Many questions remain unanswered in the case of the Alabama woman who re-emerged two days after disappearing from the side of a busy highway, as police revealed Monday that she returned home “on foot.”
Authorities have released scant new details on the investigation into Carlethia “Carlee” Nichole Russell, a 25-year-old nursing student who vanished after she told police she saw a baby boy “on the side of I-459” in Hoover, Alabama at around 9:35 p.m. Thursday.
She re-emerged at her home just over 48 hours later around 10:45 p.m. Saturday and her family called 911 to say “she had returned home on foot.”
Previous reports indicated Russell was dropped off at the home and “appeared to be in shock.”
Hoover police and fire department officers rushed to the home and transported Russell to a local hospital before she was treated and released.
Investigators also took a statement from Russell, and said the statement is “part of the ongoing investigation which is expected to continue over the next few days.”
Police have not since released any new information, including about a suspect, Russell’s injuries or how she made her way back home.
But Russell’s family and her spouse have been vocal, not only about their delight at the young student’s return, but also about the conditions of her disappearance and her time away from home.
“She was literally fighting for her life for 48 hours, so until she’s physically & mentally stable again she is not able to give any updates or whereabouts on her kidnapper at this very moment,” Thomas Latrell Simmons, who identified as Russell’s boyfriend, posted on Facebook Sunday.
Simmons also thanked those who helped search for Russell and called out people who accused him of being involved.
Talitha Robinson-Russell, Carlee’s mother, told WVTM-TV she believed the young boy who Carlee saw on the side of the road was used as “bait” to lure an unsuspecting passerby, such as Russell, from their vehicle.
The Hoover 911 Center received a called Thursday night from a woman, later determined to be Russell, who said she was near mile-marker 11 and “saw a toddler walking on the side of the interstate.”
The boy was wearing a diaper, and Russell had estimated him to be around 3 to 4 years old, police said.
Russell said she was had just gotten food after leaving her job at the time.
Russell then hung up with police and called her brother’s girlfriend as she pulled over to check on the child, police said. But things then went awry.
“My son’s girlfriend heard her asking the child, ‘Are you Ok? She never heard the child say anything but then she heard our daughter scream,’’’ Talitha Russell told AL.com.
“From there all you hear on her phone is background noise from the interstate.”
Police who arrived on scene saw no sign of Russell the young boy, but found her car door open and her belongings still inside.
“The engine was running, and they found her phone on the ground, along with her wig and her hat,’’ Talitha Russell told the site. “Her purse was still in the car. Her Apple watch was in her purse and her Air Pods as well.”
A witness reported seeing a grey vehicle near the scene, and a “light-complexioned male” standing around Russell’s car, Hoover Police Lt. Daniel Lowe told reporters.
Police also said no one other than Russell reported a young child walking along the interstate.
In the days since she first disappeared, police “were able to retrace nearly all of Carlee’s steps until the point she went missing.”
But they have not located a single person who was with Russell from when she left the restaurant to the point she called police.
Investigators are still analyzing traffic camera footage and the 911 call from the time of her disappearance.
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