Carlee Russell, a 25-year-old nursing student, made national headlines when she disappeared under strange circumstances on July 13, only to return home two days later.

Driving home from work the evening of July 13, Carlee Russell allegedly spied a toddler walking along an Alabama highway and called 911. Minutes later, she was gone.

When officers arrived at the scene, they found her red Mercedes still running and a few of her belongings—including her wig, phone and purse—but no sign of the 25-year-old, according to a police report.

And, yet, her story, which quickly garnered national attention, comes with a happy ending. Two days after the nursing student vanished she just as suddenly returned home.

While the authorities have spoken to Russell, the Hoover Police Department is still actively investigating Russell’s disappearance and the strange circumstances surrounding it.

“The details of that statement are a part of the ongoing investigation which is expected to continue over the next few days,” a spokesperson for the department told NBC News in a statement. “During the initial portion of the investigation, detectives were able to retrace nearly all of Carlee’s steps until she went missing and are confident that will continue to be the case.”

How did Carlee Russell disappear?

During her commute home from work, at around 9:34 p.m. on July 13, Russell called both 911 and a family member to report spotting a child alone on the interstate I-459 South, according to a press release shared by authorities.

However, when police arrived, Russell’s vehicle and some of her belongings, including her phone and Apple Watch, were there, but there was no trace of her or a child. Authorities also confirmed they have not received any other calls involving a missing toddler.

Crimestoppers offered a $5,000 reward for the safe return of Russell, and an anonymous donor offered an additional $20,000.

“A single witness has reported possibly seeing a gray vehicle with a light-complected male standing outside of Carlee’s vehicle,” Lt. Daniel Lowe stated in a press release at the time. “but we have no further information on that individual or the vehicle at this time.”

Russell’s mother Talitha Robinson-Russell told AL.com that Russell had called her brother’s girlfriend when she went to check on the child.

“My son’s girlfriend heard her asking the child, ‘Are you okay?'” Robinson-Russell said. “She never heard the child say anything but then she heard our daughter scream. From there all you hear on her phone is background noise from the interstate.”

When did Carlee Russell return home?

Two days after she went missing, Russell returned home July 15, the Hoover Police Department told NBC News. Hoover Police Capt. Keith Czeskleba noted that Russell was taken to a hospital for further evaluation. And, upon being treated and released, Russell provided a statement to police.

What are Carlee Russell’s loved ones saying?

After Russell was found, her mother Talitha Robinson-Russell issued a statement on her Facebook page on behalf of their family, addressing how grateful they were for their daughter’s safe return.

“Great morning!! My husband and I want to make this statement again as we did last night,” she wrote. “It’s nothing more to add or take away from how we’re feeling right now. God is faithful and He has answered our prayers… We do want to ask for privacy at this time to allow us to just love on our daughter and each other with our close family and friends.”

Russell’s boyfriend, Thomar Latrell Simmons, however, is alleging she was kidnapped.

“She was literally fighting for her life for 48 hours, so until she’s physically & mentally stable again,” Simmons wrote on Facebook, “she is not able to give any updates or whereabouts on her kidnapper at this very moment.”

Police say they can’t verify Carlee Russell’s abduction claim

Investigators have not been able to verify most of Russell’s statement about being captured, Hoover Police Chief Nick Derzis said. Police said that, prior to her disappearance, Russell made several “very strange” online searches, including whether you have to pay for Amber Alerts, how to take money from a cash register without getting caught and the movie “Taken.”

There were also searches related to the Birmingham bus station and bus tickets from Birmingham to Nashville.

“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.”

Investigators have not found any evidence of a child on the highway, the Hoover Police Department said Wednesday. The department never received any other 911 calls about a toddler on Interstate 459, even though multiple vehicles passed through the area on Thursday night.

While she was on the phone with a dispatcher about the toddler, Russell traveled in her car about 600 yards, the distance of about six football fields, Derzis said. She told the dispatcher there was a child wearing a white shirt and a diaper on the highway.

“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.

Police on Wednesday played audio from Russell’s 911 call, during which she said she was in her car following the child. Russell said in the call she would keep an eye on the boy until police arrived.

She hung up with the dispatcher and got on a call with a relative. The family member “lost contact with” Russell during the call, “but the line remained open,” Hoover Police Lt. Daniel Lowe said in a Friday news conference.Russell’s mother then called police and said Russell had been on the phone with a relative and that relative heard Russell scream.

Hoover officers arrived on scene within five minutes of being dispatched, police said. Russell was gone, but officers found her car, cellphone, wig and purse. Her Apple Watch was in the bag.

After returning home Saturday night, Russell spoke briefly with police, but they have not been able to interview her again in the days since.

Russell told police a man had come out of the woods and mumbled that he was checking on the child, Derzis said. She told officers the man then forced her over a fence and into a car.

Russell said the next thing she remembers is being in the trailer of a truck with the man, who she said had orange hair, and a woman. She also said could hear a baby crying.

Russell told police she escaped, but was recaptured and put into a car and blindfolded. She said she wasn’t tied up, adding that her alleged captors said they didn’t want to leave impressions on her wrists.

Russell said she was then taken to a house, where she was undressed. She said she believes that photos were taken of her. The next day, she said, the woman fed her cheese crackers and played with her hair.

Russell said at some point she was put back into a vehicle. She claims she was able to escape while it was in the West Hoover area and ran through the woods to get home. When police arrived, she had a small injury to her lip and a tear in her shirt. There was more than $100 in cash in her right sock.

Derzis said he thinks the parents believe what Russell has told them and that he spoke with them before Wednesday’s press conference to tell them what he’d be sharing with the public.

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.”

He said there’s no reason to believe there’s a threat to the community.

During the search, police worked to build a timeline of events leading up to Russell’s disappearance.

 She departed her workplace at a business in Birmingham, about 10 miles from Hoover, around 8:20 p.m. local time on Thursday, officials said. Surveillance video shows her leaving her workplace with a bathrobe, a roll of toilet paper and other items, all of which police said she kept “concealed.”

Russell then ordered food from a nearby business at The Colonnade shopping mall and picked it up. She stopped at a Target on Highway 280 to buy some granola bars and Cheez-Its. She stayed in the parking lot until 9:21 p.m.

At 9:34 p.m., she called 911 to report a toddler on the highway, saying she’d stopped to check on the boy, police said. The call ended quickly and Russell then called a relative.

The snacks and the items Russell took with her when she left work were not in her car when police arrived at the scene. They were also not found anywhere in the area.

“This investigation is not over,” Derzis said. “We’re still working this case and we’re working this case until we uncover every piece of evidence that helps us account for the 49 hours that Carlee Russell was missing.”

Source: Eonline