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

[T4Tide]

I screen recorded the video and took several screenshots. It’s hard to see but I’ll share. I see two, possibly 3 people. Carlee (in black tank, leggings, maybe hair up? A person in shorts with a white tee and white tall socks. And possibly a smaller figure in a red shirt.

 

[LurkingSleuther]

lights in the woods are reflections bouncing off the signs

No grey car

Did she walk into the woods to the neighborhood right behind it?

That's what I think. At no point do I see a car pull over or an additional second person. The last time I see something that might be her was at 2:03 to the left of the little mile marker sign (that there's 10 of per mile).

At 1:25, she walks to an area around the right-front corner of her vehicle. It's just to the left of that little mile marker sign. In my estimation, she stays there until about 2:03.

 

[BeginnerSleuther]

I just looked her up, she's not licensed yet in Alabama.

Isn't she still in school?

 

[ConfusedPopsicle]

I don't think there's anything wrong with speculating about it, but IMO, there's no indication at all that would lead me to this conclusion (I do think it would be a dangerous avenue for MSM to take without evidence, but here on WS, I think it's fine). But again, there's nothing on which to base it at this time. It would be like me saying "I bet she was dragged off by an alligator." Nothing at all to indicate that.

I also have to point out that if she was having a psychotic break, it would not be limited to the child on the interstate. Psychosis is a thought disorder. There would be a level of agitation, paranoia, disorganization, and possibly incoherence in her call with 911 and with her family member. People don't have a first break and calmly talk to others about the hallucination. In fact, a hallmark of first break psychosis is (9 times out of 10 auditory hallucinations, not visual), for example, a self-inflicted stab wound or gunshot wound, jumping out a window, or running out into traffic. That's because people don't think rationally during a psychotic break. They lose touch with reality.

Her 911 call will be telling if she was experiencing a mental health crisis.

Something is odd about this though. There’s no reports of any other calls about a child walking beside the interstate. I suppose police could be keeping quiet about that but why? If there were multiple reports it would lend credence to what she supposedly saw and place even more urgency on the situation. If there were multiple calls and when they arrive there’s no child and a missing woman whose car and belongings were still there, wouldn’t there be more urgency? I don’t know, maybe I’m just naive but it seems like they’d be going about this differently if there was evidence of a child missing too. Then we have video now of her car stopping with no one else around, no child anywhere that I can see and no other car pulling over until the police arrive. It’s just odd. I don’t know if this is a mental break, some kind of drug induced psychosis (also seems unlikely) or a staged disappearance but at least from the video it doesn’t look like there’s anyone else involved. That is, if that IS her vehicle stopping.

 

[Alwayswanted2bFBIagent]

I screen recorded the video and took several screenshots. It’s hard to see but I’ll share. I see two, possibly 3 people. Carlee (in black tank, leggings, maybe hair up? A person in shorts with a white tee and white tall socks. And possibly a smaller figure in a red shirt. View attachment 434764View attachment 434765View attachment 434766View attachment 434767View attachment 434768View attachment 434769View attachment 434770View attachment 434771

Yes I watched it twice and saw that red shirt too! I was using the head lights to determine if anything changed on the shoulder or grassy area

 

[Van Helsing]

I screen recorded the video and took several screenshots. It’s hard to see but I’ll share. I see two, possibly 3 people. Carlee (in black tank, leggings, maybe hair up? A person in shorts with a white tee and white tall socks. And possibly a smaller figure in a red shirt. View attachment 434764View attachment 434765View attachment 434766View attachment 434767View attachment 434768View attachment 434769View attachment 434770View attachment 434771

In the 4th and 5th pictures toward the left, it looks like someone close to the road with their right arm up.

 

[Ladyotm]

That's her car right? She's driving with her flashers on then stops near the exit 10 sign. You can see a person exit the vehicle and go to the passenger side after the vehicle parks.

What's the yellow light at 3:45 in? It floats through the trees paralel to the highway?

Where's the gray car, no one else stopped?

