Carlee Russell

SAFE

On 7/13/2023 at approximately 9:34 PM the Hoover 911 Center received a call from a 25-year-old female on I-459 South near mile marker 11 who reported she saw a toddler walking on the side of the interstate. After calling 911 the caller stopped to check on the child and called a family member to report the same details.  The family member lost contact with her, but the line remained open.  Officers who were already en route to the location of the initial 911 call located the female’s vehicle and some of her belongings nearby, but were unable to find her or a child in the area.  Hoover Police have not received any other calls of someone missing a small child.

    Detectives are currently investigating this incident and are requesting the public’s assistance to help locate Carlethia “Carlee” Nichole Russell, a 25-year-old black female who is 5’4, 150-160 lbs.  She was last seen wearing a black shirt, black pants and white Nike shoes.  Carlee got off work last night at around 8:20 PM from a business at The Summit in Birmingham and is believed to have stopped to pick up food from a business at The Colonnade before traveling toward Hoover on I-459 where she stopped near mile marker 11 between the Galleria flyover and Exit 10 for Highway 150.  A single witness reported possibly seeing a gray vehicle with a light complected male standing outside of Carlee’s vehicle.  We have no further information about that individual or vehicle at this time. Source

No piece of information is too small in this investigation. If you have any information please contact

Detective Brad Fountain at 205-444-7562, Sergeant Drew Mims at 205-739-7274, or Crimestoppers of Metro Alabama at 205-254-7777 if you wish to remain anonymous.

An anonymous donor has offered $20,000 for the safe return of Carlee, and Crimestoppers is offering an additional $5,000. The Hoover Police Department is currently partnering with many of our local, state and federal partners in this investigation and we are grateful for the outpouring of support from the local and law enforcement community. We will continue to provide periodic updates as we have them and will utilize our Twitter account, @HooverPD, to relay any immediate information to the public. We would also ask our community to keep the Russell family in your thoughts and prayers during this difficult time.

Timeline

• Russell left work from a business at The Summit in Birmingham at approximately 8:20 PM.Police said video surveillance showed Russell took a bathrobe and a roll of toilet paper from her workplace, concealing it before leaving.
• She ordered food from a nearby business at The Colonnade and traveled there. It appears she was alone during this time and investigators have no evidence that she was being followed.
• Russell went to Target, the police department said she went to Target on Highway 280 after leaving her job and purchased some snack food items.
• She remained in that parking lot until 9:21 p.m. before driving to Interstate 459 where she later made a call to 911. Police said these items were not located inside her abandoned vehicle or with her cell phone and wig at the scene of her disappearance on I-459 in Hoover.
• Russell communicated on her cell phone with individuals known to her while on her path of travel up to the point of calling 911 at 9:34 PM. The conversation with the 911 operator ended and Carlee called a relative.
• She went missing during that conversation sometime after 9:36 PM after telling both the 911 operator and the relative she had seen a male toddler in a diaper on the side of I-459 and was stopping to check on him.
• Traffic camera footage was obtained which depicted this portion of the incident, and that footage is still being analyzed as part of the investigation in conjunction with the 911 call to accurately determine the timeframe.
• Russell’s 911 call remains the only timely report of a child on the interstate and no one has called to report that a child is missing.
• Hoover Police officers arrived on scene within five minutes of being dispatched, and several other officers arrived shortly behind.
• They located Carlee’s wig, cell phone and purse on the roadway near her vehicle, and Russell’s Apple Watch was in her purse. Hoover Police detectives, along with investigators from other local and federal agencies began pursuing possible leads and collecting evidence throughout the day Friday and Saturday.
• July 15 parents received a call from Carlee stating she is in Red Roof, parents were unable to find her in the hotel.
• 10:45 Carlee returned home on foot. The police department said it has also obtained surveillance footage from the night Russell returned to her parents' home. Police said the footage is from Russell's neighborhood and shows her walking down the sidewalk alone prior to her arrival at her residence.
• July 16 After she returned home, police conducting an initial interview with Russell. She told detectives she saw a baby walking down the road when a man came out of the trees saying he was checking on baby. Russell claimed the man then picked her up. She said she remembers screaming before being put into an 18-wheeler. Russell did not remember much about the man but claimed he had orange hair with a big bald spot. Police said Russell told them she then escaped the 18-wheeler, but was caught again and put into a car. The next day, she was fed crackers by a woman and put into another car which she escaped again in the west Hoover area. Police said Russell had a small injury to her lip and her head was hurting. Detectives also found $107 cash in her right sock.
• July 19, press conference: The US Secret Service was asked to assist in the investigation and they analyzed internet search results from the areas Russell was between July 11 and July 13 before her reported disappearance. Police said those searches included the following terms:
  • Do you have to pay for an amber alert
  • How to take money from a register without being caught
  • Birmingham bus station
  • One way bus ticket from Birmingham to Nashville
  • The movie "Taken"
  • Maximum age of an amber alert

