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

[MistyWaters]

Traffic cam footage of Carlee Russell’s car on I-459 investigated as search continues​

• Updated: Jul. 15, 2023, 2:43 p.m.

The search for Carlee Russell continues, and Hoover police said they are reviewing traffic footage for any clues about her disappearance nearly 48 hours ago.

The video comes from Traffic Cam Archive, an online company that captures, catalogs, archives and sells traffic camera footage.

The footage shows what police confirm is Russell’s red Mercedes driving slowly on the shoulder lane of Interstate 459 in Hoover Thursday night with her flashers on.

“We have looked at the video,’’ Hoover police Chief Nick Derzis said Saturday. “It’s not the greatest.”

The chief said they are working to get the video enhanced for more clues into Russell’s disappearance.

“We’re working closely with the family making sure they know exactly what we’re doing,’’ Derzis said. “They’re fielding a lot of leads themselves and they’re forwarding those leads to us.”

“Since our news conference yesterday we have followed up on many leads and are still employing all the resources of the Hoover Police Department toward locating Carlee,’’ Lt. Daniel Lowe said in a press release.

Traffic cam footage of Carlee Russell’s car on I-459 investigated as search continues

Russell, 25, has been missing since she reported seeing a child walking on the interstate in Hoover.

www.al.com

From your link -
“The footage shows what police confirm is Russell’s red Mercedes driving slowly on the shoulder lane of Interstate 459 in Hoover Thursday night with her flashers on…”


So did she sight something (a child?), then circle around to search that same section of hwy a 2nd time because she’s driving along the shoulder with her 4-way flashers on for a fair distance, before stopping. It would be impossible for her to see that far ahead IMO. There’s considerable traffic slowing somewhat probably because of her emergency flashers but none that are also pulling over as if to indicate anyone else sighting anything unusual on the side of the road. JMO this footage doesn’t support the narrative.

ETA: If the footage doesn’t reveal this is her 2nd passby at the same location to search for the child on the side of the road then this has to be a hoax. Because it sure appears she’s driving on the shoulder with her emergency flashers in preparation of knowing exactly where she’s going to stop her car. No way could she spot anything on the side of the road so far ahead of her. JMO

 

[ConfusedPopsicle]

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

I cannot figure out how to format this correctly, sorry. Anyway…

I see a shadow of someone running maybe? On the food sign behind where she stops. It’s driving me nuts because I can’t figure out where that person would be to cast that shadow like that.

 

[Testimony229]

The situation definitely doesn’t make complete sense and my heart goes out to her loved ones. I hope somehow there is a happy resolution. From what we currently know now, I can only think of one scenario that makes sense. It’s just my opinion though, of course.

Don’t think there was ever a toddler; more likely an adult or even an item that looked like a toddler that got her attention. She pulls over, gets out, and gets attacked by someone. I don’t think this person was trying to lure her, but more like while doing this, she came across someone with severe mental health issues or violent tendencies who saw her as a threat. The only thing that I’m missing is why they haven’t found her yet, but it could be a result of the terrain and other factors. There was a case in my area where a 13/14 year old boy went missing while riding his bike. Happened in a nice, safe area of town on a relatively busy main road at sunset. They didn’t find his body until the next day, but it was just off the edge of the sidewalk and had been missed multiple times by search crews and LE. The boy was just riding along and happened to come across a violent homeless drifter from down south who stabbed him. Completely random, unexpected, unprovoked, and happened on the sidewalk of a busy street. In my opinion, a situation like that makes more sense than someone purposely luring people off the side of a busy highway.

 

[keepitsimplestupid]

Was she on the phone with sister in law/brother’s girlfriend while still in the car and for how long after getting out of the car? Or did the phone call begin after she was outside of the car? And how long was the phone call? Obviously the scream heard during the phone call is an indicator of WHEN the trouble started, but we can also use WHEN to figure out WHERE the trouble started. From the time the call started to the time the scream was heard, how much time passed? How long would it have taken her to get from her car to wherever the scream happened, and what is around the area that many minutes/seconds away? Does this make sense?

 

[Coolcamino]

Here's an over head view of the area.

Google Maps

Find local businesses, view maps and get driving directions in Google Maps.

www.google.com

What are your thoughts on where she could have been taken?

She could have wandered off into that neighborhood. Is less than 400’ to three different houses by there. Could they have heard anything?

