Alabama woman disappears after reporting toddler walking on interstate
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An Alabama woman who went missing after calling 911 to report a toddler walking along an interstate "was literally fighting for her life for 48 hours" before she was found Saturday evening, her boyfriend says.
Carlethia "Carlee" Nichole Russell, 25, was reported safe around 10:45 p.m. Saturday after returning to the home she shares with her parents in Hoover, police said.
The Hoover Police Department said in a press release that 25-year-old Carlethia "Carlee" Nichole Russell called 911 on Thursday night at 9:34 p.m. to report a toddler that she saw walking on the side of Interstate 459 South near Birmingham, Alabama. (Hoover Police Department)
Police and Fire officials responded to the home and transferred her to UAB hospital for evaluation before being released.
"I have been going nonstop since I received the call that she was missing on Thursday night," Russell’s boyfriend, Thomar Latrell Simmons wrote on Facebook. "I know she would’ve done the same for me, so I wasn’t going to give up until I saw her face again!"
Simmons said Russell was "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."
Russell's whereabouts were not immediately clear since around 10:45 p.m. Thursday when she called 911 and a family member to say she saw a young child walking on the side of Interstate 459.
While on the phone with the relative, Russell stopped talking but the line "remained open," according to police. (Hoover Police Department)
Police found Russell's car and her cellphone but were unable to find her or a child in the area.
Hoover Police Lt. Daniel Lowe said the family member on the phone with Russell lost contact with her even though the line remained open. A single witness reported possibly seeing a gray vehicle and a man standing outside of Carlee's vehicle, but they had no additional information.
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Police asked people to report any information they might have about her disappearance, while family members organized a search in the area.
Once officers arrived at the scene shortly after, Russell's car and some of her belongings were found nearby, but police didn't find the female or the child who she called 911 about. (Hoover Police Department)
Talitha Russell told AL.com her daughter was headed home in the community about 10 miles south of Birmingham after leaving work and stopping to get food. She was on the phone with her brother's girlfriend when she said she saw a child on the roadside.
"My son's girlfriend heard her asking the child, 'Are you Ok?' She never heard the child say anything but then she heard our daughter scream,'' Talitha Russell said. "From there, all you hear on her phone is background noise from the interstate."
During the search there were two separate rewards of $20,000 and $5,000 for information assisting Russell's safe return, police said.
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Detectives took initial statements from Russell while she was in the hospital. The details from her statements are part of the ongoing investigation which is expected to continue over the coming days, police said.
Fox News’ Landon Mion and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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