In a press conference Wednesday, the Hoover, Alabama, Police Department revealed new details about the investigation into Carlee Russell’s disappearance.
Russell disappeared last Thursday night after calling 911 to report seeing a toddler walking alone on the side of the interstate, only to reappear at her family’s front door two days later.
Police reveal that Carlee Russell claims to have been abducted
At a press conference Wednesday, Hoover Police Chief Nicholas Derzis revealed that Russell gave an initial statement to detectives in which she claimed that she was abducted by a man and woman.
Russell told detectives that 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.”
“She claimed that the man then picked her up and she screamed,” Derzis said.
Russell then claims she was forced into an 18-wheeler, where she was blindfolded.
Russell told detectives that the two — a man with orange hair and a woman who she didn’t see due to being blindfolded — took her into a house, made her get undressed and took photos of her.
At some point, Russell said, she was put back into the vehicle and was able to escape and run through lots of woods until she came out near her residence. Police said she was found with a small injury to her lip and she said her head was hurting. Detectives also found $107 in cash in her right sock.
Derzis also stated that Russell made several internet searches leading up to her disappearance, including, “Do you have to pay for an amber alert or search?” “How to take money from a register without being caught?” and the movie “Taken.”
“There are many questions left to be answered, but only Carlee can provide those answers,” Derzis stated. “What we can say is that we have been unable to verify most of Carlee’s initial statement made to investigators. We have no reason to believe that there is a threat to the public safety related to this particular case.”
Derzis stated that they have asked to interview Russell another time but have not been granted that request.
Carlee Russell’s disappearance timeline
Russell called the police at 9:34 p.m. on Thursday, July 13, saying she was on I-459 South in Hoover, a suburb of Birmingham, when she pulled over to check on a toddler walking alone along the highway, according to a statement from the Hoover Police Department.
She then called a family member to report the same details.
According to Russell’s mother, Talitha Robinson-Russell, the family member stayed on the phone as Russell got out of the car and called out to the child. Over the phone, she heard what sounded like Russell screaming and dropping her phone, Robinson-Russell said, per The New York Times.
When officers arrived, they found her car “and some of her belongings nearby, but were unable to find her or a child in the area,” the statement from the Hoover police reads.
Police say they did not receive a call of anyone missing a child nor did anyone else report seeing a toddler along the highway that night.
Russell was missing for 49 hours before she knocked on her family’s front door, appearing to have returned home on foot.
She was then taken to the hospital for evaluation and released Sunday morning, Al.com reported.