Police investigating the disappearance–and subsequent reappearance–of Alabama woman Carlee Russell released new details on the investigation Tuesday night, revealing that while they were able to speak briefly with the 25-year-old after she turned up at her home 49 hours after an eerie 911 call, they are now waiting “for her to be made available to obtain a more detailed statement.”
Russell disappeared last week after calling 911 to report a child walking on the interstate in Hoover, Alabama. According to an earlier statement from police, after the 911 call, she phoned a family member to report the same details. The family member “lost contact with her, but the line remained open.” Police found her car abandoned—still running with her belongings inside, sparking fears she had been abducted.
She then turned up at her home approximately 49 hours later–and details of what happened to the nursing student are slim, though her parents told the Today show that their daughter was abducted and left mentally and physically traumatized.
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On Tuesday night, Hoover police said that before her disappearance, Russell stopped in at a Target on Highway 280 to buy some “snack food type items.” Those items were not recovered in or around her car where her keys and wig were discovered, police said.
They claim that despite heavy traffic in the area, and surveillance footage, police have been unable to verify Russell’s report of a toddler walking down the interstate.
Then, in more security footage taken from her neighborhood just before she arrives home, Russell is seen “walking down the sidewalk alone.” Police have not yet described additional details from the video.
While initial 911 reports indicated Russell was “unresponsive but breathing,” police say first responders found her “conscious and speaking.”
“That was the term used in the initial dispatch of the Hoover Fire Department to the residence, and the information about her condition was simply a dispatcher relaying information from what a 911 caller told the emergency communicator,” police said.
Numerous items of evidence are “key in the processes of determining exactly what took place in the approximately 49 hours Carlee was missing,” police said, adding that the unnamed items are under evaluation.
While police were able to speak with Russell briefly after her reappearance, it is unclear when they may speak with her again.
A press conference is scheduled Wednesday where police are expected to discuss the case in more detail.
