Carlee Russell – latest: 25-year-old claims kidnappers took photos ...

The Alabama police has said that the 25-year-old nursing student told them her kidnappers had abducted her on an 18-wheeler truck and took her to a home where they forced her to strip and then took her photos. She said the kidnappers were a man and a woman, police said. The claim comes as Hoover police chief Nick Derzis said officials were “unable to verify” most of her statements about her alleged kidnapping. Police also told media about Ms Russell’s search history days before her kidnapping. Ms Russell had returned home alone and barefoot days later.

Nursing student Carlee Russell, 25, vanished without a trace from the side of Interstate 459 in Hoover on the night of 13 July – just moments after she called 911 saying she had spotted a toddler alone on the road.

When officers arrived on the scene, they found Ms Russell’s car still running and her cell phone and wig close by, but no sign of the 25-year-old.

A huge search operation was launched to try to track down the missing woman, with her family begging the public to come forward with any information.

Investigators in Alabama have found “no evidence” that Ms Russell was trying to help a toddler walking along a highway at the time of her mysterious disappearance.

On the night she disappeared, Hoover police said that the 25-year-old left her workplace and ordered food from nearby restaurant The Colonnade.

After stopping by The Colonnade, she went to the Target on Highway 280 and bought some snacks, police said.

These items were not found inside her abandoned vehicle along the highway nor were they found with her cellphone and wig at the scene of her disappearance.

Police said that the investigation had uncovered no evidence of a toddler walking down the interstate and had not received any additional calls about a wandering child – despite surveillance footage capturing numerous other vehicles passing through the area around that time.

Ms Russell, 25, left the Woodhouse Spa in the Summit luxury shopping mall in Birmingham at about 8.20pm on 13 July, according to authorities.

She called 911 at 9.34pm that night to report seeing a toddler wandering on the side of Interstate 459, and when police arrived five minutes Ms Russell had vanished while the engine of her car was still running.

Ms Russell turned up on foot at just over two days later at her parents’ home in Hoover, and her family has since said she was kidnapped and barely survived.

In a statement to WVTM, Woodhouse Spa owner Stuart Rome said he had turned over “everything we uncovered” to the Hoover Police Department.

Read the full story by Bevan Hurley here:

A woman who went missing after telling her family she spotted a child walking alone on a stretch of Alabama highway earlier this week has returned home.

Carlethia Nichole “Carlee” Russell returned to her parents’ home at 10.45pm on Saturday 15 July, two days after she appeared to vanish after calling 911 to report a toddler who appeared to be stranded no the side of a stretch of interstate.

It was not immediately clear what happened within those two days or how she arrived home. She was taken to hospital for evaluation; Hoover Police Department officials said that “additional information will be provided when it becomes available”.

Alex Woodward reports:

Hoover police chief told reporters on Wednesday that from an investigation into Carlee Russell’s disappearance and alleged kidnapping, they have no reason to believe there is a danger to the public’s safety.

“What we can say is that we’ve been unable to verify most of Carlee’s initial statement made to investigators,” chief Nick Derzis said.

“We’ve asked to interview Carlee a second time, but we have not been granted that request. As you can see there are many questions left to be answered, but only Carlee can provide those answers.”

Authorities in Alabama were dispatched to the location of 25-year-old Carlee Russell’s vehicle which was pulled off on the side of an interstate after Ms Russell called 911 claiming a toddler was walking along the road.

Police officers arrived on the scene five minutes after Ms Russell called to find her wig, cellphone and purse along the road. Inside her bag was an Apple Watch.

Before she went missing, authorities determined Ms Russell stopped by a store to buy snacks but noticeably missing from her vehicle were said snacks.

“These items were not located in the vehicle or with her cellphone and wig at the scene of her disappearance,” the police statement read.

The Hoover Police Department is expected to give an update to the case in a press conference at 3.30pm ET on Wednesday

In the days and hours leading up to Carlee Russell’s disappearance, the 25-year-old made a series of interesting internet searches that could provide some answers.

According to Hoover police chief Nick Derzis, Ms Russell searched for things like, “Do you have to pay for an Amber Alert” two days before her disappearance.

In the hours leading up to her alleged abduction on 13 July, Ms Russell searched, “How to take money from a register without being caught” and “One-way bus tickets from Birmingham to Nashville.”

She also looked up the movie Taken which is about the abduction of a young woman.

Ms Russell also searched for more information about Amber Alerts while she was at her workplace – which was the last location she was seen before she went missing for 49 hours.

Rudy Farias’ mother announced he was found alive eight years after he was reported missing as a teen. This news came as a surprise to neighbours and police, who are sure he wasn’t missing at all.

Andrea Blanco reports:

Carlee Russell made a series of suspicious internet searches in the days before she claimed to have been abducted, Alabama authorities revealed at a press conference on Wednesday.

A forensic analysis of Ms Russell’s cell phone, work and home computers found she looked up information about the movie Taken, Amber Alerts, booking a bus ticket from Birmingham to Nashville and “how to take money from a register without being caught”, Hoover Police Department Nicholas Derzis told reporters.

The searches shed light on the 25-year-old’s mindset leading up to when she claimed to have been kidnapped after seeing a toddler walking along the side of Interstate 459 on 13 July, Mr Derzis said.

Read the full story by Bevan Hurley here:

On 11 July, Carlee Russell used her cell phone to search for information on whether payment is required for an Amber Alert, police said yesterday.

Two days later, on 13 July, Russell conducted two searches related to Amber Alerts using her work computer. One of the searches was about the maximum age for an Amber Alert.

Additionally, she searched for details about the movie “Taken”, which revolves around an abduction, as well as how to commit theft from a register without getting caught, and information about Birmingham bus tickets, police said.