 

[BCSleuth]

how about this?

she stops the car at a pre-determined location. gets out. leaves purse, with watch in it, in the car. walks around to the passenger side. opens the door and leaves it open. drops her wig on the ground. screams. drops her phone on the ground.

then, dressed in all black, just walks off into the woods behind the mile marker around 1:26.

i kind of hope that's what happened. best chance of a happy resolution. i also don't see any evidence that would contradict it... (but, doesn't make it true).

One possibility. I sure hope it is not a hoax, though. I suspect mental illness. Definitely does not look like an actual abduction.

 

[Knox]

The reward in this case has reached $60,000, Russell’s family told WBRC Fox 6.

Video captures Carlee Russell’s car pulling off highway

Russell, a missing 25-year-old nursing student, called 911 to report a child she believed to be three or four years old walking along the busy highway.

www.wtvy.com

 

[ArmchairDefective]

I think any lights noticed on the right side of the frame (where the shoulder & grass is) are all reflections of headlights & turn signals bouncing off the highway signs.

Other than that, I'm at a complete loss.
I think she did believe she saw something, but after that, I'm stumped.

I agree. IMO the footage that exists is mostly useless; all that I think can be definitively concluded from it is that Carlee's vehicle drove down the shoulder for a stretch with the hazard lights on, then stopped, at which point someone (presumably Carlee) gets out and goes to the passenger side of the vehicle. I don't see anything else other than that -- no other cars parked or people or anything but reflections and shadows.

I'm remembering a time that my sister thought she saw a dead body on the side of the road. She was under a lot of stress and had been reading a horror novel recently. She called my dad crying about it. To reassure her, he went to check on what she said she saw and found... some trash bags. Driving at night blasting down the highway in the dark at 65+, you can easily mistake something benign for something it's not. Add a little anxiety or stress to the mix and it isn't a hallucination or a psychotic break, it's just your brain playing tricks on you. I believe that Carlee thought she saw a child. What she actually saw is anyone's guess (though I would assume a deer, perhaps partly obscured by undergrowth), but I do not think that there was a toddler on the side of the interstate.

Pulling over on the interstate is very, very dangerous even during the daylight, and moreso at night. The only explanation that makes sense to me is that Carlee stopped to investigate what she saw and became a victim of a hit and run, and has yet to be located. All the other scenarios seem too outlandish to me.

Praying for her family and loved ones. I'm still hoping for an outcome where she is found safe.

 

[agilbe]

This leaves me so disheartened. Stopping for a wandering child is something a lot of us would do. I know I would. It is becoming clear that is no longer safe. She was doing the humane thing and look what it got her. So sad for the family any way you look at it.

 

[Ontario Mom]

how about this?

she stops the car at a pre-determined location. gets out. leaves purse, with watch in it, in the car. walks around to the passenger side. opens the door and leaves it open. drops her wig on the ground. screams. drops her phone on the ground.

then, dressed in all black, just walks off into the woods behind the mile marker around 1:26.

i kind of hope that's what happened. best chance of a happy resolution. i also don't see any evidence that would contradict it... (but, doesn't make it true).

In this speculative timeline, where/how does calling 911 and her brother's girlfiend, telling them both she thought she saw a child on the side of the road, fit in?

 

[proctorelites]

Has anybody heard if her mom actually listened to the 911 call to be absolutely SURE it is Carlee making the call. It's possible someone else made the 911 call. Could it be that someone else made tht call?
The only issue I have is the video. The video looks like it is a car dump to me imoo. I cant see more than 1 possible person moving at all in the vid-briefly.
I noted how far the car traveled once it slowed down moving towards the mile marker...it was a long way for a toddler/human to travel.
I keep hearing of screenshots. I spent 2 hours viewing in slow motion & capturing shots. I just dont see a gray car. I do see light refracting- a lot. What appears to be reverse lights IMOO are the lights /taillights of a passing car bouncing off other cars /signs etc- light bending. I watched the passing car to be sure. The responding officer's blue lights do the same thing. I may also have a saved version of a saved version of the video- makes it way more difficult to view.
If somebody screen grabbed this gray car please circle it in red and share with me. Or heck share it with LE.

 

[stmarysmead]

Do any of you remember a case from years ago…girl from a lovely family, standing in line to board a plane. She suddenly says she needs to use the rest room. Then, just disappears.

