Found Alive AL - Carlethia “Carlee” Russell, 25, 911 call reported toddler walking on side of interstate, car found, she & toddler gone, Birmingham, 13 Jul ‘23

[gitana1]

<modsnip - if you can't link it, don't mention it>

BTW - I lived in the Hoover area for many years, even met my husband there! We have lots of family still there. That area is very well traveled. It seems if there were a small child on the side of the road, there would have been more than one call to 911. In the video that I viewed, there was no evidence of anyone on the side of the road. I also didn't see where she was abducted.

JMO.

It’s was in the live report that was posted. Her mom told the reporter that she was dropped off.

Abby Hernandez was dropped off too. I’m not going to rule anything out yet.

 

[BCSleuth]

There got to be more details that police will or should share if it's a clear-cut case of brazen abduction in an effort to keep the local public safe and informed.?

I fully expect at least a statement and possibly even a press conference. They may keep it vague, though, like "we have determined there is no danger to the public" or somesuch.

 

[marloweclover]

Her nursing school put out a statement iirc expressing concern and hoping for the best, which would seem to verify imo that she's still a student.

Whatever happened, very happy that she's safe tonight.

 

[modesty blaise]

Well that certainly answers the bizarreness of the situation.

 

[kittythehare]

Russel’s return ended a 48-hour search that grabbed national attention. The circumstances of her sudden disappearance are still unclear as of Sunday morning. The mystery led to hundreds of videos and social media posts from people sharing what they think happened. “We work with facts,” Chief Derzis said. “With social media, you got so many people that think they know what’s taken place. Right now, we’re just very pleased that she’s home.”

“There were times that were 50 to 60 plus Hoover police officers working. There are times you get overwhelmed, the story kept getting bigger and bigger,” said Chief Derzis. “We were out until almost 8 or 9 o’clock tonight following leads and a lot of work, from not only our folks, from other agencies.”

Chief Derzis said Hoover investigators will eventually sit down with Russell to learn what happened. “The first thing is to give Carlee and family a little time to get themselves back together,” he added. “I know it’s been a tough experience for them. When we think it’s time to sit down and have a conversation with Carlee and try to get some facts, we’ll do that.”

Most of all, Chief Derzis is happy that Russell is safe. “Just know that the police department is very happy,” he said. “We wanted her to come home safe and sound - and we’ll hope that’s what happened here. The investigation portion... we’ll get to, but to me the main deal is making sure that she got home safe with her family. And I couldn’t be more excited, and I hope the community feels the same way.”

‘We wanted her to come home safe and sound’: Hoover Police respond after Carlee Russell found safe, alive

WBRC FOX6 News interviews Hoover Police Chief Nicholas Derzis after the return of missing 25-year-old Carlee Russell.

www.wbrc.com

 

[imstilla.grandma]

Well, what a nice surprise. I went to bed with the chickens last night and waking up with them now to not only hear Carlethia is alive but sounds like she will be back home soon with her family in her own bed soon. Who knows what happened? She might not even know for sure. I only know, for once in a great moon, we have a woman for everyone was fearful that didn’t end up with a found deceased tab. I’m happy. She seems to have all the support she needs to have a successful future.

 

[cuecard]

Really glad to see Carlee is alive. I hope her and her family are given the space and support to navigate through whatever has happened here.

 

[NewMommy09]

I've never been in and out of an ER in 2 hours or less...You usually sit that long and wait to be seen, unless it is truly an emergency.

My first thought is a quick ER visit may be for a rape kit.

 

[katydid23]

My first thought is a quick ER visit may be for a rape kit.

Possibly---but according to the police statement upthread a little, the police haven't spoken to Carlee or her parents yet. And they said they would do so after everyone got their heads together, or something phrased like that.

I'd think, if there was a SA, the police would have interviewed her and taken steps to try and apprehend the perp already. JMO


"Chief Derzis said Hoover investigators will eventually sit down with Russell to learn what happened. “The first thing is to give Carlee and family a little time to get themselves back together,” he added. “I know it’s been a tough experience for them. When we think it’s time to sit down and have a conversation with Carlee and try to get some facts, we’ll do that.”

 

[caradana]

Noticeably classy, gentle and respectful response by the PD.

 

[Snail-Overlord]

This is absolutely fantastic news. I am so glad she’s okay!!

 

[GoBuckeyes]

My first thought is a quick ER visit may be for a rape kit.