Police said they have asked to interview Russell again but have not been granted. They have not been able to confirm the information from Russell's initial interview. "There is no reason to believe there is a threat to public safety," Derzis said.

Derzis took questions at the end of Wednesday's press conference. He said Russell's toxicology report was not suspicious and there is currently no indication of a mental illness. Police have still not determined if any crime was committed in this incident.

Hoover PD said it has spoken to Russell once since she returned home and are following up on the information it was provide with. The police department said it is not able to publicly share the details from the initial interview, but plan to follow up with Russell again to attempt to get a better understanding of what happened.

Traffic Camera Timeline

Video

• 09:31:34  Idle of the camera on the shoulder
• 09:34:44 starts moving on the shoulder
• 9:34 Called 911
• 9:35:26 Pulls in to complete stop
• 9:36 Calls Her Sister in Law
• 9:39:21 Police showed up

July 19, 2023 Statement by Hoover (AL) Police Department 1

Hoover PD cannot confirm Carlee Russell's claims, provide details on days leading up to reported disappearance

BREAKING: Hoover (AL) Police Department says Carlee Russell searched for the movie 'Taken', details about Amber Alert, and bus tickets to Nashville leading up to her disappearance.

Carlee also concealed a bathrobe and toilet paper while leaving her job at The Summit the night of her disappearance.

Carlee told investigators in her initial statement she was kidnapped by a man and woman who forced her into a vehicle, forced her to undress, fed her crackers and took pictures of her naked. She claims she managed to escape capture and walked home.

Police Chief Nick Derzis says they have requested a second interview with Carlee but the family has declined citing Carlee's mental trauma. https://bit.ly/3pVC46Y

Update July 19, 2023 Statement by Hoover (AL) Police Department 1

The investigation into the Carlee Russell case continues as detectives are working to determine what happened from the time prior to her 911 call Thursday night until she returned home on foot Saturday night. Detectives spoke to Carlee very briefly upon her return home and are waiting for her to be made available to obtain a more detailed statement about the sequence of events during that time frame. While we are not in a position to reveal all of the information we have gathered at this point, we can talk about some details that we have not previously discussed.

- After leaving The Colonnade, Carlee went to Target on Highway 280 and purchased some snack food type items. These items were not located in the vehicle or with her cell phone and wig at the scene of her disappearance.

- The Hoover Police Department has not located any evidence of a toddler walking down the interstate, nor did we receive any additional calls about a toddler walking down the interstate, despite numerous vehicles passing through that area as depicted by the traffic camera surveillance video.

- Detectives have obtained surveillance video from Carlee’s neighborhood which shows her walking down the sidewalk alone prior to her arrival at her residence. Fire department radio traffic obtained by several media outlets shows that medics were dispatched to her residence on an “unresponsive but breathing” person. That was the term used in the initial dispatch of the Hoover Fire Department to the residence, and the information about her condition was simply a dispatcher relaying information from what a 911 caller told the emergency communicator. When first responders arrived on scene, they found Ms. Russell conscious and speaking and she was transported in that condition. She was later treated and released from a local hospital.

- Numerous evidentiary items are still being evaluated, and those items are key in the process of determining exactly what took place in the approximately 49 hours Carlee was missing, but also what took place prior to her disappearance.

This release contains all of the information the Hoover Police Department is able to provide at this time. We understand that there are numerous rumors and misinformation making the rounds in both social media and traditional media. While we understand the public interest in this incident, we must maintain the integrity of the case, thus we are limited in what information or statements we can release or confirm at this time. The Hoover Police Department will hold a press conference tomorrow, at which time we will be able to release additional information. The press conference will take place at the Frank and Pam Barefield Training Center, located at 850 Municipal Drive Hoover, AL at 2:30 P.M. central time.

