The internet is abuzz with speculation as Carlee Russell, a woman who disappeared from a Hoover, Alabama highway, chooses to remain silent, and her family appeals for privacy.
However, many people who were invested in her story are eager to uncover the truth about what happened to Russell for the 48 hours she was missing and how she made it back home from the side of the highway after leaving her car, personal belongings, including her purse, phone and smart watch behind.
According to Russell’s family, she was on the phone with a family friend on Thursday, July 13 when Russell said she spotted a small child wandering on a busy highway. The friend told Russell’s parents she pulled over and called 911 and reported the sighting to emergency personnel. She disappeared shortly after seemingly getting out of the car to check on the toddler.
Ever since Russell returned home on July 15, questions have arisen about her whereabouts and what transpired on the highway in the time she was gone. Video footage from the scene of her disappearance also doesn’t capture any other vehicles stopping until an emergency vehicle shows up reportedly five minutes after her 911 call.
Some speculate that the woman may have been kidnapped or a victim of a human trafficking ring after her parents and boyfriend referred to a “kidnapper” or “abductor” in recent interviews.
“Carlee has given detectives her statement so that they can continue to pursue her abductor,” Talitha Russell, Carlee’s mother, read from the statement.
According to one anti-trafficking organization, the scenario of a human trafficker using a child to lure victims is highly unlikely and inconsistent with how traffickers typically operate.
Sabrina Thulander, the communications director for Polaris, the nonprofit organization running the National Human Trafficking Hotline, stated that they are not aware of traffickers using such tactics. She dismissed the notion of traffickers…
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