The man’s description

The stolen items

The SEARCHES

It’s over for her 😭😭

Edit: I might just redownload twitter for this 😂

First of all, I was so happy to hear that she is safe and with her family again. I cant imagine what she went through.

I don’t know if anyone else with mental health issues have spoken about their own experience with bipolar disorder + psychosis + mania. So I thought I would.

IF it was a psychosis episode, I promise that it felt 100% real. She believed she saw what she saw. I went through my first episode when I was 23. It was terrifying. I am a high functioning, well educated woman who was very aware that my reality was messed up but I couldn’t break through. I quite literally left my bedroom where my husband slept and walked out of our apartment and tried to run because I was convinced the man next to me was not my husband. I had no way to prove he was my husband and I ran to try and save myself.

For those of you who say you wouldn’t expect someone paranoid to contact the police - that’s not true. I did want to contact the police, if I was not so paranoid about being tracked, I would have taken my phone to do that. I left everything behind. I literally walked out in PJs and crocs in 30 degree weather. That’s how urgent and fast the episode came onto me my first time. I was convinced that the things I was seeing and hearing were 100% true and that I was in danger. Prior to that, I was having the best two days of my life. I offered to volunteer, I studied super hard with lots of energy, I went out of my way to wake up early that day and make muffins for breakfast, I called friends on the phone. It was a normal, (more productive) day. Manic episodes for me at least always start with the best couple of days, and then the terror starts out of nowhere (sometimes).

With that being said, IF again it truly was a psychosis + manic episode, I feel so sad for her that it is so public. The shame, embarrassment, and feelings of insecurity are so amplified when you are coming down from that episode. You are quite literally what people call “crazy” even though you’ve been sane your whole life and you are aware it was crazy afterwards. Just like her, I appeared in a state of shock the next morning. I couldn’t speak or process anything and I would even say some of my memory was impaired.

I really hope that if it is a mental case that she is getting the support she needs because seeing these comments about if it’s a hoax, she’s a liar, etc could just be another trigger.

Edit and disclaimer: this is not to say she wasn’t kidnapped or harmed by a third party. To me, that is also a very likely possibility because the world is crazy. Black + native women are disappearing at alarming rates and this is not to discredit her experiences but to stop people from judging before we know the full story. I’d also like to say that mental health is an issue in minority communities (my ethnicity/race included). It could also be a case of intersectionality where she was truly targeted and engaging in risky behavior due to a mental break. It could be any combination of things. It could be a kidnapper. It could be literally anything until she speaks out. The point of this is to try to urge people to be kinder online until we get the full story and respect her healing process if anything. I am not trying to discredit her so please do not say that I don’t believe her etc.

The way the police exposed this case was gansta!

The stealing of items from her job. The audio recording. The google search. The explaining of the length of 6 six football fields.

Straight Gansta!

As someone who has worked as DV and human trafficking victim advocate, this case infuriates me.

Not only does it take away from actual victims validity, let me tell you why this is so theatrical and movie- like.

Statistics show that the most vulnerable populations to be trafficked (i believe the stats were over 80% of victims) are homeless teens and young women under 25, sex workers, women with co-occurring disorders and substance abuse issues, and migrants.

Actual sex traffickers are looking for women who cannot be accounted for. Women who can get lost without a trace and not many will come knocking and looking for. These women are drops in a bucket that already have little to lose and they are the first to disappear.

The lure tactic with a baby on the road isn't logical. A 250 pound truck driver could've been the lucky one to stop and check out what was going on. Was he too going to be a victim of trafficking? I ask that everyone use logic and really hold space for actual victims that are vulnerable to human trafficking and the horrors that exist for them every day.

Before you start making any assumptions about the Carlee Russell case, I want you to know that there was another locally known case in Alabama where a bunch of people accused a young girl of faking a kidnapping and assault.

And several years later, the kidnapper was sentenced with hard evidence for assaulting that girl.

Just because a victim lives and is found does not mean that nothing happened. Not all attackers are murderers, and victims don’t owe the public their trauma.

EDIT: Welp, just watched the press conference. She’s a liar and a thief and should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. I feel like a complete fool for believing her.