Police will hold a press conference Wednesday at 2:30 p.m. to further update the Carlee Russell case

July 18, 2023 Update

BREAKING UPDATE: Hoover (AL) Police Department just released new details, says there is no evidence of a toddler walking down the interstate, surveillance video from Carlee's neighborhood shows her walking home alone night she reappeared. 1

The police department said it has also obtained surveillance footage from the night Russell returned to her parents' home.

Police said the footage is from Russell's neighborhood and shows her walking down the sidewalk alone prior to her arrival at her residence. Fire department radio traffic obtained by several media outlets shows that medics were dispatched to her residence on an “unresponsive but breathing” person.

That was the term used in the initial dispatch of the Hoover Fire Department to the residence, and the information about her condition was simply a dispatcher relaying information from what a 911 caller told the emergency communicator. When first responders arrived on scene, police said they found Russell conscious and speaking and she was transported in that condition. She was later treated and released from a local hospital.

The investigation into the Carlee Russell case continues as detectives are working to determine what happened from the time prior to her 911 call Thursday night until she returned home on foot Saturday night. Detectives spoke to Carlee very briefly upon her return home and are waiting for her to be made available to obtain a more detailed statement about the sequence of events during that time frame. While we are not in a position to reveal all of the information we have gathered at this point, we can talk about some details that we have not previously discussed.

July 16, 2023 Statement by Hoover (AL) Police Department

Latest Update

CARLEE RUSSELL LOCATED

Missing person Carlee Russell has been located. At 10:45 P.M., the Hoover 911 center received a call that Carlee returned home to her residence. Police responded to the scene to investigate this latest development in the case. Hoover Fire medics responded to the scene to assess Carlee and transported her to a local hospital for evaluation. Additional information will be provided when it becomes available.

July 16, 2023 Earlier Update

The Hoover Police Department is releasing additional information on the safe return of Carlee Russell. Since the time of the 911 call at 9:34 PM on July 13, 2023 the Hoover Police Department has expended every available resource into locating Carlee, and we celebrate with the Russell family on her safe return at approximately 10:44 PM on July 15th. The following information are facts we have been able to determine at this point in the investigation. We are still gathering and evaluating evidence in this case.

Carlee left work from a business at The Summit in Birmingham at approximately 8:20 PM. She ordered food from a nearby business at The Colonnade and traveled there. We have worked to retrace all of her actions from the time she left The Colonnade until she called 911 and are well on our way to completing that task. At this point in the investigation, we have not been able to locate anyone with Carlee from the time she left The Colonnade until the 911 call was made.

Carlee communicated on her cell phone with individuals known to her while on her path of travel up to the point of calling 911 at 9:34 PM. The conversation with the 911 operator ended and Carlee called a relative. She went missing during that conversation sometime after 9:36 PM after telling both the 911 operator and the relative she had seen a male toddler in a diaper on the side of I-459 and was stopping to check on him. Traffic camera footage was obtained which depicted this portion of the incident, and that footage is still being analyzed as part of the investigation in conjunction with the 911 call to accurately determine the timeframe. Carlee’s 911 call remains the only timely report of a child on the interstate.

Hoover Police officers arrived on scene within five minutes of being dispatched, and several other officers arrived shortly behind. They located Carlee’s wig, cell phone and purse on the roadway near her vehicle, and Carlee’s Apple Watch was in her purse. Investigators with the Crimes Against Persons Unit were notified and the investigation immediately began in earnest with numerous leads being followed. Many local, state, and federal agencies immediately offered assistance and provided personnel and other resources to the investigation. No stone was left unturned and the investigation continued throughout the weekend.

At 10:44 PM on July 15th, the Hoover 911 center received a call from Carlee’s residence that she had returned home on foot. Hoover Police and Fire responded to the residence where Carlee was located. She was immediately transported by the Hoover Fire Department to UAB Hospital to be evaluated and was treated and released. Detectives responded to the residence and to UAB to take an initial statement from Carlee. The details of that statement are a part of the ongoing investigation which is expected to continue over the next few days. During the initial portion of the investigation detectives were able to retrace nearly all of Carlee’s steps until the point she went missing and are confident that will continue to be the case.

The Hoover Police Department continues to be extremely grateful for the outpouring of support from the Hoover community and beyond, and all of the assistance provided by our law enforcement partners which are too numerous to name. We rejoice with the Russell family as they continue to rest and recover from this situation and ask for their wishes to be respected regarding their privacy. This release contains all the information the Hoover Police Department is able to release at this time. As we continue to investigate we will release information that is determined to be factual and pertinent to the public. When a press conference is scheduled we will provide advance notice of the date, time and location.

