable to find a report of a missing child.
Details of Russell’s Disappearance
Russell placed both a 911 call and a call to her sister-in-law to tell them that she spotted a toddler walking on the side of the interstate around 9:34 p.m.
Hoover Police Chief Nick Derzis said during a press conference on July 19 that Russell told investigators she got out of her vehicle to check on the child when a man came out of the trees.
“She claimed that the man then picked her up and she screamed,” he said.
Russell told police the man made her go over a fence and she was forced into a car occupied by at least two people.
“The next thing she remembers is being in the trailer of an 18-wheeler,” Derzis said. “She stated that the male was with a female, however, she never saw the female, only hearing her voice. She also told detectives she could hear a baby crying.”
Russell described her abductor as a man with orange hair and a bald spot. She said she was able to escape the 18-wheeler but eventually was caught and put into a car.
“She claimed she was blindfolded but was not tied up because the captors said they did not want to leave impressions on her wrists. She said that they took her into a house and made her get undressed. She believes they took pictures of her but does not remember them having any physical or sexual contact,” Derzis said.
Russell also claimed that the woman fed her cheese crackers and played with her hair after she woke up. She told investigators she was eventually able to escape after getting put back in the vehicle, running through the woods until she arrived near her home.
The Alabama nursing student arrived back at her house around 10:45 p.m. on July 15.
Investigation Findings and Remaining Questions
Police arrived on the scene minutes after Russell made her 911 call, but she had already disappeared, Derzis said.
Officers found Russell’s wig and cell phone in the grass near her car and her purse was in the front seat of her car. Food from a restaurant that she purchased before driving to her home in Hoover was located in the car.
Surveillance cameras indicated that, prior to leaving her work in Birmingham, Russell concealed items before she left, including a dark-colored bathrobe, a roll of toilet paper, and “other items belonging to the business,” Derzis said. Russell also stopped at Target after picking up restaurant food to purchase granola bars and Cheez-Its.
None of those items were found in her car when police arrived on the scene, the chief said.
Footage from Russell’s neighborhood obtained by police on July 18 shows her walking down the sidewalk alone before she got to her home.
Russell showed up at her family’s front door, Derzis said, but officers are not sure how she got there.
“She walked up, banged on the door and that was her,” he said.
Medics were dispatched to Russell’s home after a call came in for an “unresponsive but breathing person,” a term that the 911 dispatcher said was given to them by a caller.
“When first responders arrived on scene, they found Ms. Russell conscious and speaking and she was transported in that condition,” police said. “She was later treated and released from a local hospital.”
Investigators have been unable to find evidence that corroborates Russell’s claim that a toddler was on the side of the road, Derzis said. No other vehicles placed 911 calls related to the child and no missing person report has been filed for a toddler.
Police searched through Russell’s phone and found several internet searches that Derzis believes are “very relevant to this case.”
According to her internet history, Russell searched ”Do you have to pay for an Amber alert,” which is a message distributed to ask the community to be on the lookout for a missing or abducted child. She also searched “How to take money from a cash register without being caught,” bus tickets from Birmingham to Nashville with a departure date of July 13, the day she went missing, and the movie Taken.
Derzis said he believed the search for Taken, a film about abduction, was very strange.
The chief also said it was hard for him to understand how a child, who Russell described as 3 or 4 years old, could walk approximately 600 yards in bare feet without crying or going out into the road. Russell’s phone indicated she traveled 600 yards while she was placing the 911 call about the toddler.
“There are many questions left to be answered, but only Carlee can provide those answers,” the chief said. Russell has not given detectives a second interview.
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