OAN’s Brooke Mallory
3:02 PM – Thursday, July 20, 2023
Police now believe that Carlethia “Carlee” Nichole Russell, the 25-year-old Alabama nursing student who was reported missing on July 13th, is most likely a fraud who wasted investigators’ time.
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When she recently arrived back home on foot, the woman alerted authorities, claiming that she had been abducted after returning to her residence.
Russell also claimed that she was too traumatized to discuss the incident further, which her boyfriend believed and backed up.
However, Alabama officials announced on Wednesday that no proof of a crime had been uncovered and that the woman had some very questionable Google searches that were discovered through phone records.
Officials with the Hoover Police Department have discovered troubling facts involving Carlee Russell’s phone and work computer prior to her disappearance. Searches such as “What’s the maximum age of an Amber Alert?” and “the movie Taken” yielded these results. Officials have requested another interview with Russell, which has yet to be granted.
According to the family, they notified the authorities that Russell is now unable to converse due to her mental state.
Several major topics were raised at Carlee Russell’s news conference.
Despite Russell’s accusations of being abducted, the authorities have no proof that this case poses a threat to public safety.
Investigators have been unable to confirm the majority of Russell’s claims about being taken, according to Hoover Police Chief Nick Derzis. There were also searches for the Birmingham bus terminal and bus tickets from Birmingham to Nashville in her phone’s search history.
Russell went missing on Thursday night after dialing 9-1-1 to report seeing a child on an Alabama highway. Two days later, she returned home on foot, gaining national attention. Russell offered a brief statement to the police upon her return, but additional interrogation was not pursued “out of respect for her and her family.”
“We have requested a second interview with Carlee, but our request has not been granted,” stated Derzis. “There remain numerous unanswered questions, and only Carlee can provide the answers.”
Furthermore, the Hoover Police Department verified on Wednesday that there was also no proof of a toddler on the freeway or any other reports from onlookers who would have been driving in the same area at the same time. Despite the fact that many vehicles passed through the location on Thursday night, the agency received no other 911 reports about a child on Interstate 459.
Authorities also proved that Russell drove 600 yards in her car while talking on the phone with a dispatcher about the kid, which is comparable to around six football fields, according to Derzis. She alerted the dispatcher to the presence of a toddler wearing a diaper on the freeway.
Additionally, they proved that Russell took a pit stop at Target on U.S. 280 and bought granola bars and Cheez-its.
“It’s difficult for me to comprehend how a barefoot toddler, potentially 3 or 4 years old, could travel six football fields without entering the roadway or crying,” Derzis remarked.
The police heard audio from Russell’s 9-1-1 call on Wednesday, in which she said that she was following the youngster in her car. Russell told the dispatcher that she would keep an eye on the child until the police arrived.
According to the authorities, they developed a chronology of the entire incident along with other evidence, and it simply does not add up.
Russell’s police report stated that a White man came from the bushes and murmured that he was going to check on the child. She then told authorities that the man dragged her across a fence and into a car.
She claimed that the next thing she remembered was being in the trailer of a truck with the White man, who “had orange hair,” as well as a lady who was accompanying him. She also reported hearing a child cry.
According to her phony story, she attempted to flee at one point but was later apprehended and thrown in a car while blindfolded. She indicated that she was not physically restrained since her alleged kidnappers did not want any marks on her wrists.
Russell’s boyfriend, who originally came to her defense and who spoke to reporters while expressing his gratitude and joy for seeing his “found” girlfriend again, is now silent and staying away from any press attention. He has also recently deleted all social media pictures of her or the two of them together.
It is still unclear why Russell most likely lied about the whole incident, with many social media users online blaming a mental health crisis or drug activity.
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