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 #3

[lonetraveler]

do we know her height and weight? i’m short and petit but we’re gonna tussle be for you get me slung, and the id be biting you

do we know her height and weight? i’m short and petit but we’re gonna tussle be for you get me slung, and the id be biting you

Carlethia “Carlee” Nichole Russell, a 25-year-old black female who is 5′4, 150-160 pounds.
Don't know what I've done to this post.

 

[Synergizer Bunny]

I have two burning questions and then I'm ready to lay this to rest:
1. Where was Carlee during the time she pretended to be missing?
2. What was her interaction with a different county's LE the day before she went missing that was posted about by them on FB and then deleted?

If someone with a better memory than I can recall which PD posted about Carlee, I'll edit my post.

I bet that Hoover Police might know the answer to both of these questions...???

JMO.

 

[lonetraveler]

I was thinking the same. I thought the person that rents the room has to show ID and has to be the same as CC holder who booked the room.

My thoughts? The person who picked her up from the interstate rented the room. JMO

 

[BeginnerSleuther]

She has bad insomnia and she's up at all hours. I really hope her parents have eyes on her at all times because she has depression and has mentioned suicide. I'd post the suicide tweet, but there is someone else in it and I don't know how not to embed a tweet. You can find it if you scroll thru a few tweets using this search

https://twitter.com/search?q=%40carleeenichole%20forreal&src=typed_query

I think the tweet you're referencing is from 2022. We don't know what her state of mind was just before this. For the record though, public humiliation is a risk factor for suicide, so I do hope her family supports her through this.

 

[imstilla.grandma]

Normally, wouldn’t this be a misdemeanor charge which might result in jail time, a fine and possibly require reimbursement of the costs of the investigation the false claim caused. Oh dear, Carlee, what were you thinking girl?

 

[Chimera]

I'd assume restitution for the theft should be sought, or this lady isn't going to learn about consequences.
This is so regrettable for Carlee's worried family and friends.
Just an awful way to treat people.
She still has a lot of life ahead of her yet, let's hope she can make better choices ?
Omo.

 

[caradana]

I do want to say this, in all seriousness. I have three daughters, all younger than Caylee. I am sure I would go to the end of the earth wanting to defend them in a vulnerable situation - even if it was of their own making - even if they were obviously lying - even if they were well into adulthood and totally failing to launch and screwing it up - even if involved preposterous snack chips and cheaper-but-not-cheapest-strip-mall-spa toilet paper with all the things, I will always be the very last person in their corners. I kinda get why her denial and pain and desire to be in that corner with her led her mom to that ridiculous Today Show appearance. I wish she had better counsel, and honestly I’m confused as to why she doesn’t. But I want to go on record and say that I’d be the last person in my lying, shortsighted, mistake-making daughters’ corner if it ever comes down with it, and for that reason I really can’t muster up anger at her mom.

 

[Leilei]

I'd assume restitution for the theft should be sought, or this lady isn't going to learn about consequences.
This is so regrettable for Carlee's worried family and friends.
Just an awful way to treat people.
She still has a lot of life ahead of her yet, let's hope she can make better choices ?
Omo.

If she does face legal consequences, I truly hope that her family doesn't help with them. Maybe I'm harsh, but this isn't a traffic ticket.

 

[Seattle1]

While there's flexibility on paying for lodging at check out, I don't recall ever being able to rent lodging without producing identification.

https://www.cato.org/blog/does-government-require-hotel-spy-you

If you’re a privacy conscious traveler, you may have wondered from time to time why hotels ask for ID when you check in, or why they ask you to give them the make and model of your car and other information that isn’t essential to the transaction. What’s the ID‐checking for? There’s never been a problem with fraudsters checking into hotels under others’ reservations, paying for the privilege to do so…

Well, in many jurisdictions around the country, that information‐gathering is mandated by law. Local ordinances require hotels, motels, and other lodgers (such as AirBnB hosts), to collect this information and keep it on hand. These laws also require that the information be made available to the police on request, for any reason or no reason, without a warrant.

