Boyfriend of Alabama woman speaks out after she was 'kidnapped'
Boyfriend of Alabama nursing student, 25, claims she was KIDNAPPED after being ‘lured by a toddler wandering on interstate’ – as he says: ‘She was literally fighting for her life for 48 hours’
- Carlethia ‘Carlee’ Nichole Russell vanished after getting out of her Mercedes
- Her boyfriend Thomar Simmons said she was ‘fighting for her life for 48 hours’
- Russell vanished after pulling over to check on a toddler wandering alone
The boyfriend of an Alabama nursing student who vanished after stopping to help a wandering toddler at the side of an interstate has claimed that she was in fact kidnapped.
Carlethia ‘Carlee’ Nichole Russell, 25, was found alive on Saturday night after being ‘dropped off’ at her parents’ home after a frantic two-day multi-state search.
Thomar Latrell Simmons, Carlee’s boyfriend, has now claimed that she was indeed kidnapped – and revealed she was ‘fighting for her life for 48 hours’ after vanishing from the Alabama interstate 459 highway on Thursday.
He said on Sunday afternoon that his girlfriend is not currently ‘physically or mentally stable’ enough to speak about the whereabouts of her alleged kidnapper.
Simmons, who shared loving photos of the couple together, mentioned that he was falsely accused of being involved in her disappearance – but he ‘kept his faith’ and continued the desperate search for his girlfriend.
The boyfriend, who last week went on a trip to New York City with Carlee, described his ‘nonstop’ hunt for her – and said he was not giving up ‘until I saw her face again.’
Thomar Latrell Simmons (left), Carlee’s boyfriend, has now revealed that she was ‘fighting for her life for 48 hours’ after vanishing from the Alabama interstate 459 highway. He gave the harrowing update after she turned up at her parents’ house on Saturday night
Russell is not currently ‘physically or mentally stable’ enough to speak about the whereabouts of her alleged kidnapper, her boyfriend said in an update on Sunday
Carlethia ‘Carlee’ Nichole Russell, 25, was missing for 48 hours. Her car, which was still running, was found on the side of an interstate on Thursday – along with her phone and her wig
Thomar Simmons, Carlee’s partner, wrote online: ‘I don’t even know how to start off this post but to only say thank you to my lord & savior Jesus Christ for saving my girlfriend’s life!
‘Also, thank you to everyone who shared a picture, came out to the Hoover Met to help us with the search parties, & who went & proceeded to tell other people about Carlee to bring more awareness to her story.
‘I have been going nonstop since I received the call that she was missing on Thursday night. I know she would’ve done the same for me, so I wasn’t going to give up until I saw her face again!
‘I was straight tunnel vision, even when I would get on social media on my downtime & see some of the false allegations & assumptions about me having something to do with her abduction would have me discouraged at times, but I didn’t give up & kept my faith!
‘I just want to thank all of my family, friends, former teammates, & church members who called or texted me just to let me know that they’re praying & here for me; you guys don’t know how much that meant to me!
Thomar and Carlee are pictured on a July 4 trip to New York City – just a week before she vanished off the side of an interstate in Alabama. He posted on social media thanking people for their efforts to find her
Russell, 25, was found alive on Saturday night after being mysteriously ‘dropped off’ at her house – sparking a multi-state search for the nursing student
Carlee is pictured with her boyfriend Thomar. He said following the ordeal: ‘I wasn’t going to give up until I saw her face again’
Thomar Simmons posted images and videos of the pair together after she was found
‘All I asked from everyone right now is to be respectful of Carlee’s situation.
‘She was literally fighting for her life for 48 hours, so until she’s physically & mentally stable again she is not able to give any updates or whereabouts on her kidnapper at this very moment.
‘I also want to thank the people on social media who has been understanding & respectful about what she’s been through in these past few days.
‘Once again I can’t thank you guys enough for helping us bring Carlee home! God bless you all.’
New images also show the sheer number of officers and the public who helped search for the nursing student after her shocking disappearance.
The update comes after Carlee’s parents Talitha and Carolos Russell said they believe the young child may have been used as ‘bait’ to lure Russell from her car on Thursday night, reports WVMT-TV.
They also tearfully promised to ‘scour the earth’ to find her when she was missing. She arrived at their doorstep and ‘appeared to be in shock’ late on Saturday night.
New images also show the sheer number of officers and the public who helped search for the nursing student after her shocking disappearance
Russell, 25, vanished for two days – causing a frantic search for her. She was found on Saturday night after being ‘dropped off’ at her house
Her parents Talitha and Carolos Russell (pictured) said they believe the young child was used as ‘bait’ to lure Russell from her car on Thursday night. They also tearfully promised to ‘scour the earth’ to find her when she was missing
Russell, 25, is seen moving into the shoulder lane in her red Mercedes with the flashers on. She was checking on a toddler who she saw wandering alone along the Alabama interstate highway
This comes as new footage showed the eerie moment Russell slowly pulled over on the highway after seeing a toddler walking on their own before she vanished.
Russell, 25, was last seen moving into the shoulder lane of the Hoover, Alabama interstate 459 highway on Thursday in her red Mercedes with the flashers on.
As she pulled over on the night she disappeared, she was on the phone with her brother’s girlfriend. The nursing student told her over the phone that she was getting out her car to check up on the child.
The girlfriend heard a sudden scream and lost all contact with Russell.
