It has been nearly a week since 25-year-old Carlethia "Carlee" Russell went missing in Alabama. She returned home two days after going missing, showing up at her family's home on foot, as Mom.com previously reported. The case sparked national attention, and now the Hoover Police Department is offering up more information.
Shortly before she was allegedly abducted, Russell called both 911 and her brother's girlfriend to alert them of a young child she saw on the side of the highway.
Police say that there is still no evidence of a child on the road at the time Russell called 911. According to NPR, police have no other reports of any additional drivers seeing the alleged child anywhere either.
During a press conference on Wednesday, the Hoover police said that Russell drove "600 yards in her vehicle while she was on the phone with 911 stating that she was following a child." They added that the distance is the equivalent of six football fields.
Despite the investigation being ongoing, police have released more information and details about her whereabouts.
"She stated when she got out of her vehicle to check on the child, a man came out of the trees and mumbled that he was checking on the baby," Hoover Police Chief Nicholas Derzis said during the press conference. "She claimed that the man then picked her up and she screamed."
"On July 13, at approximately 8:20 p.m., Carlee left work. Surveillance video shows Carlee concealed a dark color bathrobe and ordered food," Derzis added.
Reports state that she left work and went to a Target to buy some "snack food type items." They were not found in the car when police showed up, but her cellphone, wig, and purse were.
"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," a police statement read.
"On July 11, the term ‘do you have to pay for an Amber Alert’ was searched. The term ‘how to take money from a register without being caught’ was searched," Derzis said during the live press conference.
"The term ‘Birmingham bus station’ was searched. The term ‘for a one-way bus ticket from Birmingham to Nashville’ was searched. The term ‘for the movie Taken’ was conducted," officials continued.
Derzis added that "there were other searches on Carlee's phone that appeared to shed some light on her mindset," but declined to share additional details out of care for Russell's privacy.
The Hoover Police stated that they were able to speak to Russell "very briefly" when she returned home on Saturday, but they are still waiting for additional information from her.
Right now, they are trying to piece together what happened in the 49 hours that Russell was missing before she returned home. The police statement claims that they "obtained surveillance video from Carlee’s neighborhood which shows her walking down the sidewalk alone prior to her arrival at her residence" on Saturday.
According to the police, Russell isn't currently cooperating, which means it's likely making it harder for them to obtain the information they need. The investigation is still ongoing, and they will release more information as they can.