That’s the case in Los Angeles, which not only requires this data retention about hotel guests for law enforcement to access at will or whim. It also requires hoteliers to check a government‐issued ID from guests that pay cash.

Casey White, Vicky White’s Evansville, Indiana motel room has a long waiting-list, clerk says

While on the run, murder suspect and former jailer stayed at Motel 41

www.al.com

I also recall that in 2022, Vicky White and Casey White on the run from Alabama paid a man $100 to rent a room for them in Indiana.

 

[Synergizer Bunny]

I was thinking the same. I thought the person that rents the room has to show ID and has to be the same as CC holder who booked the room.

My husband has rented the room for me. He is Diamond with Hilton. He rents the room for me when I am traveling alone. When I get there, I give them the confirmation number, my ID and my credit card. I have never had any problems.

We have never had any problems switching out credit cards for incidentals because that is why they keep it on file while you are there. The room can be paid for on another card.

Also, if you rent a room for someone else, all you have to do is let the hotel desk clerk know that you have done so, when they are checking in. This happens to my husband. He gets calls to verify that he has reserved rooms for his clients.

JMO.

 

[JerseyWasHome2]

Strange. Was your room already paid for using that card? This has never happened to us. In fact, my husband reserved my room at Hilton (when I was traveling alone). When I got there, I gave them my credit card, which is totally different than one that my husband uses. He did have a note telling them that the reservation was for me (with my name). I also had the confirmation number and email that he forwarded to me.

In addition, we oftentimes use a different credit card than the one that we have used to reserve our room. The clerk does ask for ID and says that any card will do for the incidentals.

eta: I have heard about fraud cases where people say that their room is reserved under such-and-such name without that person being there. The clerk can't let you into the room because you could go to the room and order all sorts of things with them being billed to that person's credit card (if it does turn out to be fraud).

My husband sometimes reserves rooms for his clients, and the hotel clerk or the clients will call him and hand the phone to the clerk to have him verify the room and his card number. That being said, if you gave your own card, they could just bill it to that card if your sister says that she didn't reserve your room. These cases are where my husband is actually paying for the rooms himself.

Where Carlee is concerned: I think she had help. Someone reserved a room. Cops can't prove that Carlee was there unless RRI has video showing her in the lobby, but she could have come in a side door?? One of her friends could have rented a room there. I know that I would not be lying to cops if I were questioned. I would tell the truth after I talked to an attorney, of course.

JMO.

I agree and in my limited travel experiences over the years, I've always had to provide a credit card in person even if I reserved the room online. Maybe the Red Roof Inn accepts cash? Because there are super cheap, even cheaper than the RRI, who do... Not all day stayers have credit cards. Curious. Would be interesting to hear more about this potential stay there.

 

[lonetraveler]

I think the tweet you're referencing is from 2022. We don't know what her state of mind was just before this. For the record though, public humiliation is a risk factor for suicide, so I do hope her family supports her through this.

I would not be surprised if the parents talk her into entering a mental hospital. It would help the parents get through the public scrutiny right now.

 

[Ltiger4]

That hit me too. I was surprised that the 911 operator told her to keep an eye on the child. Why in heck didn't the operator tell her to get the child so he wouldn't go out into the highway?

Omg, when I read this I just had the thought that she may have been expecting the 911 operator to tell her to get out and get the kid, and she had been planning to “get abducted” while on the phone with 911! I wonder if she was surprised when the 911 operator ended the call. There was no one to hear her fake scream so she had to call her brother’s girlfriend so someone could witness it. I’m just trying to make sense of the thought processes here. Why do all of this? Why?

 

[Teche]

Do you think that she was able to get the money from her employer's cash register? They would know if they were short the cash.