In a few weeks, she was located alive. IIRC, she was pregnant and afraid to tell her family. I hope there is a similar happy ending to this story…once again, a loving and wonderful family. Sometimes we cannot fathom the desperation of those we love.

 

[LurkingSleuther]

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

I've watched the video a dozen times and this is all I see as well.

0:50 She exits driver's side door
0:55 She walks around the rear
0:57 She stands at passenger's side
1:33 She's still at passenger's side

She vanishes soon after. Between 1:33-2:03 it appears there might be a faint silhouette of her to the left of the mile marker sign but very tough to tell.

This is the only person I ever see. Her shirt appears red the entire time, but I'm not sure if that's because of the red break lights creating that effect.

 

[ConfusedPopsicle]

I've read from the beginning today, and have also watched even in slow motion on my 27" screen.
I see a LOT of artifacts, but nothing that looks like a person, except the one who exited the car.

What do you think of the screenshots? I didn’t think there was anyone else around just watching the video but those screenshots have changed my mind. I’m assuming my phone is old and not as clear lol. Maybe it’s still just artifacts in the SS but it doesn’t look like it to me.

 

[gremlin444]

No matter what happened, I hope her family's community is giving Mom, Dad, and siblings good support. Looks like Mom's workplace donated a big chunk of money to the reward fund this afternoon. Whether she went missing due to violence, a mental health snap, or out of her own choice, they are going to need so much love and support for quite a while to come.

Not that I want them to, but I am surprised I haven't come across any interviews/quotes in these articles from people at the restaurant she stopped at, co-workers from the spa, or any of her clients from her shift that day.

 

[Knox]

She could have wandered off into that neighborhood. Is less than 400’ to three different houses by there. Could they have heard anything?

My location was incorrect, here's the correct area -https://goo.gl/maps/CPt4gQ63DCeqi3Xc7

 

[keepitsimplestupid]

I agree. IMO the footage that exists is mostly useless; all that I think can be definitively concluded from it is that Carlee's vehicle drove down the shoulder for a stretch with the hazard lights on, then stopped, at which point someone (presumably Carlee) gets out and goes to the passenger side of the vehicle. I don't see anything else other than that -- no other cars parked or people or anything but reflections and shadows.

I'm remembering a time that my sister thought she saw a dead body on the side of the road. She was under a lot of stress and had been reading a horror novel recently. She called my dad crying about it. To reassure her, he went to check on what she said she saw and found... some trash bags. Driving at night blasting down the highway in the dark at 65+, you can easily mistake something benign for something it's not. Add a little anxiety or stress to the mix and it isn't a hallucination or a psychotic break, it's just your brain playing tricks on you. I believe that Carlee thought she saw a child. What she actually saw is anyone's guess (though I would assume a deer, perhaps partly obscured by undergrowth), but I do not think that there was a toddler on the side of the interstate.

Pulling over on the interstate is very, very dangerous even during the daylight, and moreso at night. The only explanation that makes sense to me is that Carlee stopped to investigate what she saw and became a victim of a hit and run, and has yet to be located. All the other scenarios seem too outlandish to me.

Praying for her family and loved ones. I'm still hoping for an outcome where she is found safe.

This makes sense, but it’s everything from the moment after she was hit that I can’t figure out.if the driver who hit her left the scene and left her body there, why wouldn’t they have found her body? If the driver moved her body, how did no other drivers see it happening?

 

[templeton]

I thought I saw movement to the right of her car, if it’s her. It almost looked like she, or someone, walked down into the ditch.

Those screen shots are terrifying. Definitely more than just her there on the side of the road.

MOO

I thought I saw that too!

 

[Ontario Mom]

I've watched the video a dozen times and this is all I see as well.

0:50 She exits driver's side door
0:55 She walks around the rear
0:57 She stands at passenger's side
1:33 She's still at passenger's side

She vanishes soon after. Between 1:33-2:03 it appears there might be a faint silhouette of her to the left of the mile marker sign but very tough to tell.

This is the only person I ever see. Her shirt appears red the entire time, but I'm not sure if that's because of the red break lights creating that effect.

100% spot on with what I'm seeing. I think it's a reflection of her brake lights and/or hazard lights.

jmo

 

[Badgerette]

Carlee Russell: What we know today after woman vanished on I-459 in Hoover

That article specifically says that tire tracks were found in the grass. It was also misting that night, so presumably they would able to tell that the tracks were fresh. That interstate has a full sized shoulder that is paved, how far into the grass are these tire tracks?