After Carlethia “Carlee” Nichole Russell, was the definition of a Good Samaritan who stopped to help a child she saw walking next to the highway Thursday night, she was reported missing. On Saturday, she returned home and was taken to a hospital to be evaluated.
“The circumstances of her sudden vanishing remained unclear on Sunday morning,” reports The New York Times.
It all began on Thursday night at around 9:30pm when 25-year-old Russell had called 911 “to report that she saw a child walking on the side of the I-459 South in Hoover, a suburb of Birmingham.” Police note that she also stopped her car on the side of the interstate in order to check on the child as well as calling family members, relaying the same information.
Afterward, she would not be seen or heard from for approximately two days. When police did arrive to the scene, they were able to find Russell’s car and personal affects, but they “were unable to find her or a child in the area.” The ensuing investigation into her disappearance served to capture the attention of the nation.
Police are now investigating the “latest development in this case” after it was reported that Russell returned home Saturday night around 10:45pm. In a statement, police said “Additional information will be provided when it becomes available.”
Prior to Russell’s mysterious disappearance, her mother described the last conversation she’d had with her daughter, “At some point, she got out of the car and my daughter-in-law could hear her asking the child if they were OK,” continuing, “The child did not respond, or at least she did not hear her respond. And then she heard our daughter Carlee scream and from there on all we could hear was noise, background noise in her phone which we later found out was noise from the interstate.”
The line was still open, and family members were able to use a phone feature and rush to Russell’s location. They arrived “to the spot on the interstate and saw their daughter’s car, its driver-side door open and engine still running. Her hat and wig were on the ground beside the car, and her phone was in a different nearby spot.”
Police officers were already there using drones to search in the surrounding areas, and the family joined in on the search, driving around the neighboring suburbs to expand the search.
The circumstances prompted widespread concern to find Russell as well as discern what happened that night. This case involves a myriad of puzzling details including the fact that how had “no other driver on the heavily traversed interstate managed to spot a toddler walking on the side of the road that night, an image that would have surely prompted more 911 calls than just Ms. Russell’s.”
Before Russell was found, Hoover Police Chief Nicholas Derzis stated, “This is a little unusual,” adding “The thing that we do know is that her car was on the interstate, and she was not there when we got there, and that’s what we’re trying to figure out.”
Police did say that a lone witness did report “seeing a grey vehicle and a man standing outside Russell’s car,” but this was discounted after they reviewed video footage.