No evidence of toddler walking down highway in Carlee Russell disappearance case: Police
Written by ABC Audio. All rights reserved. on July 19, 2023
(HOOVER, Ala.) — Carlethia “Carlee” Russell, the Alabama woman who returned home on Saturday after she went missing for two days, called 911 to report a toddler walking down the highway before her disappearance, but the Hoover Police Department said in a press release on Tuesday evening that investigators have not found any evidence of a child walking on the side of the road.
“The Hoover Police Department has not located any evidence of a toddler walking down the interstate, nor did we receive any additional calls about a toddler walking down the interstate, despite numerous vehicles passing through that area as depicted by the traffic camera surveillance video,” the press release said.
Police also previously said that they did not receive any calls to report a missing toddler.
The update came amid questions surrounding the circumstances of Russell’s disappearance. Police said in the statement that detectives are continuing to investigate what happened from the time she called 911 on Wednesday at around 9:30 p.m. ET to report a toddler on Interstate 459 in Alabama, until she returned home on foot late Saturday.
Police said they will share more information about the investigation during a press conference on Wednesday afternoon. ABC News has reached out to Russell’s family for comment.
The Hoover Police Department previously said the 25-year-old stopped her car to check on the toddler she reported after making the 911 call and called a family member to report what she saw. The family member lost contact with Russell, but the line remained open, according to police.
Officers who responded to Russell’s 911 call found her vehicle and some of her belongings on the scene, but there was no sign of Russell or the child she reported. Authorities said Tuesday that Russell stopped at a Target to buy snacks, but they were not found in her belongings at the vehicle.
Police said in the statement on Tuesday that detectives have obtained surveillance video of Russell that shows her walking alone in her neighborhood before she arrived home on Saturday night.
Medics were dispatched to Russell’s residence on Saturday after she returned home to aid an “unresponsive but breathing” person as described in the 911 call, but police said that first responders found Russell “conscious and speaking” when she arrived and she was transported to a local hospital, where she was treated and released.
ABC News’ Nadine El-Bawab and Mariama Jalloh contributed to this report.
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