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

[Facinatingtimes]

What I’ve read is that she was released last night after being there about 2 hrs.

Link? I do not see where it says she’s been released from hospital. TY

 

[mfmfan77]

LE releasing the video footage showing her travelling with her hazard lights on for a considerable distance, then stopping and no visible altercation occurring after the apparent scream opened the door to other possibilities.

It was if without expressly stating it, LE intentionally released evidence indicating no kidnapping occurred. That caused people to draw their own conclusions or consider alternate scenarios (ie attacked by an alligator, staged, etc). JMO

Yeah that video definitely opened the door to thinking there was no abduction since no one else can be seen on it, <modsnip> I did think an alligator was a possibility though. It’s definitely a weird case but ultimately one of the happier ones we’ve discussed here — thank goodness!

 

[MistyWaters]

I believe the footage was released by the media, not LE. Just to clarify that point…

Okay fair enough. Yet LE only issued a statement indicating all possibilities were being considered or something to that effect. In fact they were criticized for not issuing an alert. Typically people form opinions based on the high level of urgency publicized by LE and this case that was missing and somewhat unusual in that regard IMO.

 

[noseynellie]

In my (expert) opinion, this is not what a psychotic break looks like.

BeginnerSleuther- wondering about the take after recent developments. Still not likely a mental breakdown?

Also, is a psych evaluation required to become a nurse? I searched for it but got mixed responses.

People will make assumptions if they don’t have all the info. Perhaps better for her future to be upfront, especially if she’s the victim of a crime people in the community need to know about. If there was no crime, that’s newsworthy too.

 

[Quill]

<modsnip - quoted post was removed>

Did you follow the Abby Hernandez case? Her abductor dropped her off and she walked up and knocked on her mother's door. I'm not saying that is what happened here because we simply do not have the facts, but I'm willing to wait and have learned not to jump to conclusions. I'm glad Carlee is home, also.

 

[SiriSaysWhat?]

If this was a human trafficking situation, the amount of media attention this received could be a reason to release her. People deter from the idea that the child was bait because of the danger to the child but if they are in the human trafficking business their value of human life is incredibly depleted already. I am hoping they give press conference from the hospital soon. I can't imagine that everyone will stay hushed about his for very long.

 

[caradana]

"We work with facts," Chief Derzis said. "With social media, you got so many people that think they know what’s taken place. Right now, we’re just very pleased that she’s home."

I like this chief. He's focused on the right things. Carlee Russell: Missing woman who vanished on Alabama interstate found safe

Such a good point and one of my main takeaways from this story is how well the Hoover, Alabama PD did - from the very beginning and continuing now - from the fast response to that first 911 call, to the police chief’s respectful comments today.

 

[mfmfan77]

Did you follow the Abby Hernandez case? Her abductor dropped her off and she walked up and knocked on her mother's door. I'm not saying that is what happened here because we simply do not have the facts, but I'm willing to wait and have learned not to jump to conclusions. I'm glad Carlee is home, also.

This is what I keep going back to. It might help explain the trucker that saw the man in the gray car. There are still a lot of unknowns in this case and I hope someday we get more insight, but I’m mostly just happy she’s home.

 

[MistyWaters]

Yeah that video definitely opened the door to thinking there was no abduction since no one else can be seen on it, <modsnip> I did think an alligator was a possibility though. It’s definitely a weird case but ultimately one of the happier ones we’ve discussed here — thank goodness!

I totally agree. None of us can know the reasons someone might be inclined to stage a scenario such as this.

The only thing I can compare it to, I distinctly recall when my son was about 10 years old, he played on a hockey team. It was a certain game and they were losing badly, the other team outplaying them by a mile. At some point one of the players got knocked down and laid on the ice for a minute or two catching his breath. When he got up everyone clapped and cheered, relieved the player wasn’t injured. More clapping and cheering continued as the other team scored more goals. Then player after player on my sons team began to fall down on the ice one after another every few minutes, everyone clapping and cheering once they got up. Bizarre how they managed to create a means for their personal valuation in a different way, albeit fictiously.

If Carlee felt she was unappreciated or unloved I hope by the public reaction she realizes that’s not true at all.

 

[MistyWaters]

This is what I keep going back to. It might help explain the trucker that saw the man in the gray car. There are still a lot of unknowns in this case and I hope someday we get more insight, but I’m mostly just happy she’s home.

The trucker had to have been mistaken or perhaps recalled another vehicle stopped somewhere because the video footage revealed no 2nd car stopped.

 

[Fuhgetabouddit]

Link? I do not see where it says she’s been released from hospital. TY

I’m sorry, I cannot find the article I read now. And they’ve all been “updated” since. It just read something to the effect that “friends and family members gathered outside UAB hospital until early Sunday morning”, and I believe that time frame of until would’ve been between 12-1am.

