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

[duckcat]

Is there some kind of irrigation channel in the woods where the car was found? On google earth(PC) the historical imagery shows, what I can only describe as an irrigation channel or some kind of path? Is there a culvert?
Not sure how to link google earth, but the historical imagery dates can be seen in the top of each photo.

There’s a ditch there, but it appears to be quite shallow and narrow.

 

[Fika]

Something that doesn’t make sense for me is the way she stopped the car from the video. She was driving slowly on shoulder with hazards light on immediately when she came to the frame and drove quite a bit before stopping.
So when did she see a child? And how?
It’s pitch black and she couldn’t have seen a child so far ahead to be driving on shoulder for so long to the child.

She might have made a loop but how long would it take? She spoke to mom at 9:19 and by 9:36 she was already on phone with brother’s girlfriend stopping to attend to a child.
I guess my question is from 9:19 when nothing was amis could she drive spot a child make a loop come back to spot she seen a child?
If so lets say it could have happened in the meantime child was walking along highway when nobody else see them?
I can’t wrap my head around how that’s possible.

 

[eloquence]

Arguably, her hat and wig found on the ground could be evidence of a struggle. It implies that she was struck in the head, or had something placed over her head, grabbing or knocking off the hat and wig with it.

When would that have happened though? We have video of the time from her car pulling up, to her getting out and disappearing, to the cops arriving. The video isn't great but I find it hard to believe there was a struggle with absolutely nothing on the tape and no car around. they'd be dragging her into the woods screaming. It looks like she just calmly walked out of view.

 

[katydid23]

I'm pretty certain they were referring to an earlier post that kind of implied that because Carlee was wearing the applewatch in that photo, that she must have been wearing it that night (it was found in her purse - ergo a potential 'wilful' disappearance). Whoever originally put that photo out there though only states that this was the last outfit she was seen in and not that the photo is of her the day she disappeared - that fact really needs to be made clear for all the speculators out there.

About the watch and all the speculating going on as to what it infers; the fact that it was found in her prurse really means nothing until we learn what Carlee's habit was. Some people wear them all the time, some not, some only while training, some not, some take them off as soon as they die, some take them off only when they go to charge them. In this case, we simply do not know what Carlee's habit is and thus we cannot transfer "what I'd do" onto her nor infer any kind of scenario based upon this.

She may have taken it off when she went to get the food because she was alone, after dark, and wearing an Apple Watch can make you an easy target.

 

[Knox]

I'm pretty certain they were referring to an earlier post that kind of implied that because Carlee was wearing the applewatch in that photo, that she must have been wearing it that night (it was found in her purse - ergo a potential 'wilful' disappearance). Whoever originally put that photo out there though only states that this was the last outfit she was seen in and not that the photo is of her the day she disappeared - that fact really needs to be made clear for all the speculators out there.

About the watch and all the speculating going on as to what it infers; the fact that it was found in her prurse really means nothing until we learn what Carlee's habit was. Some people wear them all the time, some not, some only while training, some not, some take them off as soon as they die, some take them off only when they go to charge them. In this case, we simply do not know what Carlee's habit is and thus we cannot transfer "what I'd do" onto her nor infer any kind of scenario based upon this.

Thanks, I personally think nothing of the fact her watch was in her purse. Given where she worked, it could make sense not to have it on.

 

[T4Tide]

I guess I keep checking the Fb page at the wrong times. I just keep seeing posts from morons who think reflections are aliens and there’s a $2.5 billion trafficking team all lying in the ditch. People who legit think that she had time to circle the 3 miles back between the calls to 911 and family. People with one brain cell that’s off on Saturdays.

 

[duckcat]

Something that doesn’t make sense for me is the way she stopped the car from the video. She was driving slowly on shoulder with hazards light on immediately when she came to the frame and drove quite a bit before stopping.
So when did she see a child? And how?
It’s pitch black and she couldn’t have seen a child so far ahead to be driving on shoulder for so long to the child.

She might have made a loop but how long would it take? She spoke to mom at 9:19 and by 9:36 she was already on phone with brother’s girlfriend stopping to attend to a child.
I guess my question is from 9:19 when nothing was amis could she drive spot a child make a loop come back to spot she seen a child?
If so lets say it could have happened in the meantime child was walking along highway when nobody else see them?
I can’t wrap my head around how that’s possible.

The area where her car comes into frame in the traffic cam video is somewhere around the foreground in the the attached. The area she pulled over (red arrow area) is slightly visible, so it’s not comptlely out of the question, but I agree seems quite out of the ordinary.

 

[Coolcamino]

I also believe that there will be dash cam video from passing truckers or vehicles that will solve this crazy disappearance. I don’t see a gray car. I’m curious if the trucker that reported this siting has also given his dash cam video and been questioned throughly.

