Police reveal concerning internet searches prior to Carlee Russell disappearance

HOOVER, Ala. (WDEF) — The Hoover Police Department is still investigating what may have occurred when Carlee Russell went missing. However, they held a press conference on Wednesday releasing all the information they have at this point. They do not believe there is any threat to the public in relation to this case.

Carlee Russell (Hoover PD)

Investigators have not been able to confirm any information that Russell gave to authorities. No one else reported seeing the child on the interstate, and no one reported a missing child in the area.

Authorities say they know everything that happened leading up to Russell’s disappearance but have yet to find out what exactly happened after she went missing.

The Hoover police chief released some of the internet searches Russell made leading up to her disappearance. These searches grant the question of whether Russell faked her abduction and, if so, what may have led her to do so.

Internet Searches

She made one search on her phone asking if you have to pay for an Amber Alert, two days prior to her going missing. On the day of her disappearance, she searched Amber Alerts twice on her work computer. One of those searches asked if there was a maximum age for an Amber Alert.

At 1 a.m., the day of her disappearance, she searched how to take money from a register without being caught. An hour later, she searched Birmingham bus stations, as well as bus tickets from Birmingham to Nashville with a departure of July 13.

At 12 p.m., the day of her disappearance, she searched the movie ‘Taken,’ which is about an abduction.

Russell went missing on July 13.

July 13

The police chief said Russell took items including a dark colored bathrobe from her business, prior to her departure. She ordered Tazikis and went to Target to get granola bars and Cheese-Itz.

When police searched the scene where she went missing, her Tazikis food, purse and Apple watch were in the car. They found her phone and wig in the grass. But her Target purchases and items she took from her work were not in the car, the police chief said.

Russell told 911 operators that a white, male toddler in a diaper, white shirt and no shoes was walking southbound on I-459. She told operators she was watching the child while in her car, with her hazards on. But police say she traveled 600 yards, or the distance of 600 football fields, while on the phone with the 911 operator.

Traffic camera footage on the interstate did not reveal a child either.

Russell Returns Home

They have spoken to Russell but are giving her privacy and expect to speak with her again.

When interviewing Russell, detectives noticed a small injury on her lip and a tear in her shirt. She also told them that her head hurt. Detectives found $107 in cash in her right sock, according to the police chief.

What She Told Police

During the interview, Russell told detectives that an orange-haired man with a bald spot abducted her after saying he was going to check on the baby. She said he forced her into a car and the next thing she remembered was being in an 18-wheeler.

Russell told police there was a woman with him, but she never saw the woman. And she said she heard a baby crying.

She told police she escaped, fled on foot and was captured again. She told them she was then put in a car and blindfolded but wasn’t tied up as to not leave impressions on her wrist.

Russell told police that her abductors made her get undressed and likely took pictures of her, but she did not remember any sexual contact. She said the next day, the woman fed her cheese crackers.

Russel said at some point, they put her in another vehicle and then she escaped. She told them she ran through the woods and made it home on foot.