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]

I had to look twice to ensure this was a legitimate news source - NO refunds, decision has been reversed, although some donations have already been refunded. What a mess! Carlee is home, surely LE is aware if anyone is eligible for the reward money, contained in earlier news reports it was stated LE confirmed no one was and that’s why the funds were being refunded. Not a good sunshiny day at Crime Stoppers I bet.

Crime Stoppers now says $63,000 raised in Carlee Russell search not being refunded

“This investigation is still ongoing, and accordingly, there is no basis to refund any contributions at this time."

www.al.com

“Crime Stoppers of Central Alabama on Monday reversed course hours after announcing that more than $60,000 raised in reward money for information that led to the safe return of Carlee Russell would be returned to donors.

On Monday morning, the organization said they would refund $63,378 donated in the 48-plus hours the 25-year-old nursing student was missing.

However, on Monday afternoon, they announced that was no longer the case.

“This investigation is still ongoing, and accordingly, there is no basis to refund any contributions at this time. Furthermore, the Hoover Police Department has not requested for any donor contributions to be released or refunded,” the afternoon announcement stated……

…..Bob Copus, executive director of Crime Stoppers of Metro Alabama, said Monday morning that some of those donations had already been returned and the rest were in the process of being refunded if that was what the donor requested.”

Emphasis mine.
That sounds fair enough.^^^

The investigation is still ongoing, so some questions may be answered ?

Glad Carlee is home and safe !
Omo.

 

[TDoc72]

I don’t know what happened and follow the facts! The facts and hearsay got jumbled and at the end of the day, Carlee is home safe. I don’t need to know the details! I wish her family peace and Sending healing vibes to Carlee. I joined this site to see respectful dialogue about true crimes, to spread the faces of the missing when I could and to share tears with those who suffer when those who are victimized suffer. If there was never a kidnapping, then I move on and wish her healing. If there was a kidnapping then I want LE to inform and protect the public. Either way, I am here because I love the exchange of reliable facts and the caring behind this group. I don’t need to give anyone the benefit of the doubt because I never thought this group was about judging anyone. It is about the facts and looking at those facts in a nonjudgmental way. This is my opinion and I am glad admin cleaned up the site and restated rules…whatever the future enfolds for Carlee and her family I feel Compassion regardless of whether she was kidnapped or not is the best course of action…no person deserves anything less!

I mostly agree with you. If she was truly kidnapped, I want LE to pursue justice. If there wasn’t a kidnapper, then I do wish her well & that she gets help if needed. However, if it was all a hoax, then she needs to be punished in an appropriate way for wasting time and/or valuable LE resources that could’ve been better used elsewhere.
~~~~
Right now, with the evidence available, IMO I’m leaning hoax. I really hate to think that someone would do that. I remember with Jussie Smollett, I tried really hard to give him the benefit of the doubt as long as possible.

 

[Chimera]

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.

I missed the jump cut.
Does anyone know what the reason would be for that ?
Following leads (imo) and don't want to tip anyone off ?
Omo.

 

[Deleted member 326769]

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

 

[hparker36]

Notice it doesn't say only report. It says only timely report. That is key wording.

Was she in the car when calling 911 and her relative and talking about the toddler? How in the world would she be able to tell that it was a male toddler in diapers?

 

[Chimera]

Unanswered questions linger in Carlee Russell's mysterious disappearance and return

There are still a lot of unanswered questions regarding the disappearance of 25-year-old Carlee Russell, who returned home to her parent's house in Hoover Satur

abc3340.com

“Police have spoken to Russell once and are following up on that information, however aren't able to publicly share the details from the initial interview. Hoover police plan to follow up with her again to attempt to get a better understanding of what happened and said they will provide information when they are able to do so.”

“Each piece of information is helping investigators reconstruct Carlee’s movements during the time she was missing. This is a tedious process, but it is important to make sure everything is methodically evaluated so that we have the clearest possible picture of what took place from the time Carlee called 911 until she returned home Saturday night," a news release from Hoover Police Department read, which was sent out Monday evening.

A recap of the timeline of events from Thursday night was also laid out again by police:

• Russell left work from a business at The Summit in Birmingham at approximately 8:20 PM. She ordered food from a nearby business at The Colonnade and traveled there. It appears she was alone during this time and investigators have no evidence that she was being followed.
• Russell communicated on her cell phone with individuals known to her while on her path of travel up to the point of calling 911 at 9:34 PM. The conversation with the 911 operator ended and Carlee called a relative.
• She went missing during that conversation sometime after 9:36 PM after telling both the 911 operator and the relative she had seen a male toddler in a diaper on the side of I-459 and was stopping to check on him.
• Traffic camera footage was obtained which depicted this portion of the incident, and that footage is still being analyzed as part of the investigation in conjunction with the 911 call to accurately determine the timeframe.
• Russell’s 911 call remains the only timely report of a child on the interstate and no one has called to report that a child is missing.
• Hoover Police officers arrived on scene within five minutes of being dispatched, and several other officers arrived shortly behind.
• They located Carlee’s wig, cell phone and purse on the roadway near her vehicle, and Russell’s Apple Watch was in her purse. Hoover Police detectives, along with investigators from other local and federal agencies began pursuing possible leads and collecting evidence throughout the day Friday and Saturday.

"The details of that statement are a part of the ongoing investigation which is expected to continue over the next several days. During the initial portion of the investigation, detectives were able to retrace nearly all of Carlee’s steps until the point she went missing and are confident that will continue to be the case," stated Hoover Police.

Emphasis mine.
Thanks for the timeline, @MistyWaters !

It's confirmed then that Carlee was the only one to spot the toddler, and call the sighting in.
If this was a case of neglect regarding the little one, maybe that's why no one has come forward to identify themselves as the toddlers' family ?

Good to see the investigation is ongoing.
Omo.

 

[Pavelsky]

I mostly agree with you. If she was truly kidnapped, I want LE to pursue justice. If there wasn’t a kidnapper, then I do wish her well & that she gets help if needed. However, if it was all a hoax, then she needs to be punished in an appropriate way for wasting time and/or valuable LE resources that could’ve been better used elsewhere.
~~~~
Right now, with the evidence available, IMO I’m leaning hoax. I really hate to think that someone would do that. I remember with Jussie Smollett, I tried really hard to give him the benefit of the doubt as long as possible.

