No proof of toddler on freeway when Carlee Russell mysteriously vanished: cops

Alabama police haven’t discovered any proof to again up the declare of a kid wandering alongside I-459 the night Carlethia “Carlee” Nichole Russell, 25, mysteriously vanished after she known as 911, in response to newly launched particulars.

“The Hoover Police Division has not situated any proof of a toddler strolling down the interstate, nor did we obtain any extra calls a few toddler strolling down the interstate, regardless of quite a few automobiles passing via that space as depicted by the site visitors digicam surveillance video,” the press release despatched out Tuesday evening.

The nursing scholar had left her job at Woodhouse Spa in The Summit, a shopping mall in Birmingham, Ala., at round 8:20 p.m. earlier than ordering meals at a close-by restaurant, selecting it up and heading down the highway to Goal.

After leaving Goal, Russell known as 911 dispatch to report the toddler on the interstate at 9:34 p.m. and later reiterated the declare to her sister-in-law, with police including she went lacking throughout her second telephone name round 9:36 p.m.

Law enforcement officials arrived on the scene 5 minutes after being dispatched and located Russell’s wig, cellular phone, and purse alongside the roadway, with an Apple watch situated contained in the bag.

Police mentioned Russell, 25, had bought snacks from a Goal on close by Freeway 280, however the objects weren’t discovered inside her automobile or beside her telephone and wig discovered on the scene of her disappearance.

Following Russell’s return home Saturday night, investigators obtained surveillance video from the neighborhood, which allegedly present her strolling down the sidewalk alone.

Police additionally launched data that went towards the telephone name somebody inside the home made after Russell returned residence because the preliminary name said she was unconscious however was up and speaking when emergency personnel arrived.

At 10:44 p.m. on Saturday, emergency dispatch acquired a name from Russell’s residence of an “unresponsive however respiration” particular person, however upon arrival on the residence, first responders discovered Russell acutely aware and talking and took her to UAB hospital for analysis.

Police say there are lots of objects nonetheless being checked out that would assist in figuring out what occurred whereas Russell was lacking.

“Quite a few evidentiary objects are nonetheless being evaluated, and people objects are key within the technique of figuring out precisely what happened within the roughly 49 hours Carlee was lacking, but additionally what happened previous to her disappearance,” police mentioned.

Police couldn’t establish if anybody was with Russell within the moments main as much as her disappearance.

Members of Russell’s household have claimed the kid was used as “bait” by human traffickers to get her out of the car and kidnap her.

Specialists have contradicted these claims saying there isn’t any proof of traffickers using a child as bait to lure women.

“So far as we’re conscious, this isn’t a tactic that traffickers use,” Sabrina Thulander a spokesperson for Polaris, the group that runs the Nationwide Human Trafficking Hotline.

Police have but to conduct a full interview with Russell, saying they’re “ready for her to be made out there to acquire a extra detailed assertion concerning the sequence of occasions throughout that timeframe.”

The division says it plans to launch extra data at a press convention scheduled for two:30 p.m. native time on Wednesday.