Police: No Evidence of a Stranded Toddler Along Highway Where Carlee Russell Went Missing

Alabama authorities said there is no evidence a toddler was on the side of I-459 highway, a sighting which allegedly prompted 25-year-old Carlee Russell to pull her vehicle over and call 911 before she went missing.

Less than 49 hours after disappearing, Russell returned home on foot Saturday at 10:45 p.m., Breitbart reported.

“The Hoover Police Department has not located any evidence of a toddler walking down the interstate, nor did we receive any additional calls about a toddler walking down the interstate, despite numerous vehicles passing through that area as depicted by the traffic camera surveillance video,” according to a press release.

Russell called 911 at 9:30 p.m. on Thursday July 13 to report the toddler. She then talked on the phone with her brother’s girlfriend until 9:36 p.m. when the brother’s girlfriend reportedly heard a scream on Russell’s end, Breitbart reported.

The nursing student had got off work from Woodhouse Day Spa in Birmingham and then ordered food from Taziki’s in the Colonade, a nearby business. Russell then headed to Target and purchased snack food.  According to Hoover Police Lt. Keith Czeskleba, there is no evidence that Russell was followed.

When authorities arrived at the scene, her car was running with her wig and cell phone still in the seat. The snacks she purchased from Target were not in sight, according to authorities.

Neighborhood surveillance footage shows Russell walking alone on Saturday evening back to her house.

“Fire department radio traffic obtained by several media outlets shows that medics were dispatched to her residence on an “unresponsive but breathing” person. That was the term used in the initial dispatch of the Hoover Fire Department to the residence, and the information about her condition was simply a dispatcher relaying information from what a 911 caller told the emergency communicator,” the statement read.

However when medics arrived at the house, Russell was “conscious and speaking” and was transported to the hospital in that condition.

Russell has yet to give her statement to the police; meanwhile, her parents appeared on the Today Show and shared how Russell “fought for her life.”

Police are expected to release more information at a press conference on Wednesday at 2:30 p.m.