The quality and amount of dashcams will have something. They need to ask for anyone traveling that Highway to send in any footage for review. People want to help

 

[Ontario Mom]

I don't know what to think of this case.
I've watched that video countless times and I'm not seeing the various "other people" some folks are seeing.
I see one person, the person who exited the driver side and walked around the back of the car to the passenger side.
But I also cannot figure out how she went from calling 911 to report a child on the highway, then just vanished into thin air.
Nothing about that makes a bit of sense.

jmo

 

[Cubby]

Has anyone considered someone entering her car when she exited to get food?
What if an abductor was in her car and the toddler story was a ruse for the abductor trying to get help for herself. That might explain walking around to the passenger side?

Just thinking of possibilities.

 

[MntnHiker]

Plausible, but how could she be attacked and LE not find evidence of a struggle near the car?

Carlee Russell: What we know after she vanished on I-459 in Hoover, returned home

Hoover police said they have found no evidence of a public threat after she said she was kidnapped.

www.al.com

"“Her car door was open,” Talitha said. “They found her phone on the ground, along with her wig and her hat...Her purse was still in the car. Her Apple watch was in her purse and her Air Pods as well.”

Her phone, wig and hat supposedly being found on the ground could be evidence of a struggle IMO

 

[gdeyefaith]

I wonder if she knew someone in the adjoining neighborhood that is behind the line of trees? I don’t know why this keeps popping in my head. Of course the rest of what happened doesn’t correlate with what I just said as far as to why she would keep her car running, hat and wig on the ground, seeing a toddler. Maybe she herself took the hat and wig off? Don’t mind me just thinking of something different. JMO.

 

[gremlin444]

It might be nothing, but...

I'm was checking the live cam to see if searching had restarted at that location since it seemed to come to a halt around 11:30. It looks like it resumed around 1:30. I left it on my screen while I'm at my desk doing paperwork. At one point I saw a police officer put what looked like a crime scene case in his car and leave.

I don't know if they have someone monitoring the camera 24/7, or just now because of this event, or if police can call and request they make a remote change.

But about 10 minutes ago I glanced up, and they were zoomed at medium distance to the area before the signs. Different cars, possible some police, a big cargo looking van (from the rear) pulled up in front of all of them and opened its back doors. After a bit someone started taking things out of the back of the van. Suddenly the camera zoomed in very tight to the this new person and the other folks standing by that exit sign--I saw someone that in that brief second appeared to be in civilian clothes with a tripod (can't be sure on the clothes), and then immediately the camera pulled back, much farther back than it had been originally. Since then a police cruiser with lights arrived and parked. I missed what happened then because I had to go switch laundry, and when I checked a few minutes ago the police cruiser was gone.

Could be civilian searchers, could be law enforcement, could be news crews getting footage for the dinner time/evening segments.

 

[Sleuths4Me]

I haven’t seen a lot on the car that was backing up as she was pulling to the side of the road and it goes off screen (lower right corner) turns off the lights. So weird

 

[Snail-Overlord]

Has anyone considered someone entering her car when she exited to get food?
What if an abductor was in her car and the toddler story was a ruse for the abductor trying to get help for herself. That might explain walking around to the passenger side?

Just thinking of possibilities.

I honestly wondered the same thing, since I legit can’t see anything else in the video. But also, where would that person take her? How did they escape?

MOO

 

[PsychoMom]

Did you notice that one truck that swerved at the last second? There was a car beside it so it couldn't change lanes.
There was an accident some time ago in which a trucker hit a person and didn't even know it and traveled a long distance before discovering the body on the front of the truck.

That's the kind of thing I referred to earlier. Several years ago, here in Georgia, a man hit 2 teen girls. They found one dead and only the shoe of the other one.

A drunk driver in a pickup hit them. The second girl flew over the cab into the bed of the truck. He was so drunk, he had no clue until he found her there the next day. He dumped her body, but they eventually caught him.

Everyone thought she had been kidnapped, at the time. No one thought someone would drive around with a dead body and not know it. Sadly, a similar thing happened a few years later in the same county.

 

[Cubby]

<modsnip: quoted post was removed> The shadow projected on the sign was in the video released to media.

Personally, I think the shadow is from an exhaust pipe on a semi cab. A semi drives into view immediately following the shadow.

 

[Cubby]

I honestly wondered the same thing, since I legit can’t see anything else in the video. But also, where would that person take her? How did they escape?

MOO

That's the million dollar question, but I didn't see anything after what looked like Carlee/driver leaning into the rear passenger door of her car.

 

[samsmom]

WFLA covers

#URGENT SEARCH: 25-year-old Carlee Russell disappears after helping child on I-459 | #HeyJB Live

#URGENT: CARLEE RUSSELL DISAPPEARANCE | There is now a $50,000 reward in the mysterious disappearance of #CarleeRussell, a 24-year-old woman who vanished aft...

www.youtube.com

 

[proclee]

Has anyone seen that on some of the video footage from the night you see a large shadow which looks like a persons torso/arm appear on the blue sign closest to the screen