In the clip, her car is seen moving to the right lane. After a while, the footage is lit up in blue lights as police attend the scene where her empty car was found.
When officers arrived at the location, they found Russell’s car, along with her cell phone, purse, wig and Apple Watch in the nearby area – but Russell and the child she claimed to have spotted were nowhere to be seen.
Police are now using the footage to help analyze what happened to the woman after she got out of her vehicle on Thursday.
Hoover police Chief Nick Derzis said: ‘We have looked at the video. It’s not the greatest. It proves that Carlee’s car was there, and we know that when the officers responded after the 911 call that she was not.’
On Saturday night, officials in Hoover, Alabama received a phone call that Russell had returned to her home after knocking on the door.
Police Chief Nicholas Derzis told the New York Times he’s not sure how she got there, but nobody was with Russell on her arrival.
After police and fire officials confirmed it was Russell and evaluated her at the scene, she was taken to a local hospital.
No further information about her condition has been made public other than one person familiar with the situation said she’d been ‘dropped off’ at home, according to WBRC.
Hoover Police Department said in a statement: ‘Missing person Carlee Russell has been located.
‘At 10:45 P.M., the Hoover 911 center received a call that Carlee returned home to her residence. Police responded to the scene to investigate this latest development in the case.
‘Hoover Fire medics responded to the scene to assess Carlee and transported her to a local hospital for evaluation.
‘Additional information will be provided when it becomes available.’
Hoover Police had not received any other calls of a missing child. One witness reported possibly seeing a gray vehicle and a man standing outside of Carlee’s vehicle, but police said they had no additional information.
She has now been found, after turning up at her doorstep on Saturday night
The 25-year-old was on the phone with her brother’s girlfriend when she went to check up on the child before the family member heard a scream and lost contact
https://youtube.com/watch?v=22Ybku9I2Dw%3Frel%3D0%26showinfo%3D1%26hl%3Den-US
When officers arrived at the location, they found Russell’s car, along with her cell phone, purse, wig and apple watch in the nearby area – but Russell and the child were nowhere to be seen
After a while, the footage is lit up in blue lights – as police attended the scene where her empty car was found
‘In the process at some point she got out of the car and my daughter-in-law could hear her asking the child if they were okay,’ her mother, Talitha Russell, said. ‘The child did not respond, or at least she did not hear her respond, he or she respond.’
‘And then she heard our daughter Carlee scream, and from there on all we could hear was noise … background noise in her phone, which we later found out was noise from the interstate.’
Russel left work around 8:20 PM on Thursday before stopping to pick up food for her and her mom.
She then travelled toward Hoover and called 911 at about 9:30 PM to report the missing child wandering on the side of Interstate 459.
After calling 911, Russell reportedly called her brother’s girlfriend to tell her she was going to check up on the child. The family member lost contact with her at about 9:36 pm but the line remained open.
Responding officers located Russell’s abandoned car along with her cell phone, her purse, wig and apple watch in the nearby area, but no sign of her or a child.
Lt. Daniel Lowe said said one witness reported possibly seeing a gray vehicle and a man standing outside of Carlee’s vehicle, but they have no additional information.
Russell was described as a 5-foot-4, 150 pound black female and was last seen wearing a black shirt, black pants and white Nike sneakers.
Russell is described as a 5-foot-4, 150 pound black female and was last seen wearing a black shirt, black pants and white Nike sneakers
The Hoover Police Department said they are partnering with many local, state and federal partners in the investigation and are ‘grateful for the outpouring of support from the local and law enforcement community’
Talitha Russell said the last time she spoke with her daughter was around 9:18 p.m. Thursday when she left Taziki’s after picking up food and was headed home
Lowe said police are pursing all possibilities in the disappearance.
‘We’re certainly leaving nothing off the table,’ he said when asked if investigators believe she was abducted.
‘No piece of information is too small in this investigation,’ Lowe said in a presser Friday.
Family members also organized a search in the area.
‘We’re just gonna scour the earth,’ Russell’s dad, Carlos Russell, told WVTM. ‘There’s no stopping us.’
An anonymous donor offered a $20,000 reward for Russell’s safe return and another $5,000 reward is available through Crime Stoppers.
The Hoover Police Department said they were partnering with many local, state and federal partners in the investigation and are ‘grateful for the outpouring of support from the local and law enforcement community.’
Carlee’s wig was left at the scene of her disappearance. Her mother posted a photo of what her daughter looks like in braids without her wig
Russell’s parents are begging anyone with information to come forward
Talitha Russell said the last time she spoke with her daughter was around 9:18 p.m. Thursday when she left Taziki’s after picking up food and was headed home.
‘We are trusting God, we are staying positive, we are not allowing any negative thoughts to enter our minds so all that we are doing is trusting God, believe in God that our daughter will be brought home safely,’ Talitha Russell said to WSAZ.
‘She’s known to be helpful and she has a big heart,’ Talitha Russell said of her daughter.
‘And she does know not to stop for anyone … I think she kind of let her guard down thinking they were so close. And when she got out the car, she did tell my daughter-in-law, ‘I can’t just leave this little child on the side of the road.’
Russell works part time at The Woodhouse Day Spa and attends Jefferson State Community College, according to AL, where she is studying to become a registered nurse.
She has a bachelor’s degree in psychology from AUM, according to the outlet.
Source: Read Full Article