I want to know how Carlee thought that it would be believable that she was able to get away from her kidnappers clear on the other side of town. Yet, she doesn't run to the nearest home to call her parents for help (or the police) but instead "walks" all the way home? That would have taken her hours. What kind of shoes was she wearing for this long journey? Did she have blisters on her feet?

JMO.

I bet the spa had cameras.

 

[Teche]

Ok I'm caught up. I was on a flight, itching to know.

Holy Cow !!! No words.
How the heck did she get an MA in psychology ? The stupidity is mind boggling.
Really, a toddler alien child who can run faster than Usain Bolt ??
The google searches?

I feel so bad for her parents. And Carlee comes from a good home, lovely home....lots of support and future opportunity.
wth?

I gave her the benefit of the doubt.
Never believed the child story nor the abduction.

But I was leaning to a sudden onset of something organic or psychiatric.....like what happened to my friend those years ago.

I'm so angry......
All the resources.
And deceiving her parents.

I thought she had a BA.

 

[lonetraveler]

Do you think that she was able to get the money from her employer's cash register? They would know if they were short the cash.

I want to know how Carlee thought that it would be believable that she was able to get away from her kidnappers clear on the other side of town. Yet, she doesn't run to the nearest home to call her parents for help (or the police) but instead "walks" all the way home? That would have taken her hours. What kind of shoes was she wearing for this long journey? Did she have blisters on her feet?

JMO.

Well, we know that she had at least one sock on

 

[JerseyWasHome2]

If she does face legal consequences, I truly hope that her family doesn't help with them. Maybe I'm harsh, but this isn't a traffic ticket.

Totally agree. She's 25. She's not 13, 15, or even a day over just legally 18. She's had SEVEN years as a legal adult.

 

[Seattle1]

CR's last Tweets were on July 13, 2023, and when I first heard she located a toddler in a diaper on the Interstate, I thought of her final tweet (Tweets are posted in PT):

<modsnip: screenshots not allowed>

ETA: All of Alabama is Central Time Zone-- add two hours to posted time.

 

[Gardenista]

One of the charities that Gray routinely donates to during his end of the month donation streams is called Black and Missing. Tonight he's donating $1000.00

The charity made a statement about the Carlee situation

Black and Missing Foundation Statement on the Carlethia "Carlee" Russell Investigation | BAMFI

We must remain vigilant and not lose sight of the bigger picture while we await additional information on the Carlethia “Carlee” Russell investigation.

www.blackandmissinginc.com

 

[Teche]

Police on Wednesday listed some "very strange" online searches that Russell made in the days leading up to her disappearance. The search queries included:

July 11, 7:30 a.m. — "Do you have to pay for an Amber alert"

July 13, 1:03 a.m. — "How to take money from a register without being caught"

July 13, 2:13 a.m. — "Birmingham bus station"

July 13, 2:35 a.m. — "One way bus ticket from Birmingham to Nashville" with a departure date of July 13

July 13, 12:10 p.m. — "The movie 'Taken'"

Before her 911 call​

Thursday, July 13, 8:20 p.m. — Russell left her workplace in Birmingham, about 10 miles from Hoover, at around 8:20 p.m. local time, Hoover police said.

Russell then ordered food from a nearby business at The Colonnade shopping mall and picked it up, police said. She stopped at a Target on Highway 280 to buy some granola bars and Cheez-Its. She stayed in the parking lot until 9:21 p.m., according to police.

Russell calls 911​

Thursday, July 13, 9:34 p.m. — Just after 9:30 p.m., Russell called 911 to report a toddler on the highway, saying she had stopped to check on the boy, police said.

A timeline of the Carlee Russell case: What happened to the Alabama woman who purportedly disappeared for 2 days?

Here's what we know about Alabama nursing student Carlee Russell's 49-hour disappearance, as well as the days leading up to it.

www.cbsnews.com

The parents and boyfriend must be struggling to process all of this information.