Many people have been glued to this story about Caralee Russell, the young woman who vanished last week and claimed she was allegedly abducted on an interstate after stopping to report a wandering child alongside the road.
As we previously reported, she told police she’d been abducted, but police have not found any evidence of a crime, officials in Alabama said Wednesday. According to new reports, so far, investigators have not been able to verify most of Russell’s statement about being captured, Hoover Police Chief Nick Derzis shares. Police said that, prior to her disappearance, Russell made several “very strange” online searches, including whether you have to pay for Amber Alerts. She also allegedly searched how to take money from a cash register without getting caught, and the movie “Taken,” which is about a woman being abducted and the ensuing quest to save her from her kidnappers.
“We’ve asked to interview Carlee a second time but have not been granted that request,” Derzis said. “There are many questions left to be answered, but only Carlee can provide those answers.” Speaking more about her claims he added, “Six football fields, to think that a toddler, barefoot, that could be 3 or 4 years old, could travel six football fields without getting in the roadway, without crying, it’s very hard for me to understand,” Derzis said.
While things may not seem to add up right now, when asked if he’d say if a crime had been committed, Derzis said no. “I wouldn’t say I’m frustrated,” Derzis said. “I’m very happy Carlee’s home and that’s the main ingredient here.”
Meanwhile, he boyfriend Carlee Russell’s boyfriend, Thomar Simmons, has seemingly deleted his post on Instagram where he defended her. On (July 16), Simmons initially took to Instagram to give supporters an update on what happened and thanked everyone for their prayers. He wrote,
“I don’t even know how to start off this post but to only say thank you to my lord [and] savior Jesus Christ for saving my girlfriend’s life! Also, thank you to everyone who shared a picture, came out to the Hoover Met to help us with the search parties, [and] who went [and] proceeded to tell other people about Carlee to bring more awareness to her story.” Simmons continued, “I have been going nonstop since I received the call that she was missing on Thursday night. I know she would’ve done the same for me, so I wasn’t going to give up until I saw her face again! I was straight tunnel vision, even when I would get on social media on my downtime [and] see some of the false allegations [and] assumptions about me having something to do with her abduction would have me discouraged at times, but I didn’t give up [and] kept my faith!”
“I just want to thank all of my family, friends, former teammates, [and] church members who called or texted me just to let me know that they’re praying [and] here for me; you guys don’t know how much that meant to me! All I asked from everyone right now is to be respectful of Carlee’s situation. She was literally fighting for her life for 48 hours, so until she’s physically [and] mentally stable again, she is not able to give any updates or whereabouts on her kidnapper at this very moment,” he added. “I also want to thank the people on social media who [have] been understanding [and] respectful about what she’s been through in these past few days. Once again, I can’t thank you guys enough for helping us bring Carlee home! God bless you all.”
Her parents also recently did an interview with the NBC and said they “absolutely” think their child got abducted. Although they’re happy she has since returned home on foot over the weekend, they are now focused on her physical and mental well being.
We will continue to keep you updated when more details have been shared.