On Wednesday, police chief Nicholas Derzis in Hoover, Alabama revealed new details about the case of Carlethia “Carlee” Russell, a 25-year-old Black nursing student who had been reported missing for 48 hours. According to detectives, Russell had recounted her harrowing experience where she spotted a child walking along the side of the road, called 911 to check on the child, only to be pulled into a car against her will by an unidentified man.
Russell’s parents voiced their concern through a statement released on Monday, expressing their belief that their daughter had become the victim of abduction and urging local authorities to pursue her captor. However, in a press conference on Wednesday, police chief Nicholas Derzis cast doubt on the possibility of an abduction, noting that “we have no reason to believe that there is a threat to public safety related to this particular case”. That being said, he did emphasize that the investigation was still ongoing.
On the evening of 13 July, an unsettling drama unfolded on the side of I-495 as the struggle for Talitha Russell’s life began. A 911 call was made by her reporting a wandering child and further contact with her sister-in-law sparked a two day search for the twenty seven year old that gained international attention.
Thomas Latrell Simmons, Russell’s boyfriend, stated on Facebook, “She has been fighting for her life for 48 hours”. Later investigations would reveal that when Russell had spoken to her mother over the phone, her relatives had heard a scream coming from the background sound of the interstate. Found nearby were her phone and her purse containing an Apple Watch inside her car.
Talitha Robinson, Russell’s mother described that through her ordeal Russell had to fight for her life both physically and mentally, remarked “She made it back.” We can only imagine what courage and strength it took for Russell to persevere during this distressing incident.
Speaking during a press conference, the police chief of Hoover, Derzis, noted that Russell’s 911 call was the only report of a child being spotted on the interstate despite numerous vehicles travelling through the area at the time. Data from her cell phone revealed that Russell had driven 600 yards, the equivalent of six football fields, while she was following what she thought to be a child on the road. “It’s hard to comprehend,” Derzis said, “to think that a toddler four years old or less could walk barefoot for six football-fields without getting into the roadway or crying”.
Derzis also mentioned internet searches made by Russell on her cellphone leading up to her disappearance on July 13th. Such inquiries included: “how to pay for an Amber Alert”, “how to take money from a register without being caught” and other topics such as one-way tickets from Birmingham to Nashville, and queries about ‘Taken’, a film about a CIA agent whose daughter is abducted. Is there an ominous sign here?
Carlee Russell had the country on edge when she went missing on Saturday. Initial reports were unclear as to the reason for her disappearance, with suspicions of abduction by unknown perpetrators rising in the minds of many. Even more mysterious was what happened when she returned home Sunday night – emergency personnel arrived at her residence after receiving a call that Carlee was “unresponsive but breathing”, only to find that she was alert and talking.
Neighborhood surveillance footage of Russell showed her walking home shortly before her arrival, and when police interviewed her, they noticed a tear in her shirt and small injury to her lip, which she claimed was the result of escaping from her captors. Her parents have affirmed this version of events, citing Russell’s reluctance to undergo a second interview due to the trauma of the incident.
When asked if there was any history of mental illness, officer Derzis said he wasn’t aware of any such activity, noting that traffic footage showed Russell getting out of her vehicle on the interstate. At this time, we are still left with unanswered questions, and only Carlee herself can provide these answers.