Police: Alabama woman searched for “Taken” movie, info on Amber Alerts before she vanished

HOOVER, Ala. — Police have released new details about the mysterious disappearance of an Alabama woman who later returned safely to her home.

Hoover, Alabama police said 25-year-old Carlee Russell vanished from the side of an Alabama interstate Thursday night after she called police to report seeing a toddler wandering alone along the road.

[DOWNLOAD: Free WSB-TV News app for alerts as news breaks]

She later called a family member and reported the same information before screaming and dropping off the call.

RELATED STORIES:

• Police locate missing Alabama woman who reported toddler walking on highway
• Carlee Russell returns home after search, but no word from Alabama police on where she’d been
• Woman missing after reporting child on side of road

Officers dispatched to the scene found Russell’s wig, cellphone and purse with her Apple Watch inside on the road near her car.

On Saturday, more than 48 hours after she vanished, police say Russell returned home on foot. She was immediately taken to the hospital for evaluation.

[SIGN UP: WSB-TV Daily Headlines Newsletter]

On Wednesday, police released further cryptic details on Facebook, saying that they’ve determined that before she vanished, Russell went to a nearby Target store and bought snacks. They said surveillance footage from her neighborhood shows Russell walking down the sidewalk alone before she came home.

Police later said in a news conference that Russell told them that when she went to investigate the child, a man came out of the woods and dragged her into a tractor-trailer. She said she was then blindfolded and taken to a home, where she believes a man and woman undressed her and took pictures of her. She told police she was later put in a car in the Hoover area, where she was able to escape.

Several details led police to question the story Russell told them.

Dispatch records showed that while she was on the phone and said she was following the child she saw on the highway, her car traveled 600 feet, or the length of six football fields.

Investigators said it didn’t make sense a small child could travel that fast in that length of time.

Police said Wednesday that before she vanished, Russell took items from her job including a bathrobe and toilet paper before buying granola bars and Cheezits at the Target.

A search of her phone revealed she had searched for information about Amber Alerts, how to steal money from a cash register and the movie “Taken.” She also searched for tickets from Birmingham to Nashville.

Police said when Russell was found, she had $107 in her sock, a cut on her lip and a tear in her shirt.

Police would not say if they believe Russell staged her own abduction and said they were willing to hear more of her side of the story.

Hoover is a suburb of Birmingham and about 95 miles from the Georgia border.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

2 volunteer firefighters fighting for their lives after fire truck overturns

©2023 Cox Media Group