Investigators are still working to figure out how and why an Alabama woman went missing for two days before reappearing on her parents’ doorstep Saturday night.
HOOVER (AL) POLICE DEPARTMENT
“We have spoken to Carlee once and are following up on that information,” Hoover police told PEOPLE, adding that it won’t share information about their interview with Carlee. “We will follow up with her again to attempt to get a better understanding of her movements during the time she was missing and will provide what information we can when we are able to do so.“Hoover police chief Nick DerzistoldAL.com on Sunday that “the goal now is to find out what happened in the 48 or 49 hours after she disappeared a mile from her house and then ended up back at the house, to fill in the gaps,’’
“We don’t have to move quickly,” the police chief said. “Our priority was to get her home and she’s home. We’ll investigate and do what we have to do.”Carlee’s family asked for privacy in astatement posted to Facebook, which said they had “not slept for 3 nights and we are mentally and physically exhausted.”
While the public awaits more clarity on the case, here’s what we know about the Alabama woman’s disappearance.
The Child Was Never Found
Alabama authorities say the small boy that Carlee said she saw unattended, prompting her 911 call, has not been found or identified. Alabama police also said that no families reported a small child missing during that time, either. But Carlee had called 911 and a family member to tell them about the boy, which she said had caused her to stop along the interstate.
Carlee Russell.HOOVER (AL) POLICE DEPARTMENT
She Called Her Brother’s Girlfriend Before Disappearing
Carlee’s mother Talitha Russelltold AL.comher daughter had called her brother’s girlfriend soon after making her call to 911. Talitha said her daughter remained on the phone with her brother’s girlfriend until she disappeared.
“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 last week. “All you hear on her phone is background noise from the interstate.”
Police Conducted a Statewide Search
Carlee’s disappearance led Investigators on a two-day search that spanned across the state. Crime Stoppers of Metro Alabama had also offered a $60,000 reward for her return, according to AL.com.
Before Carlee reappeared on Saturday night, police responded to a Red Roof Inn motel about two miles from the family’s house where a number of family members had arrived after saying Carlee called them and told them she was there. However, she wasn’t discovered at the motel and soon after reappeared on her parent’s front doorstep.
“I have been going nonstop since I received the call that she was missing on Thursday night. I know she would’ve done the same for me, so I wasn’t going to give up until I saw her face again!” her boyfriend Thomar Lattrel Simmons said in a lengthy Instagram post after she was discovered.
Thomar Latrell Simmons and Carlee Russell.Thomar Latrell Simmons/Instagram
Thomar Latrell Simmons/Instagram
She Returned Home After 48 Hours
The frenzied, two-day search for Carlee ended when she reappeared back at home. Derzis, the Hoover police chief, told AL.com that Carlee walked up to her parents house and knocked on the front door late Saturday night. The family called police, who arrived at the home shortly after.
“We tried to hug her as best we could, but I had to stand back because she was not in a good state,” her mothertoldNBC’sTODAY.
Carlee’s Family Says She Was Kidnapped
Police have not said whether Carlee was kidnapped, though her boyfriend made reference to a “kidnapper” on Instagram while celebrating his girlfriend’s return. “She was literally fighting for her life for 48 hours, so until she’s physically & mentally stable again she is not able to give any updates or whereabouts on her kidnapper at this very moment,” Simmons wrote.
Russell’s mother also toldTODAYher daughter was kidnapped and that the person responsible is “absolutely” still at large.
Russell’s mother also told AL.com that a trucker claimed he saw her car with the door open, as a gray car pulled over close to it around the time she reportedly vanished. A previous press release had also reported of a “single witness” reporting they had “possibly” seen a “gray vehicle with a light-complected male standing outside of Carlee’s vehicle.”
And although Derzis said there’s no timetable on the ongoing investigation now that Carlee’s back home and safe, the police chief did tell AL.com “it’s our obligation as police to put it all together.”
source: people.com
