There has been no evidence of a young child walking on the interstate where a nursing student in Alabama reported the sighting and then mysteriously disappeared last week, prompting a national search, police said.
Carlee Russell, 25, disappeared off the side of an interstate after calling 911 to report the boy, but police said Tuesday night there were no other reports or evidence to support that claim.
Authorities also confirmed that after leaving an area restaurant, Carlee stopped at a Target to get snacks before arriving at the scene of her disappearance.
Those items were not found anywhere in or around Carlee’s car.
Police also revealed that surveillance footage taken from her neighborhood shows Russell “walking down the sidewalk alone” before arriving at her home Saturday night.
New details have been released in the case of the disappearance of Carlee Russell. Her car, which was still running, was found on the side of an interstate, along with her phone and her wig.
The images also show the large number of officers and the public who helped search for the nursing student after her shocking disappearance.
Thomar Simmons and Carlee show up on a 4th of July trip to New York City, just a week before she went missing along the side of an interstate highway in Alabama. Thomar is Carlee’s boyfriend.
The latest details shed more light on what investigators have found in the captivating case, but have provided no answers as to what exactly happened or why Carlee disappeared.
Her parents continue to say that she was kidnapped, but the police have yet to back up those claims.
On Thursday, Carlee left work at The Summit in Birmingham and stopped to buy food at a restaurant in The Colonnade before taking I-495 back to her home in Hoover.
He called 911 at 9:34 p.m. and reported that he stopped on the interstate to check on a young child he saw in the area, police said.
Russell’s 911 call was the only report of a child on the interstate at the time, and there were no reports of a missing child in the area, police said.
After the call, his family said he was on the phone with his brother’s girlfriend, who did not hear a child but heard Carlee Russell’s screams. The line stayed open but Carlee stopped answering.
Within five minutes of being dispatched, Hoover police officers arrived and found Russell’s wig, cellphone and purse with his Apple Watch inside on the road near his vehicle.
At 10:44 p.m. Saturday, a 911 caller reported that Russell had walked back to his parents’ home.
Police dispatch audio revealed Russell was “unresponsive but breathing” after officials said he returned to his parents’ home. However, police later said it was information related to a dispatcher and when officers arrived, she was alert.
Russell was taken to a hospital for evaluation, treated and released. Detectives went to Russell’s home and the hospital to take his statement.
Her parents, Talitha and Carolos Russell (pictured), said they believe the toddler was used as “bait” to lure Russell from his car Thursday night.
Thomar Latrell Simmons (left), Carlee’s boyfriend, revealed that she was “fighting for her life for 48 hours” after going missing
Carlee returned home on foot Saturday night after being missing for 48 hours.
“The details of that statement are part of the ongoing investigation, which is expected to continue for the next few days,” police said in a statement Monday.
“During the early part of the investigation, detectives were able to trace almost all of Carlee’s steps up to the point of her disappearance and are confident that will continue to be the case.”
“We rejoice with the Russell family as they continue to rest and recover from this situation and ask that their wishes regarding their privacy be respected.”
However, Russell’s parents have insisted that a kidnapper was behind their daughter’s disappearance.
“Carlee has given her statement to detectives so they can continue to pursue her kidnapper,” Carlee Russell’s mother, Talitha Russell, said in an interview with the Today Show on Tuesday.
When asked if they believed a kidnapper was at large in the case, Talitha replied ‘absolutely, absolutely’, as Carlee’s father Carlos nodded in agreement.
In the new interview, Carlee’s parents said they were subjected to cruel taunts and false messages claiming to have information about their daughter while she was missing.
The Hoover Police Department partnered with many local, state and federal partners in the investigation.
The Colonnade restaurant where Russell picked up food before he disappeared last Thursday
“There were actually so many calls and texts from people maliciously lying to us,” Talitha Russell said. ‘I just didn’t know people could be so evil.’
The mother was emotional as she described the moment she was reunited with her daughter, saying the reunion was filled with “a lot of joy.”
“We tried to hug each other as best we could, but I had to back off because she wasn’t in good shape. So we had to step back and let the medical professionals work with her,” Talitha said.
In a social media post, Russell’s boyfriend, Thomar Latrell Simmons, claimed that she “fought for her life for 48 hours” while she was missing.
He said on Sunday afternoon that his girlfriend was not “physically or mentally stable” enough to discuss the whereabouts of her alleged kidnapper.
Simmons, who shared loving photos of the couple together, mentioned that he was falsely accused of being involved in her disappearance, but had “faith” that she would return.
The boyfriend, who went on a trip to New York City with Carlee last week, described his “nonstop” search for her and said he wouldn’t give up “until I see her face again.”
He wrote: ‘I don’t even know how to start this post, just say thank you to my lord and savior Jesus Christ for saving my girlfriend’s life!’
Meanwhile, a GoFundMe campaign supposedly set up to help Carlee “put her life back together” has been removed from the fundraising site.
It was unclear why the campaign was removed, although Carlee’s family has publicly said they did not wish to have any GoFundMe fundraisers for her, and the service has been known to remove fake campaigns that sought to cash in on high-profile events in the news.
Eerie footage of the moment Russell slowed down on the highway shows a shadowy figure adding to the mystery of the disappearance.
In the clip, his car is seen moving into the right lane. Later, the footage is illuminated with blue lights as police attend the scene where his empty car was found.
When officers arrived at the scene, they found Russell’s car, along with his cell phone, purse, wig, and Apple Watch in the nearby area, but Russell and the boy he claimed to have seen were nowhere to be seen.
Police are now using the footage to help analyze what happened.
‘We have watched the video. It’s not the best,” Hoover Police Chief Nick Derzis said. “It proves that Carlee’s car was there, and we know that when officers responded after the 911 call, she wasn’t there.”
