An Alabama woman who vanished after calling 911 to report a child walking along an interstate last week reappeared at her home two days later and told investigators a detailed story about being captured and held by a man, but police said Wednesday they were still unable to verify much of her story.
“We have no reason to believe that there is a threat to public safety related to this particular case,” said Nick Derzis, chief of police in Hoover, Alabama, the city of over 90,000 residents just outside of Birmingham where Carlethia “Carlee” Russell disappeared.
Derzis stopped short of accusing Russell of lying about her account, but said investigators couldn’t confirm many things she told them and that many questions were still not answered.
“We want to know the truth,” he said.
Derzis said at a news conference Wednesday afternoon that other than a brief initial interview with police after she returned Saturday night, Russell has not agreed to answer police questions. Police are still hoping to talk to her further, Derzis said.
Russell made a number of internet searches on her phone and computer at work that are “very relevant” to her disappearance, Derzis said, including a movie about an abduction and questions about Amber Alerts.
Here’s what we know:
What happened to Carlee Russell?
Russell was driving home to Hoover from her job in Birmingham on Interstate 459 on Thursday when she called 911 to report she spotted a toddler in a diaper walking on the side of the interstate.
Police played the audio from that 911 call during a press briefing Wednesday afternoon. In it, Russell told a dispatcher the child was white, wearing no shoes and had on what looked like a white T-shirt and a diaper. She said she had pulled over but was staying in her car while keeping her eye on the child.
“There is a kid that is walking by theirself,” Russell said.
According to an analysis of her cellphone data, Russell traveled about 600 yards in her car at the same time she was on the phone with 911, Derzis said.
“I’m not saying it couldn’t happen,” Derzis said Wednesday. “To think that a toddler, barefoot, that could be 3 or 4 years old is going to travel six football fields without getting in the roadway, without crying… it’s just very hard for me to understand.”
Police said after hanging up with 911, Russell called her brother’s girlfriend.
Russell’s mother recounted that call this way:
“My son’s girlfriend heard her asking the child, ‘Are you OK?’ She never heard the child say anything but then she heard our daughter scream,’’ Talitha Russell, Russell’s mother, told AL.com. “From there, all you hear on her phone is background noise from the interstate.”
Police have said they arrived on the scene within five minutes from Russell’s call and found her car and some personal belongings on the road near it, but no sign of either Russell or a child.
Police also added in a news release Tuesday night that Russell had stopped at Target on her way and purchased some “snack food type items,” which were not found in or around her car. She also had items with her from her work, including a dark-colored bathrobe and a roll of toilet paper, Derzis said Wednesday. Those were also not found at the scene.
Where was Russell after she disappeared?
A search that drew national attention unfolded until Russell returned home about 48 hours later.
On Saturday at about 10:45 p.m., Russell arrived at her home on foot and knocked on the door, police said. In their news release late Tuesday, Hoover police said surveillance footage showed Russell “walking down the sidewalk alone prior to her arrival at her residence.”
“Numerous evidentiary items are still being evaluated, and those items are key in the process of determining exactly what took place in the approximately 49 hours Carlee was missing, but also what took place prior to her disappearance,” police said Tuesday.
Russell told police she was kidnapped
When she returned, Russell told police that while she had gotten out of her car, a man appeared out of the woods and told her he was checking on the child, according to Derzis. The man then picked her up and she screamed, Derzis said she told officers.
Russell said the man “made her go over a fence” and forced her into a car. The man orange hair and a bald spot on the back of his head, she told police.
“The next thing she remembers is being in the trailer of an 18-wheeler,” Derzis said.
Russell told investigators she heard both a male and female voice, as well as a baby crying. She said she escaped and was recaptured, blindfolded but not tied up, taken to a house, and fed crackers. Eventually, she told police she “did not remember anything else” until being put back in a vehicle and being able to escape.
She told police she ran through woods until she came out near her home, Derzis said.
Investigators didn’t initially press her for more details “out of respect for Carlee and her family,” and planned to speak with her after she had time to rest, but haven’t been able to do so.
Meanwhile, Russell’s family members have maintained they believe she was abducted. Her mother told NBC’s “Today” show that she believes her daughter “fought for her life.”
“Carlee has given detectives her statement so that they can continue to pursue her abductor,” Talitha Russell said in an interview that aired Tuesday. “There were moments when she physically had to fight for her life and there were moments when she had to mentally fight for her life.”
Derzis said he thought Russell’s family believed the account she gave.
“As you can see, there are many questions left to be answered, but only Carlee can provide those answers. What we can say is we’ve been unable to verify most of Carlee’s initial statement made to investigators,” he said.
Was Russell hurt?
When police arrived at Russell’s home Saturday night, they found her conscious and responsive, despite reports of a dispatcher relaying information that a person was unresponsive.
When she returned, police noted she had a small injury to her lip, was complaining of head pain and was also carrying over $100 in cash in one of her socks, Derzis said Wednesday.
She was taken to a local hospital but later released, police said.
What did Russell search on the internet?
Derzis said Russell made a number of internet searches that he believes are relevant in the days leading up to her disappearance last Thursday.
- July 11 at 7:30 a.m.: “Do you have to pay for an Amber Alert?”
- July 13 at 1:03 a.m.: “How to take money from a register without being caught?”
- July 13 at 2:13 a.m.: “Birmingham bus station”
- July 13 at 2:35 a.m.: A search for a one-way bus ticket from Birmingham to Nashville departing July 13
- July 13 at 12:10 p.m.: A search for the movie “Taken”
- A few searches were made about Amber Alerts were made on the computer at Russell’s work, including one about the maximum age for an Amber Alert.
Derzis said police wouldn’t release information about additional searches “that appeared to shed some light on her mindset” out of respect for her privacy.
What happened to the child Russell claimed to see on the interstate?
Police said they have not uncovered evidence of a child on the highway. Russell’s 911 call is still the only report of a child walking on the side of the interstate,
“The Hoover Police Department has not located any evidence of a toddler walking down the interstate, nor did we receive any additional calls about a toddler walking down the interstate, despite numerous vehicles passing through that area as depicted by the traffic camera surveillance video,” police said Tuesday night.
Police chief expresses frustration at lack of answers
Derzis said police are now focused on figuring out what happened during the time Russell was missing. He said he is very happy that Russell returned home safely, and vowed the police department would find out the truth.
“It’s just a lot of work,” Derzin said. “It is a little frustrating to think that all this has been done and we can’t find anything.”
CARLEE RUSSELL TIMELINE:Police detail Alabama’s movements before she went missing
