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 #2

[Chimera]

From post # 240 : @athenna ; Good point regarding the food !
I'd imagine LE have impounded and searched her car by now ?
Omo.

 

[Research DetailsPatience]

ADMIN NOTE:

This thread was closed due to excessive violations of Websleuths TOS.

New members need to familiarize themselves with the TOS (aka The Rules) that they agreed to upon registering with this site. Those rules are linked in my signature.

Long term members need to refresh their recollection of what The Rules are, including our Victim Friendly policy, our no sleuthing of family or friends or linking to their social media. Approved links are required to all images and to all information stated as fact, and rumors, off topic posts, rudeness, personalizing and bickering are never allowed.

If WS rules are not to someone's liking, then WS is not for them.

Thread is open again. Please post accordingly.

Thank You.

newbie here. I have a theory supported by nothing but my imagination. I mention it only to illustrate my question. My theory is that Carlee was either knowingly or unknowingly used to gather information on human trafficking or was used to somehow strengthen a harpersville officer's status with traffickers.

my question is how do you balance desire to provide assistance on case where someone might be in danger with knowledge that there is a lot potentially going on you rightly know nothing about?

has there been any analysis of the types of cases websleuths is most helpful on? Sadly, there are a lot of cold cases, missing people, etc. contributing something to any of them is a good thing, right? but how to pick one?

 

[JennieM]

A roadside disappearance, mystery child and kidnapping claims: What happened to Carlee Russell?​

Carlee Russell vanished after calling 911 to report seeing a young boy in diapers on the side of a busy interstate. Two days later, she turned up at her home. Bevan Hurley questions why police haven’t confirmed what happened to her.

What really happened to Carlee Russell?

Carlee Russell falsely claimed she vanished after calling 911 to report seeing a young boy in diapers on the side of a busy interstate. Three months later, she has been found guilty of false reporting charges. Bevan Hurley reports

www.independent.co.uk

 

[Gardenista]

Carlee Russell: anti-trafficking advocate casts doubt on theory that sex traffickers use toddlers to lure and abduct women

Carlee Russell: anti-trafficking advocate casts doubt on theory that sex traffickers use toddlers to lure and abduct women

When a woman vanished after calling 911 to report a toddler on an interstate, speculation ran wild that the little boy was a sex-trafficker's "lure."

www.insider.com

 

[JennieM]

Kidnapping claims​

On Sunday, Ms Russell’s boyfriend Thomar Latrell Simmons claimed that she had barely survived her ordeal after being kidnapped.

“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,” Mr Simmons wrote.

Mr Simmons added that he had been searching for Ms Russell “nonstop” since he was notified of her disappearance.

He said there had been “false allegations & assumptions” that he had something to do with her abduction, adding he hadn’t let the rumours distract him.

Mr Simmons thanked the family, friends and fellow churchgoers for their help.

“All I (ask) from everyone right now is to be respectful of Carlee’s situation.”

Two weeks before she went missing, the couple shared holiday pictures from a trip to New York on social media.

What really happened to Carlee Russell?

Carlee Russell falsely claimed she vanished after calling 911 to report seeing a young boy in diapers on the side of a busy interstate. Three months later, she has been found guilty of false reporting charges. Bevan Hurley reports

www.independent.co.uk

 

[Dhighsmith]

Includes short statement by Hoover Police Chief.

Much respect for Hoover Police. Several years living in Mountain Brook on a work related project, spent a lot of time in Hoover. Small town vibe with big city attractions sprinkled around.

 

[ElizB]

So the Trucker claimed to see a toddler?! I must have missed that.

No, the trucker said he saw a grey car parked by Carlee’s car. I think he also said he saw a man talking to her.

 

[Googlebutts]

Kidnapping claims​

On Sunday, Ms Russell’s boyfriend Thomar Latrell Simmons claimed that she had barely survived her ordeal after being kidnapped.

“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,” Mr Simmons wrote.

Mr Simmons added that he had been searching for Ms Russell “nonstop” since he was notified of her disappearance.

He said there had been “false allegations & assumptions” that he had something to do with her abduction, adding he hadn’t let the rumours distract him.

Mr Simmons thanked the family, friends and fellow churchgoers for their help.

“All I (ask) from everyone right now is to be respectful of Carlee’s situation.”

Two weeks before she went missing, the couple shared holiday pictures from a trip to New York on social media.

What really happened to Carlee Russell?

Carlee Russell falsely claimed she vanished after calling 911 to report seeing a young boy in diapers on the side of a busy interstate. Three months later, she has been found guilty of false reporting charges. Bevan Hurley reports

www.independent.co.uk

I have not seen a single claim on any platform or website about the boyfriend. He wasn’t even known to most until later. MOO

 

[musicaljoke]

Eyewitnesses are notoriously wrong -fact- we see here at WS a lot.

But truckers can verify it with the cameras on their trucks.

