Investigators ‘unable to verify’ most of Carlee Russell initial statement

Investigators in Alabama said Wednesday that they have been “unable to verify” most of Carlee Russell’s initial statement about her 49-hour disappearance.

“There are many questions left to be answered, but only Carlee can provide those answers,” Hoover Police Chief Nick Derzis said at a press conference. “What we can say is we’ve been unable to verify most of Carlee’s initial statement made to investigators.”

“We have no reason to believe that there is a threat to public safety related to this particular case,” Derzis added.

Russell went missing last Thursday night, after she called police to report that she had seen a toddler walking along the highway alone. Police later received a second call from Russell’s mother, saying that a relative had been on the phone with Russell when she screamed and they lost contact.

However, police have not been able to locate “any evidence” of a small child walking along the highway alone that night, Derzis said.

Two days later, Russell called 911 from her home and said that she had walked back on foot. The 25-year-old told detectives that a man had come out of the trees when she approached the child and forced her into an 18-wheeler truck.

Russell said she was taken to a house where the man and a woman made her get undressed and took pictures of her. She said she was later able to escape from a vehicle and return home.

However, Derzis noted that in the days leading up to her disappearance, Russell had conducted web searches regarding paying for Amber Alerts, how to take money from a register without getting caught, a Birmingham bus station and the movie “Taken.”