Carlee Russell’s case continued to make national headlines as police shared new details on Wednesday, July 19, on the disappearance of a 25-year-old nursing student who turned up at her parent’s home after missing for 48 hours last week. Shortly before Russell disappeared, she called 911 to report a toddler walking alone on the side of the highway.
Police have now revealed new details in the case, negating claims of a wandering toddler and subsequent abduction in connection to Carlee Russell's 48-hour disappearance. Prior to Wednesday’s conference Hoover police, in a press release on Tuesday, said that they have not found any evidence to back up the claim of a toddler wandering along I-459, where the nursing student mysteriously vanished after she called 911 on July 13.
In the press conference on Wednesday afternoon Hoover Police Chief Nick Derzis said that they have been unable to verify Russell’s account of circumstances surrounding her disappearance. Instead, police reportedly uncovered details that were deemed suspicious in nature.
Derzis revealed that on Thursday, July 13, Russell left her job at Woodhouse Spa in The Summit, a shopping center in Birmingham, Alabama. She stole a dark-colored bathrobe, toilet paper, and “other items belonging to the business,” from her workplace before vanishing from the highway. The items were not found in the car found abandoned on the side of the road.
A complete timeline leading to Carlee Russell's disappearance on July 13
On Wednesday, Hoover Police Chief Nick Derzis revealed a slew of evidence that countered Carlee Russell’s claims on the events leading to her disappearance. Russell’s family believes that the 25-year-old was abducted and told CNN she had provided a statement to the police and hoped they were pursuing her abductors.
However, Hoover Police Chief Nick Derzis said that they have not found evidence that corroborated the involvement of an abductor, noting they do not believe the community is in any threat.
Derzis, while fleshing out the timeline of the events leading to Carlee Russell’s disappearance, said that Russell, who left work at 8:30 pm before ordering food from Taziki’s restaurant at The Colonnade, headed down to Target after picking up her food.
At Target on Highway 280, Russell purchased snacks, including “some Granola bars and Cheez-Its,” and remained in the parking lot until 9:21 pm before she drove to I-459.
Shortly after, Russell allegedly communicated with “persons known to her” before calling 911 to report a toddler walking on the side of I-459 at 9:34 p.m. Derzis, citing cell phone records, revealed that Russell, who reportedly told the dispatcher that she is going to check on the child, instead drove 600 yards (6 football fields) while on the phone with 911.
Russell, who also told the dispatcher there were no cars in the area, appeared to have fabricated the statement as surveillance footage from the highway showed multiple vehicles driving past her car when she alleged to have seen the wandering toddler.
Responding officers who arrived at the seven five minutes after Russell called 911 found her car abandoned on the side of the road. They also found the food from the restaurant, a wig, a purse, and a cell phone on the ground near the car. However, police were unable to find the snacks from Target and the items stolen from her workplace.
Carlee Russell claims a white man with orange hair and a bald spot abducted her on July 13
Derzis revealed that law enforcement was able to conduct only one interview with Russell after she returned home on Saturday night. During the interview, Carlee Russell reportedly said she was assisting the toddler on the side of Interstate 459 when a white man emerged from the woods and mumbled that he was checking on the child.
The man, described as a white male with orange hair and bald spots, allegedly grabbed and carried her through the woods before forcing her into a car. Carlee Russell, who supposedly lost consciousness, remembered being in the trailer of an 18-wheeler.
Russell said that she escaped her abductor only to be captured and taken to a house where she was instructed to undress before they took pictures of her and a woman “played with her hair.”
Russell said that she finally managed to escape the house and emerged through the woods near her parent’s home. The details behind the escape attempt remained nebulous.
Carlee Russell, who turned up at her parent's home on Saturday night in a disheveled state, had a small cut on her lip and her shirt was torn. The 25-year-old also had $107 cash hidden in her right sock. Derzis, who said that they have yet to conduct another interview with Russell, added:
“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 statements made to investigators. And we have no reason to believe there is a threat to public safety related to this particular case.”Carlee Russell's Google search history explored
In addition to police not finding any evidence of abductors in the case, Carlee Russell’s search history prior to her disappearance was deemed suspicious. Derzis said Russell made multiple Google searches for the terms:
“How to take money from a register without being caught,” “Do you have to pay for an Amber Alert?,” “Birmingham Bus station, “ “one-way bus ticket from Birmingham to Nashville,” and “the maximum age of an Amber Alert.”Carlee Russell then allegedly searched for the movie Taken — a film about an abduction.
In light of the revelations, Russell’s family remained resolute that the nursing student was indeed abducted. In an interview with TODAY, Russell's parents said that their daughter fought for her life for two days before she turned up at their doorstep on Saturday, July 15.
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