At this time there is no main stream media to confirm any of this…so we wait….

 

[Gardenista]

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

 

[taylorss]

Can you imagine the joy her parents felt when they saw her again?? Idk what happened here but I'm so happy for them

 

[Quill]

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.

 

[nikki80]

Ok, am I tripping or did she delete some posts from her Facebook? I am not a super user of Facebook, so can someone else check? The latest post I see is from 4 days ago?

 

[GoBuckeyes]

I had to look twice to ensure this was a legitimate news source - NO refunds, decision has been reversed, although some donations have already been refunded. What a mess! Carlee is home, surely LE is aware if anyone is eligible for the reward money, contained in earlier news reports it was stated LE confirmed no one was and that’s why the funds were being refunded. Not a good sunshiny day at Crime Stoppers I bet.

Crime Stoppers now says $63,000 raised in Carlee Russell search not being refunded

“This investigation is still ongoing, and accordingly, there is no basis to refund any contributions at this time."

www.al.com

“Crime Stoppers of Central Alabama on Monday reversed course hours after announcing that more than $60,000 raised in reward money for information that led to the safe return of Carlee Russell would be returned to donors.

On Monday morning, the organization said they would refund $63,378 donated in the 48-plus hours the 25-year-old nursing student was missing.

However, on Monday afternoon, they announced that was no longer the case.

“This investigation is still ongoing, and accordingly, there is no basis to refund any contributions at this time. Furthermore, the Hoover Police Department has not requested for any donor contributions to be released or refunded,” the afternoon announcement stated……

…..Bob Copus, executive director of Crime Stoppers of Metro Alabama, said Monday morning that some of those donations had already been returned and the rest were in the process of being refunded if that was what the donor requested.”

Ughh! You're right. Not a sun shiny day at CS Alabama at all. I feel for the workers who have to field inquiries. I hope the refund process is a smooth one.

 

[eimehc]

This might be far fetched but I looked in the area that her car was found on historic aerials and in the 80’s a trail or something formed through the forest right next to where her car was found. (I would link it but idk if that’s allowed.) It stopped being visible on the aerials but is it possible it’s been used enough throughout the years where an ATV could go through it?

 

[GoBuckeyes]

He also described seeing a light skinned male by her car. However, IMO, if there was a legit witness, they surely would have contacted LE by now.

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.

 

[Quill]

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 thought the same thing and if you go back through the thread it does say a brown skinned male.

 

[Deleted member 326769]

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 saw that too. It was in the beginning of all this

 

[SUNchips]

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.

 

[GoBuckeyes]

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

Trucker claimed to see a man

 

[GoBuckeyes]

I saw that too. It was in the beginning of all this

Okay, thank you. So I'm not completely losing my mind. LOL

 

[athenna]

<modsnip: quoted post was removed> That is a very busy highway. How on earth did nobody else spot a child on the side of the road?? Plus, I feel certain that police have reviewed every available video. I also hope that they have gone door to door in the neighborhood to get Ring camera footage to try to find out who dropped her off since she is too upset to speak with them. The police have a duty to the public to keep them safe and to get to the bottom of what happened.

JMO.

Like I have said previously, when I rescued a half-naked child from the side of a busy freeway in the middle of the day, no one called it in.