Carlee Russell told a 911 dispatcher that she would stay on the interstate until police officers arrived, new audio of the call released by police shows.
Russell, 25, went missing on July 13 after telling a 911 operator at around 9:24 p.m. that she saw a 3 to 4-year-old toddler in a diaper walking along the side of Interstate 459 South near Birmingham, Alabama, according to the Hoover Police Department.
After calling 911, the 25-year-old called a relative and abruptly stopped talking but the line “remained open,” according to police. She returned home at around 10:45 p.m. on July 15 and was taken to a local hospital before being released. Police said there was no evidence that a toddler was on the interstate.
During a press conference on Wednesday, Hoover police released audio from the 911 call Russell made before disappearing.
“It’s a white T-shirt, and it doesn’t look like he has any pants on. It looks like a diaper,” Russell said of what the toddler was wearing.
She also told the 911 operator that she would stay with the toddler until police officers arrived. When officers arrived, they found a running car with Russell’s possessions inside, but she was nowhere to be found.
Russell then claimed she was blindfolded but “not tied up” since her alleged captor didn’t want to leave wrist impressions. She then told police that the individuals took her to a house and forced her to get undressed, and believes that pictures were taken of her.
POLICE IN MISSING ALABAMA WOMAN CASE SAY NO EVIDENCE OF TODDLER ON INTERSTATE
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 she saw walking on the side of Interstate 459 South near Birmingham, Alabama. (Dana Mixer for Fox News Digital)
The following day, according to Russell’s conversation with police, she woke up and was “fed cheese crackers by the female.”
Hoover Police Capt. Keith Czeskleba (Dana Mixer for Fox News Digital)
Russell is accused of taking a “dark-colored bathrobe, a roll of toilet paper” and other items that belonged to her employer, the Woodhouse Spa Birmingham on July 13 at around 8:20 p.m., Czeskleba said.
The police chief also said that Russell searched “do you have to pay for an Amber Alert” on July 11 at 7:30 a.m. On July 13 at 1:03 a.m., Russell searched “how to take money from a register without being caught.”
Russell also searched for the movie “Taken” on July 13 at 12:10 p.m., he said. “Taken” is a movie about a retired CIA agent who travels around Europe to save his daughter who was kidnapped while on a trip to Paris, according to IMDB.
She also allegedly used a work computer to search for the “maximum age of an Amber Alert.”