AFAIK, those include police interviews as SOP??
Adding that what I meant to say is that the Police Chief has been clear in his emphasis on allowing the family to (paraphrasing) catch their breath and regroup before they do any interviewing. But I guess they could collect evidence at the hospital and make an exception, delaying the interviews??

 

[Msl1966]

I’m so thankful that she is ok. I felt from the beginning that is might be that she left on her own doing…for mainly one reason. The video of her pulling down the emergency lane is in a slower motion than the real speed. So if the speed is faster than what we viewed, then she pulled off the road at the higher speed than it appears. I’m not saying too fast, but definitely not slowly. If I thought I had seen a child on the side of the road and I was coming back around, I would have been driving so slowly in the emergency lane, even if I had a certain place I intended to stop. I realize maybe she saw the child back in the distance and was pulling over to run back, but from what I’ve read it sounds like she got off highway and turned back around at the some point. I also would have stayed on the phone with 911 so I could tell them exactly where I was with the child or that I couldn’t find the child. But I know we all would do things different ways. Just my thoughts.
I feel for her. The pressure put on young people these days to succeed is tremendous. It starts in elementary and doesn’t stop. It makes our young adults feel so much pressure. I’m an educator and see it every day. So maybe she just needed a break. As people interested in true crime, I think we realize the intense nationwide search efforts that can come of something like this, but I don‘t think people that go missing on their own realize what it might turn into, I’m hoping that’s the case here and that she is totally ok.

 

[lizziginne]

Managed to read 10 pages without noticing the title has been changed to found alive! I'm so pleased for Carlee and her family. Hopefully we'll have more information on what actually happened as the day progresses

 

[nikki80]

Really glad Carlee is back home with her family. Whatever happened, I wish them the best. It’s VERY rare that we get endings to cases like these, so I am thankful!

 

[justinkjones1993]

Thank God Carlee Russell has been found alive and safe. We don't have all the details at this time, but it appears someone took her to her parents house.

<modsnip>

 

[hoodratholly]

Maybe. But I always remember the case of a missing college student (so sorry I don't remember her name!). LE released a video of her last known sighting at sort of an outdoor mall type place at night. WSers (and perhaps others in the public) spotted someone watching her - and that person turned out to be the killer! And they linked him to another murder, which LE seemed to dismiss at first but it turned out to be true.

I hope someone can remind me of the victim's name. I think the first victim's name was Morgan. I don't remember the name, though I do remember thinking WSers were off-base seeing things in the video....but they were right!

jmo

I’m catching up so maybe someone already suggested this (and maybe moot point since Carlee has been found) but I think you might be thinking of Hannah Graham’s case, where there was security footage of her walking on the Charlottesville mall (not a typical shopping mall) and the POI was in the footage. He was later convicted with her murder, as well as the murder of Morgan Harrington.

 

[Huli Huli]

Given the traffic, I expect there will be additional eyewitness reports the police have and are collecting. It won’t just be the one truck driver.
IMO am interesting component is whether her food order was found in car. If no order had been placed or food not in car (take it with her?), that might indicate an intent to leave the area and if it was left in car, might indicate an unexpected turn of events like abduction.

 

[Eloise]

Thank God Carlee Russell has been found alive and safe. We don't have all the details at this time, but it appears someone took her to her parents house.

It has also been confirmed by investigators there was no other car at the scene when she disappeared. She went to UAB hospital and was checked out within 2 hours.

Now why were so many people dismissive of the mental health break theory when it looks more and more like that's exactly what happened? I'll tell you why.

Because people still have a stigma around mental health! A lot of you thought I was trying to demean or insult this woman by implying that she may have had a mental health episode. Mental health is not shameful. It's not an insult. There is not something "wrong" with a person who has such issues. We need to get a place where we can talk about it openly.

I don't really think that's a factor here on WS, respectfully. I didn't find out about this case until it was solved, so maybe some posts were deleted, but I don't see any posts like that here. More just that people were concerned it could be abduction, and not wanting to rule out that possibility and all the dangerous uncertainties that that would bring.

 

[rainwaterstill]

Missing Alabama woman, 25, is found ALIVE two days after vanishing

A missing 25-year-old woman who vanished after pulling over to check on a toddler who was wondering alone along an Alabama interstate highway has been found alive at her home.

www.dailymail.co.uk