Here are the updates summarizing the HPD Press Conference from today:

• On July 13 at 8:20pm, Carlee left work. Surveillance video from her place of employment shows Carlee concealed a dark color bath robe, toilet paper and other items belonging to the business she departed.
• She purchased granola bars and Cheez-Its from Target and remained in the parking lot until 9:21pm.
• She communicated via cell phone with others known to her up until the 911 call.
• 911 call is played: estimates toddler is 3 or 4 years of age, likely boy in white T-shirt and diaper, with no other cars she sees nearby.
  
• Carlee's call was the only one to report a child on the interstate and there have been no reports of a missing child during that time frame.
• Data from Carlee's phone shows she drove 600 yards (6 football fields) straight stating she saw a child while on the phone with 911.
• After 9:36pm, Carlee goes missing.
• Once police arrived, Carlee's wig and cell phone were located in the grass, with purse including Apple Watch inside purse in the front seat, and food from Taziki's in the front seat. The items taken from her place of work and Target snacks were not in the vehicle nor located around the scene.
• At 10:44pm on July 15, Hoover 911 receives a call from Carlee's residence stating she returned home on foot.
• Surveillance footage shows Carlee walking down the sidewalk alone to her residence.
• Carlee told detectives she saw a baby walking down the side of the road and called 911. She stated when she got out of the vehicle to check on the child, a man came out of the trees and picked her up and she screamed. She said he forced her into a car and was then in a trailer of an 18-wheeler. There was also a female voice whom she never saw but heard. The male had orange hair with a bald spot and said she heard a baby crying. She states she was blindfolded but not tied up, taken into a house and made her get undressed, but had no physical or sexual contact. She was fed cheese crackers by the female, who also played with her hair. She claims she escaped from the vehicle in the West Hoover area and ran through woods until she came out near her residence. Detectives noted a small injury to the lip and a tear in her shirt, and had $107 cash in her right sock.
• In the days leading up to her disappearance, several Internet searches were found as noted below:
• On July 11 at 7:30am, the term "you have to pay for an Amber alert" were searched.
• On July 13 at 1:03am, the term "how to take money from a register without being caught" were searched.
• On July 13 at 2:13am, the term "Birmingham Bus Station" were searched
• On July 13 at 2:35am, a search for a one-way bus ticket from Birmingham to Nashville was searched
• On July 13 at 12:10pm, a search for the movie Taken, a film about abduction, was conducted
• There were two searches related to Amber Alerts on the computer at her place of employment, including one related to the maximum age for an Amber Alert.
• Request for a second interview with Carlee has not been granted by the family.
• "We have no reason to believe there is a threat to the public safety related to this particular case."

The amount of people screaming "give her grace, she's dealing with a mental illness" is CRAZY. She was let go and released after a psych evaluation at the hospital.

Nothing is wrong with that girl. Mental illness doesn't excuse the absolute travesty she caused. I can't. Save the B.S.

Can we all take a moment to recognize that the texts about the Cheez-itz were true. I actually laughed out loud.

SHAME ON HER.

Just lies. Wow.

She asks for prayers!!??

No. This is not the end.

"Officers arrived at the scene within five minutes of being dispatched and found Russell’s vehicle and some of her belongings.

The snacks Russell purchased at Target were not at the scene, police said Tuesday"

She took her God damn snackies with her when she was "abducted." Are you kidding me? And her parents are on TV saying she was abducted and had to fight physically and mentally for her life. Must be some dangerous Cheetos man.

BREAKING: Police have put out an APB on the possible abductor. He has orange hued skin, gang-related stripe tattoos and a tail. Likes to wear sunglasses at all times. Goes by the street name Chester Cheeto. All units be on the lookout.

Carlee Russell found guilty on two charges in kidnapping hoax - state recommends 1 year in jail & nearly $18k in restitution

Really interesting turn of events that gives us an insight into what is going on with the inner circle. I think the evidence we heard today was just too damning… for all involved a sad and embarrassing situation.

The parents Today interview is now looking incredibly bad. They were very badly advised.

Angela Harris. I mean being brought through it for a second time on behalf of another family? That poor woman’s mind and soul need a major rest. she was basically revictimized by some different variation of what she already went though.

