A 25-year-old Alabama woman returned home safe Saturday night after being reported missing roughly 48 hours prior, the Hoover Police Department said.
The woman, Carlethia “Carlee” Nichole Russell, knocked on her family’s front door, returning to the home alone and on foot, according to police. The case sparked national media attention and an intense police search after Carlethia “Carlee” Nichole Russell was first reported missing off an Alabama Highway in a Birmingham suburb on Thursday night after calling 911 to report a toddler walking alone along the interstate.
Russell was taken to an area hospital to be evaluated and has since been treated and released, police said.
“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,” Lieutenant Daniel Lowe wrote in a statement. “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.”
Russell’s mother, Talitha Russell, took to Facebook to announce her daughter’s return and asked for privacy and time before making a statement to the media.
What happened to Russell?
Russell’s whereabouts over the 48 hours she was missing is still unclear, according to police.
Officers got a 911 call at 10:44 p.m. on Saturday informing them that Russell had returned home. Detectives went to the home and the hospital “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,” police said.
Hoover Police Chief Nick Derzis told Fox 6 that they are giving the Russell family the time they requested “to get themselves back together… When we think it’s time to be able to sit down and have a conversation with Carlee and try to get some facts, we’ll do that.”
“The main thing right now is her- to make sure that she’s okay,” Derzis said.
The night of the disappearance
Russell was driving home from work Thursday night when she called 911 at 9:34 p.m. to say that she saw a male toddler in a diaper walking alone along the side of the interstate on I-459 south, roughly eight miles south of Birmingham.
Police have been unable to confirm whether there was a child on the highway. “Carlee’s 911 call remains the only timely report of a child on the interstate,” Hoover police said in a statement.
The dispatcher told Russell to stay with the child until police arrived, her mother, Talitha Russell, told the New York Times.
Immediately after, Russell called her brother’s girlfriend to share what she saw. Russell stayed on the phone with the girlfriend as she got out of her car to check on the child and called out to him. Sometime after 9:36 p.m., the relative heard what sounded like Russell screaming and the phone drop to the ground, Talitha Russell said.
“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 said to AL.com. “From there, all you hear on her phone is background noise from the interstate.”
Police officers responded to the scene within five minutes of Russell’s 911 call and found her car abandoned on the side of the interstate. They also located Russell’s wig, cell phone and purse on the roadway near the vehicle and her apple watch was in her purse. However, they were “unable to find her or a child in the area,” police said in a statement.
However, a single witness has reported spotting a “light complected male” standing outside of Russell’s car. According to police, there is no further information available about that person.
Police did obtain video surveillance footage of the interstate that shows the moment when Russell pulled over her red Mercedes-Benz and slowly drove forward with her headlights flashing. The footage is grainy and doesn’t depict anyone else pulling their car over after Russell and before the police showed up. However, they are working to clarify the footage, police said.