Alabama police refute key claim in Carlee Russell case as video revealed – updates

In a post on Facebook, the Hoover Police Department said they can discuss several details about the Carlee Russell case that they did not speak to earlier.

This includes how authorities found no evidence of a missing toddler or any toddler walking down the interstate nor did they find evidence that Ms Russell stopped to get snacks before going missing.

Police also said they obtained surveillance video from Ms Russell’s neighbourhood showing her walking down the sidewalk alone before arriving at her family’s home.

“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,” police wrote.

Authorities in Alabama were dispatched to the location of 25-year-old Carlee Russell’s vehicle which was pulled off on the side of an interstate after Ms Russell called 911 claiming a toddler was walking along the road.

Police officers arrived on the scene five minutes after Ms Russell called to find her wig, cellphone and purse along the road. Inside her bag was an Apple Watch.

Before she went missing, authorities determined Ms Russell stopped by a store to buy snacks but noticeably missing from her vehicle were said snacks.

“These items were not located in the vehicle or with her cellphone and wig at the scene of her disappearance,” the police statement read.

The Hoover Police Department is expected to give an update to the case in a press conference at 3.30pm ET on Wednesday

Carlee Russell vanished from Interstate 459 just after 9.30pm on Thursday 13 July, sparking a massive search operation as authorities and family held grave fears for her safety.

The Hoover Police Department said they received a 911 call from the home Ms Russell shares with her parents at 10.44pm on Saturday to say she had returned home on foot.

Ms Russell was “unresponsive but breathing”, according to police dispatch audio obtained by Mail Online.

Emergency services responded and took Ms Russell to UAB Hospital for treatment before she was released.

Detectives conducted a preliminary interview with Ms Russell at the hospital, but no further details have been released by authorities about where she was.

Her boyfriend Thomar Latrell Simmons has claimed she was kidnapped and had been “fighting for her life” for 48 hours.

Nursing student Carlee Russell, 25, vanished without a trace from the side of Interstate 459 in Hoover on the night of 13 July – just moments after she called 911 saying she had spotted a toddler alone on the road.

When officers arrived on the scene, they found Ms Russell’s car still running and her cell phone and wig close by, but no sign of the 25-year-old.

A huge search operation was launched to try to track down the missing woman, with her family begging the public to come forward with any information.

Investigators in Alabama have found “no evidence” that Ms Russell was trying to help a toddler walking along a highway at the time of her mysterious disappearance.

On the night she disappeared, Hoover police said that the 25-year-old left her workplace and ordered food from nearby restaurant The Colonnade.

After stopping by The Colonnade, she went to the Target on Highway 280 and bought some snacks, police said.

These items were not found inside her abandoned vehicle along the highway nor were they found with her cellphone and wig at the scene of her disappearance.

Police said that the investigation had uncovered no evidence of a toddler walking down the interstate and had not received any additional calls about a wandering child – despite surveillance footage capturing numerous other vehicles passing through the area around that time.

Hoover Police will provide an update about the Carlee Russell case at 2.30pm CST / 3.30pm ET in a press conference on Wednesday.

13 July, 8.20pm – Carlee Russell leaves her workplace, Summitt in Birmingham.

Ms Russell then went to order food from The Colonnade, a local business.

9.34pm – Ms Russell calls Hoover Police Department to report a toddler walking alongside interstate

Ms Russell also called her brother’s girlfriend and told her she was pulling over to check on the toddler.

9.36pm – Police believe Ms Russell goes missing sometime after this.

14 July, 4.06pm – Alabama Law Enforcement Agency issues a missing persons advisory

15 July, 10.44pm – Ms Russell returned home to her parent’s house on foot

Thomar Latrell Simmons, the boyfriend of Carlee Russell, claimed in a Facebook post that she was kidnapped and was “fighting for her life for 48 hours” after going missing.

Mr Simmons said his girlfriend is not “physically or mentally stable” at the moment to speak about her ordeal or about the alleged kidnapper, sharing their photographs.

“I don’t even know how to start off this post but to only say thank you to my lord & savior Jesus Christ for saving my girlfriend’s life!” he said on Sunday.

The parents of Carlee Russell, the 25-year-old Alabama woman who disappeared for 48 hours after reporting that she spotted a child on the side of a highway, have spoken out for the first time since their daughter returned.

“We tried to hug as best we could, but I had to stand back because she was not in a good state,” Talitha Russell told The Daily Beast about seeing her daughter return home. “So we had to stand back and let medical professionals work with her.”

While Ms Russell has been reported safe, mystery still swirls around what happened in the two days in which she vanished. Her parents and the police haven’t shared what transpired in that period.

Her parents have maintained that she was “absolutely” abducted. “There were moments when she physically had to fight for her life, and there were moments when she had to mentally fight for her life,” the mother told the outlet.

“She’s having to deal with the trauma of people just making completely false allegations about her,” she added. “Carlee has given detectives her statement so that they can continue to pursue her abductor.”

Carlethia “Carlee” Nichole Russell, 25, is at the center of a mysterious missing person case in Alabama.

Ms Russell, who lives with her parents in Hoover, disappeared last Thursday, 13 July, after calling the police to report a toddler walking alongside the interstate alone.

However, upon arrival, authorities found no sign of a toddler or Ms Russell.

For 48 hours, authorities and Ms Russell’s family spent hours frantically searching for her. Then, somehow, the 25-year-old appeared at her family’s home.

While Ms Russell has been reported safe, mystery still swirls around what happened in the two days in which she vanished. Her parents and the police haven’t shared what transpired in that period.

So far, her parent shave maintained that she was “absolutely” abducted.

Ms Russell worked part time at The Woodhouse Spa and was also a student at Jefferson State Community College, where she was studying to be a nurse, according to AL.com.