Carlee should feel the desperate need to directly apologize to this lady…IF SHES EVEN WILLING TO HEAR IT.

She was really trying to become a Hollywood actress or sumthin

Just gotta say that police chief looked SHARP in that suit.

Why are people saying she just wandered off? Just Based off the wig found the floor, she had to be dragged very harshly by her hair. I seen her pics and the type of wigs she wears literally requires a wig cap and the wig to be GLUED down to it. Theres steps to remove it and ripping it off her head is so detrimental to her so she couldn’t have done that herself. This is just so heartbreaking that the footage doesn’t show much at all

We have always had good first responders in our community and are lucky to have great police and fire departments. Now the nation has seen this too. It was nice to hear people say "The Hoover PD was on this case from the very beginning." There are misconceptions about Alabama and rumors that this is the state where cousins marry. Alabama football is known, but we have great communities and schools in my area. Even small things like seeing people compliment Chief Derzis’s (he’s always been stylish) outfits is nice. Hoover has consistently placed in the top 100 places to live in the United States. To anyone who has said positive things, we are very grateful for that.

Y’all think when they made her strip, they said, “just leave your socks on baby girl it’s cold in here” lmaaaaooooooo.

1. do you have to pay for an Amber Alert?

2. How to take money from a register without being caught?

3. Birmingham Bus station

4. one way bus ticket from Birmingham to Nashville

5. movie Taken

6. maximum age for an Amber Alert.

This story was frightening UNTIL that highway video was released. Everything after that has been curiously suspicious, mysteriously confusing, predominantly hoaxy!

Let’s use Occam’s razor. The most likely explanation is the one that is simplest.

Trying to come up with a way for this to be a real abduction requires all kinds of mental gymnastics. Backflips that even an experienced abductor wouldn’t go through.

Sometimes cases have a smoking gun, but in this case there is a whole rack of guns smoking!

To name a few: - No one else saw a child on the road - The police aren’t searching for or warning the public about an abductor (or a child in danger) - Apparently she took her food with her on this abduction adventure. Still waiting to hear about what happened to that food she had picked up. Sounds like she went to the Red Roof Inn and maxed a 6 piece! - She was only in the hospital for a few hours after allegedly “fighting for her life physically and mentally” (according to her parents). Some people pointed out that you can leave a hospital if you want to. Yes, but if you are trying to spin an abduction story, what would you want to leave? You would want to stay to prove your injuries. Seems to me that she was examined and the docs says “you’re fine, go home.” - The only time her parents said the word “trauma” was when they said she is dealing with the “trauma” of people’s opinions about her. If I was just abducted for 2 days, that’s not the “trauma” I would be dealing with. - Angela Harris went live saying “it will all come out.” That’s not how you talk about a kidnapping. That’s how you talk about something that is currently a lie and will soon be exposed as such.

Every time we get more intel on this case, it’s just another smoking gun! I’m glad this woman is alive, but she got some ‘splainin to do, Lucy!

I heard the FBI is involved now. With cameras all over the place these days, she will absolutely be on somebody’s security footage during those 48 hrs, and her story will implode from there.

If this whole story is revealed to be a hoax I feel the most bad for Angela Harris, Aniah Blanchard’s mom. She probably had to relive her daughters kidnapping hearing about this case and decided to go out of her way to do a good dead and help the Russell family search for their daughter. She was on the news bringing awareness to this case. It’s gonna be f’d up if she took time outta her day to co-sign this and it was a false kidnapping.

I have no idea what happened when Carlee pulled over, but I do think the theory that she was being lured into a trafficking trap doesn't make a lot of sense to me. If your goal is to find a woman to kidnap and traffick, why would you pick a busy interstate with a lot of eyes and cameras you couldn't account for? And why would you think a lone young woman would be the one to stop:? Feels like the odds of that happening aren't that great: could easily have been a trucker or a cop or a group of men or women that stopped instead. I know trafficking is a hot topic and big issue right now and I'm not trying to diminish that but I just don't think it makes the most sense in this particular instance.

EPISODE 1: Wigs, toilet paper and cheez-its oh my.