By Chase Holmes, News Reporter
HOOVER — Carlee Russell searched for amber alert information, the Birmingham bus station, and bus tickets to Nashville in the days leading up to abduction according to information released at a press conference by the Hoover police department on Wednesday, July 19.
Hoover Police Chief Nicholas Derzis said at a press conference on July 19 that Carlee’s report of a toddler walking down the road was the sole report they received about the toddler. No children were recently reported missing. GPS tracking of her phone showed that Carlee traveled 600 yards on I-459 while she was on the phone with 911. Chief Dervis compared it to walking down six football fields.
Chief Derzis said it was hard for him to understand how a toddler could walk six football fields without crying or getting in the road.
Chief Dervis went through a timeline of Carlee’s whereabouts from the time she left work until she was abducted and released Carlee’s timeline of events after she was captured.
Carlee said that while investigating the toddler, a man came out of the woods and mumbled something about checking on the toddler. After, she was forced over a fence and into a car. She said the next thing she remembers is being forced into the trailer of an 18-wheeler with a man and female. She was able to escape, but was captured again and forced into a car. The man is said to have orange hair with a large bald spot on the back of his head. She was blind folded, but not tied up, as they did not want to leave marks. She was brought to a house, undressed, and had pictures taken of her. They did not sexually assault her. The next morning, she was fed crackers by the female. Eventually, she was put back in a vehicle and escaped in the West Hoover area and ran through some woods before eventually finding her way home.
Detectives noticed she had an injury to her lip and said she had $107 in her right sock. Detectives want to interview her again.
Hoover PD, with help from the Secret Service, analyzed Carlee’s phone. Chief Dervis detailed several internet searches that interested them, many of which from the day she was abducted on July 13:
- July 11: “you have to pay for an amber alert”
- July 13: “how to take money from a register without being caught”
- July 13: “Birmingham bus station”
- July 13: “one way bus ticket from Birmingham to Nashville” with a departure date of July 13
- July 13: “the movie Taken”, a movie about an abduction
- Two searches for “amber alerts” were also discovered on her work computer
Chief Dervis said more searches were found on her phone that detailed her mindset but the Hoover PD is not releasing those searchers in respect of her privacy.
“I find that very strange,” Chief Derzis said about the search for the movie ‘Taken’.
Derzis said there was no reason to believe there to be an active threat to the public.
Derzis said their focus was on learning more about the 48 hours that Carlee was missing. No toxicology report has been done and there is no history of mental wellness.
Hoover police department is interested in interviewing Carlee again. “We’re ready to talk as soon as she is ready,” said Chief Derzis.