I see it! Could it be a vehicle traveling behind the tree lines away from the area her vehicle is at? With flashers or park lights on?

 

[StarryStarryNight]

I don’t get this video at all.

—if she called 911 when she saw the child she would have to have driven past that child and exited, entered the highway in the opposite direction, driven to the next exit, gotten off, gotten back on, then driven back to where the child was. That would take some time. Not saying she didn’t do that, but she didn’t just pull over quickly.
—there is a ton of traffic on this road. Did anyone else report this child?
—she drives slowly with her flashers on for a long distance and her headlights hit nothing, no child, no adult, no car. Was the child gone by the time she got back to the spot and she was looking for them?
—to me it looks like her silhouette rounds the back of her car and lingers near the passenger side. I never see it move down toward the deep shadows, but it’s hard to see.
—if someone grabbed her it was not near her car, way too many cars going by with potential witnesses. if she was grabbed it was in the shadows which makes me wonder where her wig, and phone were found.
—she was not taken away in a car parked on the interstate, it’s just not there. As someone else brought up, perhaps she was taken to a nearby house on the other side of the shadows, or a car waiting on a side street.

Very strange.

 

[Ladyotm]

The call went out that the child was walking along the interstate. If it really were a child, could she have been on the interstate, but closer to the tree line?

 

[ConfusedPopsicle]

I screen recorded the video and took several screenshots. It’s hard to see but I’ll share. I see two, possibly 3 people. Carlee (in black tank, leggings, maybe hair up? A person in shorts with a white tee and white tall socks. And possibly a smaller figure in a red shirt. View attachment 434764View attachment 434765View attachment 434766View attachment 434767View attachment 434768View attachment 434769View attachment 434770View attachment 434771

Whoa! Are you on a PC or mobile? I could see “stuff” on my phone but nothing that clearly. Dang! How in the heck was anything able to happen so quickly? And without any reports from others? I said it in my other reply, police could be keeping these things close but why? If they had any reports of a struggle or anything you’d think they’d get the info out there asap.

 

[vls12345]

What did LE do when they arrived and found her car? Did they bring in better lighting and search the wooded area? Or did they wait until daylight to do a more thorough search?

It would be very hard to see things at night, especially with the constant contrast between darkness and moving headlights. It would also be hard to hear anything over the traffic noise too.

I don't think passing motorists would necessarily notice anything about her stop, whether they saw one person or two. Most people would assume car trouble and that the vehicle occupants were getting out of the car, possibly further back on the shoulder for safety while waiting for assistance.

MOO.

 

[Knox]

I screen recorded the video and took several screenshots. It’s hard to see but I’ll share. I see two, possibly 3 people. Carlee (in black tank, leggings, maybe hair up? A person in shorts with a white tee and white tall socks. And possibly a smaller figure in a red shirt. View attachment 434764View attachment 434765View attachment 434766View attachment 434767View attachment 434768View attachment 434769View attachment 434770View attachment 434771

Oh my gosh could that call to 911 be because someone had carjacked her? Doesn’t make much sense, but if there really was other people as you say near the car? I dunno know I’m stumped.

 

[MotherOcean]

I see the red shirted person! Clearly! Interesting because red shirts + B’ham AL very often = gang activity. Probably not but maybe. I have worked with many gang members from Birmingham and their crimes are almost always retaliatory OR an initiation. Retaliation requires planning and a targeted victim but initiations do not require a particular target. It wouldn’t matter if the victim was a young female or an elderly male.

There are many houses just through that wooded area. If there is gang activity in that neighborhood the LE certainly know it.

 

[nightowl1975]

Hopefully LE is able to use some sort of software to make that video clearer. There’s a person clearly exiting the vehicle. So it seems to me, she believed she saw something concerning enough to make her stop on the side of the highway at night.

Let’s say it was a complete figment of her imagination. Ok…. So she goes down into the wooded area searching for something that doesn’t exist. And does what from there? Even if she was in some rare psychotic break from reality, she’s not going to simply poof into thin air.

