Carlee Russell researched movie Taken before stealing clothes and vanishing, Hoover PD tells press conference

• Carlee vanished on Thursday then reappeared at home on Saturday night 
• Her disappearance triggered police and volunteer manhunt 

Carlee Russell researched the Liam Neeson movie ‘Taken’ and whether she was too old for an Amber alert before she vanished last week then reappeared two days later claiming she’d been abducted after going to help a ‘toddler’ on the side of the road. 

Carlee, 25, told police she was taken by a white man with ‘orange hair’ who appeared from the trees on the side of I-459 after she saw a ‘baby boy in a diaper’ walking along the road on Thursday at around 9.30pm. 

Her disappearance sparked a frantic police and volunteer hunt which generated $62,000 in donations to Crime Stoppers, and nationwide fears for the young nursing student. 

She reappeared at her parents’ house on Saturday night, 49 hours after vanishing, in what her parents described as a ‘bad state’. 

At a press conference today, Hoover Police revealed new evidence that points to her disappearance being a hoax. 

‘We have been unable to verify most of her initial statements, and we have no reason to believe there is a threat to public safety,’ Hoover Police Chief Nick Derzis said. 

Detectives stopped short of accusing her of maliciously lying, instead questioning her mental state, but said they were now struggling to believe her story. 

Carlee is now refusing to be interviewed for a second time, they said, after initially giving them her elaborate abduction story.  

Carlee reappeared on Saturday night at her parents’ home. It remains a mystery what happened to her 

Hoover Police Chief Nick Derzis said Carlee’s story could not be proven 

Carlee Russell’s mysterious disappearance and reappearance in Alabama last week 

‘She said a man came out of the trees and mumbled that he was checking on the baby, then picked her up and took her over a fence and into a car. 

‘She said the next thing she remembered was being in the trailer of an 18-wheeler, and that there was a female whose voice she heard but who she didn’t see. 

‘She told detectives she could hear a baby crying, and that the male had orange hair,’ Chief Derzis said. 

Carlee’s story included escaping from the pair then being recaptured.  

‘She says they blindfolded her but didn’t tie her up because they didn’t want to leave compression marks,’ Chief Derzis said. 

She also told the police that the pair made her strip and photographed her body, but said they did not physically or sexually abuse her.  

Carlethia ‘Carlee’ Nichole Russell, 25, is seen moving into the shoulder lane in her red Mercedes with the flashers on. Police say she drove 600 yards before pulling over – the distance of six football fields – and claimed the whole time to be looking at a toddler 

Carlee is now refusing to be interviewed for a second time, they said, after initially giving them her elaborate abduction story.

Today it was revealed that prior to going missing, she was seen on surveillance cameras stealing a dark bathrobe and toilet paper from The Woodhouse Spa where she worked. 

She also bought Cheez-Its and granola bars from Target, that detectives believe she took with her when she vanished. 

Her phone, wig and Apple Watch were found in her car, along with take-out food she had ordered from a restaurant near her work. 

She had also driven 600 yards – the length of six football fields -while on the phone to 911 claiming to be looking at a baby boy on the side of the road. 

At the press conference, detectives played her calm 911 call reporting the child.  

In the days leading up to her disappearance, she researched terms like: ‘Do you have to pay for an Amber alert?’

On the day of her disappearance, her Google searches included: ‘How to take money from a register without being caught?’ 

She also searched: ‘Birmingham bus station’ and ‘one-way ticket from Birmingham to Nashville.’ 

She also researched terms relating to kidnapping and disappearances, including on the day she vanished.

Her parents Talitha and Carlos Russell launched a frantic search for their daughter last week. They say she is now too fragile to be interviewed by police 

Russell, 25, was studying nursing at the time of her disappearance, which sparked nationwide headlines 

 Carlee’s parents say she ‘banged on the door’ on Saturday at 10.45pm and was in a ‘bad state’ 

Carlee claims she managed to escape from them while they were moving her in a vehicle, and that she ran home. 

She also drove 600 yards – the length of six football fields – while on the phone to 911 claiming to be looking at the child. 

After calling 911, Carlee called her brother’s girlfriend and claimed to be looking at the child. 

The brother’s girlfriend then heard her scream, then the line went dead. 

Carlee’s parents, who had asked the media and police for help in finding her, are yet to address the new evidence released today. 

It remains unclear whether or not she will be charged.  

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