Police say they have been “unable to verify” most of the statement of a young woman who went missing while reporting a toddler walking along a highway, and they have “no reason to believe that there is a threat to public safety.”
Carlethia “Carlee” Russell, 25, vanished for 49 hours beginning on July 13 after calling 911 and a family member to report a child walking alone along I-459 in Hoover, Alabama. While on the phone with her family member, police said she screamed and was no longer responding. The family member called police, who arrived on the scene to find her car and her wig, cell phone and purse nearby, as well as an Apple Watch.
In a press conference on Wednesday, July 19, Hoover Chief of Police Nick Derzis said Russell told them after she reappeared that while she had been checking on the child, a "man came out of the trees and mumbled that he was checking on the baby."
"She claimed that the man then picked her up and she screamed," Derzis recounted. He said Russell told investigators she was taken by the man, who was white with orange hair and a bald spot in the back, to an 18-wheeler. She said a woman, whom she never saw, was also present. After making an initial escape, Russell said she was re-captured and blindfolded, then taken to a house where she was told to undress. Russell told police that she didn't recall having any "physical or sexual contact" but did believe they took photos of her. The next morning, she said she was fed cheese crackers, then put in a car where she escaped and ran home.
In Wednesday's press conference, however, Derzis said that authorities haven't been able to confirm details of her story, and that no other phone calls were placed that night to report a child walking along the highway — nor had there been any reports of a missing child.
While recapping the investigation thus far on Wednesday, Derzis said it appeared that Russell was seen on security cameras leaving her place of employment earlier on July 13 with a bathrobe, a roll of toilet paper and "other items belonging to the business."
He also said that data from Russell's phone showed she traveled six football fields while on the phone with the 911 operator while allegedly following the walking toddler.
"I’m not saying it couldn’t happen," Derzis said. "But six football fields ... to think that a toddler, barefoot that could be 3 or 4 years old, he's going to travel six football fields without getting in the roadway, without crying ... It's very it's just very hard for me to understand."
Derzis also said Wednesday that Russell's cell phone data has been recovered, and in the days leading up to her disappearance, she researched several topics “relative to this case”:
July 11 at 7:30 a.m. — She searched “Do you have to pay for an Amber Alert?”
July 13, 1:03 a.m. — She searched “How to take money from a register without being caught?”
July 13, 2:13 a.m. — She searched “Birmingham bus station” for “a one-way bus ticket from Birmingham to Nashville with a departure date of July 13.”
July 13 at 12:10 p.m. — She searched for the film “Taken.”
Derzis said Russell had also searched for information about Amber Alerts on her computer at work.
“There were other searches on Carlee’s phone that appeared to shed some light on her mindset, but out of respect to her privacy, we will not be releasing the content of those searches at this time,” Derzis said.
It's not clear where Russell was for the 49 hours she was unaccounted for, but she returned home on foot at 10:44 p.m. CT on July 15, officials reported.
In an interview with TODAY that aired on July 18, her mother, Taliltha Russell, said her daughter was "a fighter" who had made it home to them.
"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," she said. "She made it back."
Derzis added that he'd spoken to Russell's parents ahead of Wednesday's press conference and they "believe in what their daughter's saying."
He said the investigators had a good rapport with the senior Russells, but police were under pressure from the community to share the information that they have.
Derzis said investigators are hoping to speak with Russell again, but added that they "have not been granted that request."
NBC News reached out to Russell's family following Wednesday's press conference, but they declined to comment.
