Police Provide Update on Carlee Russell Disappearance

Alabama woman Carlee Russell searched for the movie “Taken” and how to take money from a cash register without getting caught, among other search queries, police said during a Wednesday morning press conference.

“I find that very strange,” Hoover Alabama Police Chief Nicholas Derzis said Wednesday.

He added that it’s hard for him to understand how a toddler could walk the size of three football fields along the interstate without being spotted by anyone, including security cameras.

As CrimeOnline previously reported, 25-year-old Russell called 911 Thursday night at around 9:30 p.m. to report seeing a toddler walking along Interstate 459 in Hoover. Minutes later, she reported the same information while on a call with her sister-in-law, saying she was topping to see if she could help.

Traffic camera footage showed Russell’s car, hazard lights blinking, slow to a stop near mile marker 11. The family member reported hearing Russell ask, “Are you OK,” but heard no response, and then Russell screamed.

Around 10:45 p.m. Saturday, Russell arrived at her parents’ house in Hoover, Alabama.

And as they have said since the disappearance, police still have no evidence of a toddler walking along the highway. No other calls to 911 reported a toddler, “despite numerous vehicles passing through that area as depicted by the traffic camera surveillance video.”

Derzis said during their interview with Russell, she claimed she was abducted by a male and female and forced into a truck. However, they have no confirmation of that happening.

Derzis added that Russell allegedly stole items from work prior to vanishing.

Other searches found on her phone, according to Derzis, include: