It has been nearly a week since 25-year-old Carlethia "Carlee" Russell went missing in Alabama. She returned home two days after going missing, showing up at her family's home on foot, as Mom.com previously reported. The case sparked national attention, and now the Hoover Police Department is offering up more information.
"On July 13, at approximately 8:20 p.m., Carlee left work. Surveillance video shows Carlee concealed a dark color bathrobe and ordered food," Derzis added.
Reports state that she left work and went to a Target to buy some "snack food type items." They were not found in the car when police showed up, but her cellphone, wig, and purse were.
"Numerous evidentiary items are still being evaluated, and those items are key in the process of determining exactly what took place in the approximately 49 hours Carlee was missing, but also what took place prior to her disappearance," a police statement read.
"On July 11, the term ‘do you have to pay for an Amber Alert’ was searched. The term ‘how to take money from a register without being caught’ was searched," Derzis said during the live press conference.
"The term ‘Birmingham bus station’ was searched. The term ‘for a one-way bus ticket from Birmingham to Nashville’ was searched. The term ‘for the movie Taken’ was conducted," officials continued.
Derzis added that "there were other searches on Carlee's phone that appeared to shed some light on her mindset," but declined to share additional details out of care for Russell's privacy.
The Hoover Police stated that they were able to speak to Russell "very briefly" when she returned home on Saturday, but they are still waiting for additional information from her.
Right now, they are trying to piece together what happened in the 49 hours that Russell was missing before she returned home. The police statement claims that they "obtained surveillance video from Carlee’s neighborhood which shows her walking down the sidewalk alone prior to her arrival at her residence" on Saturday.
According to the police, Russell isn't currently cooperating, which means it's likely making it harder for them to obtain the information they need. The investigation is still ongoing, and they will release more information as they can.