 

[thefragile7393]

BeginnerSleuther- wondering about the take after recent developments. Still not likely a mental breakdown?

Also, is a psych evaluation required to become a nurse? I searched for it but got mixed responses.

People will make assumptions if they don’t have all the info. Perhaps better for her future to be upfront, especially if she’s the victim of a crime people in the community need to know about. If there was no crime, that’s newsworthy too.

No. You don’t need a psych eval to be come a nurse. Many of us already have anxiety and depression, and nursing school and working as a nurse are bad enough as it is without that extra stress.

People also don’t need to make assumptions about anything in the absence of what is publicly known. That’s a choice people choose to take that they don’t need to choose to do. Websleuths is known to take the facts and use the facts to piece along what may have happened but NOT assume anything until known facts are published, if at all. If she wants to be upfront, she can if she wants.

 

[Ontario Mom]

If this was a human trafficking situation, the amount of media attention this received could be a reason to release her. People deter from the idea that the child was bait because of the danger to the child but if they are in the human trafficking business their value of human life is incredibly depleted already. I am hoping they give press conference from the hospital soon. I can't imagine that everyone will stay hushed about his for very long.

There are several reasons to assume this was not any sort of a trafficking scenario but the most obvious is that potentially using a child or fake child as bait on a very busy stretch of highway, is jut not something traffickers do.

Super high risk of being seen (and caught), plus they'd have no idea who might stop & fall for the "bait".

If this was a human trafficker, he or she is quite possibly the dumbest one on the planet.

jmo

 

[LoveyG]

BeginnerSleuther- wondering about the take after recent developments. Still not likely a mental breakdown?

Also, is a psych evaluation required to become a nurse? I searched for it but got mixed responses.

People will make assumptions if they don’t have all the info. Perhaps better for her future to be upfront, especially if she’s the victim of a crime people in the community need to know about. If there was no crime, that’s newsworthy too.

IIRC, BeginnerSleuther said it did not present like a psychotic break (psychosis). Even if she is having a mental health issue, that in no way means she was having psychosis. Apples and oranges (in my non-medical professional opinion)

 

[SMK777]

Did you follow the Abby Hernandez case? Her abductor dropped her off and she walked up and knocked on her mother's door. I'm not saying that is what happened here because we simply do not have the facts, but I'm willing to wait and have learned not to jump to conclusions. I'm glad Carlee is home, also.

Good point.
ETA: I didn’t know of that case, but now that you’ve pointed it out, it seems more plausible. Thanks.

 

[neesaki]

Many are still asking / concerned about the baby/child. Seems like LE needs to address that publicly fairly soon. IMO

 

[NewMommy09]

https://www.cnn.com/2023/07/16/us/carlee-russell-found-alabama/index.html

From this article, EMS was called to the home where Carlee was assessed and then transported to the hospital. IMO, it does sound like she was harmed in some way rather than just self disappearing. Also, I feel like if LE felt she staged the whole thing, they would be hounding her for info right from the get go, attempting to get the truth from her. The way the chief handles his comments points me more to "lots of patience, nurturing, a sense of safety may be warranted in finding out what has happened" kind of thoughts. Again all IMO.

 

[Quill]

Good point.
ETA: I didn’t know of that case, but now that you’ve pointed it out, it seems more plausible. Thanks.

You're welcome. I realized that not everyone knows about that case. I followed that case here from the very beginning. I have been here awhile and cannot remember what I was following when Abby first went missing, but my full attention shifted to her case the minute I saw her thread appear. Her thread went through all of the normal theories up to and including that she was over-sheltered and ran away, pregnancy, divorced parents and family problems, online predator, drugs etc etc etc. That was all before she showed up on her mother's doorstep. Then it really went crazy on here. Her case has been on mainstream tv news programs. I think Dateline may have done a couple of episodes. It is a cautionary tale for all of us not to jump to conclusions just as much as any Papini case.

 

[Hansen]

I'm sorry if I missed this but do we know the toddlers name or was that released?

 

[imstilla.grandma]

"The first thing is to give Carlee and family a little time to get themselves back together," he said. "I know it's been a tough experience for them. When we think it's time to sit down and have a conversation with Carlee and try to get some facts, we'll do that."

"Just know that the police department is very happy. We wanted her to come home safe and sound, and we'll hope that's what happened here," he told WBRC. "The investigation portion, we'll get to, but to me the main deal is making sure that she got home safe with her family. And I couldn't be more excited, and I hope the community feels the same way."

What happened to Carlee Russell? Everything we know as missing woman found

Carlee Russell, 25, returned home late Saturday night, more than 48 hours after she first went missing.

www.newsweek.com