Let’s say she saw something she thought was a child but it really was a small animal or bag of trash or whatever. Same problem as above. She goes into the woods looking, finds nothing, and poofs into thin air?

Which leaves us with someone intentionally either used a small person/child to lure a passerby or used something resembling a small child, then waited to see who stopped. Maybe lurking along the wood line. If a female stopped, maybe they made some noise or whatever to lure the female into the woods. If LE or a truck driver or male or entire family stopped, they laid low and waited for them to leave?

I just don’t see voluntary disappearance here, nor do I see any type of mental break from reality. Not saying those are impossible, but out of all of the unlikely possibilities, I do think something nefarious happened.

 

[Alwayswanted2bFBIagent]

I see it! Could it be a vehicle traveling behind the tree lines away from the area her vehicle is at? With flashers or park lights on?

That’s what I thought too! Or even an ATV

 

[BeginnerSleuther]

Whoa! Are you on a PC or mobile? I could see “stuff” on my phone but nothing that clearly. Dang! How in the heck was anything able to happen so quickly? And without any reports from others? I said it in my other reply, police could be keeping these things close but why? If they had any reports of a struggle or anything you’d think they’d get the info out there asap.

IMO, the fact that her wig and hat were found by the car implies a struggle of some kind to me.

 

[vls12345]

I screen recorded the video and took several screenshots. It’s hard to see but I’ll share. I see two, possibly 3 people. Carlee (in black tank, leggings, maybe hair up? A person in shorts with a white tee and white tall socks. And possibly a smaller figure in a red shirt. View attachment 434764View attachment 434765View attachment 434766View attachment 434767View attachment 434768View attachment 434769View attachment 434770View attachment 434771

Thank you for these.

I hope LE, perhaps the state police or FBI can enhance the video for more information.

 

[Alwayswanted2bFBIagent]

Hopefully LE is able to use some sort of software to make that video clearer. There’s a person clearly exiting the vehicle. So it seems to me, she believed she saw something concerning enough to make her stop on the side of the highway at night.

Let’s say it was a complete figment of her imagination. Ok…. So she goes down into the wooded area searching for something that doesn’t exist. And does what from there? Even if she was in some rare psychotic break from reality, she’s not going to simply poof into thin air.

Let’s say she saw something she thought was a child but it really was a small animal or bag of trash or whatever. Same problem as above. She goes into the woods looking, finds nothing, and poofs into thin air?

Which leaves us with someone intentionally either used a small person/child to lure a passerby or used something resembling a small child, then waited to see who stopped. Maybe lurking along the wood line. If a female stopped, maybe they made some noise or whatever to lure the female into the woods. If LE or a truck driver or male or entire family stopped, they laid low and waited for them to leave?

I just don’t see voluntary disappearance here, nor do I see any type of mental break from reality. Not saying those are impossible, but out of all of the unlikely possibilities, I do think something nefarious happened.

I believe this is very carefully thought out and not the first time. What if this is happening across America and it’s a serial killer type situation. Only the thing or prop changes to get people to stop. Maybe it’s a couple that uses a mannequin and they hide until they see someone has been there for a while and is away from their vehicle so they can’t drive off.

 

[nightowl1975]

IMO, the fact that her wig and hat were found by the car implies a struggle of some kind to me.

I agree. Someone grabbed her by the hair, which happened to be a wig, and off it came. Curious to know exactly where the wig was found. On the side of the highway? Just off the paved road? In the grass? I don’t see how this is anything other than someone did something to her.

 

[ConfusedPopsicle]

IMO, the fact that her wig and hat were found by the car implies a struggle of some kind to me.

Usually yes but if it was staged or a drug induced panic that caused her to run (or something like that) it wouldn’t necessarily mean there was a struggle. Those screenshots posted earlier definitely show other people there (I can’t see those things on my phone) so a struggle is sadly likely. I’m just showing my thought process from before when it looked like there was no one else around.