July 15, 2023 Statement by Hoover (AL) Police Department

CARLEE RUSSELL LOCATED

Missing person Carlee Russell has been located. At 10:45 P.M., the Hoover 911 center received a call that Carlee returned home to her residence. Police responded to the scene to investigate this latest development in the case. Hoover Fire medics responded to the scene to assess Carlee and transported her to a local hospital for evaluation. Additional information will be provided when it becomes available.

Missing person Carlee Russell press conference: July 14, 2023

Update July 15, 2023 11:30 pm

Original Timeline of Disappearance

The search began Thursday night when Hoover 911 at 9:34 p.m. received a call from Russell, said Lt. Daniel Lowe.

Russell told the dispatcher that she was near mile marker 11 when she saw a toddler walking alone on the side of I-459 between the flyover to the Galleria and Highway 150.

After calling 911, Russell stopped to check on the child and called a family member to report the same details, Lowe said. The family member lost contact with her, but the line remained open.

Officers who were already en route to the location of the initial 911 call located Russell’s vehicle and some of her belongings nearby but were unable to find her or a child in the area.

Hoover police have not received any other calls of someone missing a small child.

Talitha Russell said her daughter left The Woodhouse Day Spa at the Summit, where she works part time, and stopped by Taziki’s at the Colonnade at 9 p.m. to pick up food for herself and her mother.

Talitha Russell talked to her daughter at 9:19 p.m. as she was leaving Taziki’s and heading to the Hoover home she shared with her parents.

At 9:36 p.m., Talitha Russell said, her daughter was on the phone with her brother’s girlfriend when she was pulling over on the side of the interstate after saying she saw a child alone that appeared to be 3 or 4 years old.

“She called 911 when she pulled over,’’ Talitha Russell said. “She got out of the car. I think she probably let her guard down thinking 911 would be there in a second.”

“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 said. “From there all you hear on her phone is background noise from the interstate.”

A Hoover police officer dispatched Carlee Russell’s report of a child alone on I-459 arrived within three minutes, Talitha Russell said.

“Her car door was open, the engine was running, and they found her phone on the ground, along with her wig and her hat,’’ Talitha Russell said. “Her purse was still in the car. Her Apple watch was in her purse and her Air Pods as well.”

Talitha Russell said a tip was called in from a trucker who was traveling along I-459 at the time of Carlee Russell’s disappearance.

“He saw her red car with the door open and he saw a grey car with a tall brown skinned man with khaki shorts on leaning over in the car,’’ Talitha Russell said.

“The police did find some tire tracks in the grass,’’ she said. “They said because it was not a muddy area, they were not able to determine what type of vehicle it could have been.”

Carlee Russell attends Jeff State where she is studying to become a registered nurse. She has a bachelor’s degree in psychology from AUM.

Talitha said it’s heartbreaking that her daughter disappeared just minutes from the family home.

“She was so close,’’ she said through tears.

Russell is a Black female, 5-feet, 4-inches tall and weighs between 150 and 160 pounds. She was last seen wearing a black shirt, black pants, and white Nike shoes.

Search

Russell’s parents, Talitha and Carlos Russell, have been with family and friends throughout the day Friday searching the area where their daughter was last seen.

Helping them is Angela Harris, Aniah Blanchard’s mom, who is on the scene aiding the search.

Blanchard, a 19-year-old Southern Union Community College student from Homewood, vanished in 2019. More than a month would pass before she would be found dead from multiple gunshot wounds in Macon County.

We’re maintaining a very close contact with them in that process,’’ Lowe said of Russell’s family.

Russell is too old to be the subject of an Amber Alert, but her family is questioning why no Ashanti Alert was issued in this case.

An Ashanti Alert deals with critical missing adult cases and became a law in 2018.

It is named in honor of Ashanti Billie, a 19-year-old woman who was abducted and killed in Virginia in 2017.

The law was designed to cover missing people too old for an Amber Alert and too young for a Silver Alert.

Lowe said the information in Russell’s disappearance has been provided to the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency, and it will be up to ALEA to make that decision.

If you have any information please contact Detective Brad Fountain at 205-444-7562, Sergeant Drew Mims at 205-739-7274, or Crimestoppers of Metro Alabama at 205-254-7777. 1

Carlee Russell in the clothes she is believed to have been wearing at the time she disappeared. Carlee Russell in the clothes she is believed to have been wearing at the time she disappeared.

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