 

[Dhighsmith]

Carlee Russell: anti-trafficking advocate casts doubt on theory that sex traffickers use toddlers to lure and abduct women

Carlee Russell: anti-trafficking advocate casts doubt on theory that sex traffickers use toddlers to lure and abduct women

When a woman vanished after calling 911 to report a toddler on an interstate, speculation ran wild that the little boy was a sex-trafficker's "lure."

www.insider.com

Thanks for sharing, article should be mandatory read in better understanding “sex trafficking”. IMO, lots of misinformation that possibly clouds the true risk of young people who may find themselves vulnerable to the manipulation tactics of grooming them for sex trafficking.

“But only about 6 percent of the human trafficking victims who've contacted the hotline since 2007 say they were victims of abduction, she said.”

 

[KooshBall]

I don't believe it was a kidnapping.
I don't believe it was a psychotic break.
I don't believe anyone would purposely call 911 to the scene if they were planning on disappearing.

Basically, whatever the truth is, will end up being a shock to me.

 

[nightowl1975]

It seems to me that it’s a reasonable assumption that Carlee told her family she had been kidnapped when she arrived back at her house. Otherwise, we wouldn’t have the boyfriend’s statement that’s been posted.

I do think the case itself has been handled with extraordinary care thus far, so I have no doubt that continues behind the scenes. If there was any reason for the public to know more than what’s been released (fear for public safety, need for general public assistance with what they may have seen, etc), then they would let us know. They haven’t. Which to me says they know a whole lot more then we do.

 

[PromotedPawn]

I have not seen a single claim on any platform or website about the boyfriend. He wasn’t even known to most until later. MOO

Oh, you mean this isn't about him? MOO

 

[nightowl1975]

In my opinion only, the actions of the police the last 24 hours do not indicate they feel that there is any risk to the public.

Sure, it’s possible the authorities feel there’s no risk to the public bc they’ve pretty much concluded there was no kidnapping.

But it’s also at least as likely IMO that they have a really good idea of what happened, who was involved, and are in the process of collecting enough evidence to make an arrest. If this is the case, there’s also no real risk to the public bc they know what’s going on.

 

[SUNchips]

Oh, you mean this isn't about him? MOO

I don’t think he’s trying to make this about him. I think he’s referring to rumors/accusations about him on social media, from police questioning, etc. I don’t think he’s referring to mainstream media, since he hasn’t been mentioned that I’ve seen.

 

[NeverPersonal]

Re: the jump cut where the care had on it's blinker, Gray said one minute 46 seconds were cut from the video which is the exact amount of time short the video is from 1 hour.

Nope.

I find this really fascinating and feel it's likely to be related (IMO)

Unrelated, but -
love this pic of Carlee!

 

[Gardenista]

I have not seen a single claim on any platform or website about the boyfriend. He wasn’t even known to most until later. MOO

Unlike the guy who did an video and was supposedly her brother (which was posted on WS too). Turns out he wasn't her brother and he deleted his video after he gained 70K TikTok subscribers.

Source info is buried somewhere in this 4 hr video

 

[Van Helsing]

I thought for certain in earlier accounts I read that it was a darker skinned male. IDK Maybe I'm confusing it with another case.

I believe that was said in the first LE press conference.

 

[NeverPersonal]

She’s 25. In school and has a job. Still
Lives with mom. I honestly think she just wanted a break. She’s young with a lot of responsibilities. I personally feel she wanted a weekend away from all of that and this just blew up more than she could have imagined. MOO

I’d think and really hope a 25 year old woman would know that calling 911 and ditching their car/purse/phone for a “weekend away” would not end up well for her. I’m not sure what happened here (I wouldn’t be surprised if it turned out to be a kidnapping, hoax, or mental breakdown) but imo it’s something bigger than just wanting to get away from strict parents are something. After all, it seems she voluntarily went back home.

!!!!!!
Yeah... if she wanted a weekend away, there's a million ways to go about that that don't involve police & FBI resources, being missing for 2 days, hospitalization, scaring your family and friends to death

Gray said the traffic cam company told him the FBI got the video too.

Well THATS interesting. The FBI doesn't just get involved randomly.

This is VERY interesting info.

 

[JennieM]

I thought for certain in earlier accounts I read that it was a darker skinned male. IDK Maybe I'm confusing it with another case.

Mr Lowe said police had received a single, vague, tip about a a gray vehicle and a man with light complexion having been seen near the missing woman’s car.

Talitha Russell, the missing woman’s mother, later told AL.com the tip had come from a trucker.

“He saw a gray car with a tall brown skinned man with khaki shorts on leaning over in the car,’’ Ms Russell told AL.com.

What really happened to Carlee Russell?

Carlee Russell falsely claimed she vanished after calling 911 to report seeing a young boy in diapers on the side of a busy interstate. Three months later, she has been found guilty of false reporting charges. Bevan Hurley reports

www.independent.co.uk