Hoover Police Unable to Verify Carlee Russell’s Abduction Claims, No Public Threat

A Hoover woman who drew international attention to Alabama when she was allegedly abducted on the interstate last week has a search history that creates even more questions around her case.

In a Wednesday press conference, Hoover Police Chief Nick Derzis said before she disappeared for 49 hours, 25-year-old Carlee Russell searched for information about AMBER Alerts, including the maximum age for which one could be issued.

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She allegedly searched for details about the 2008 movie 'Taken," in which a young woman is kidnapped and must be rescued by her extremely deadly father.

They said she was interviewed by police upon her safe return Saturday but has not agreed to speak to investigators since then.

Derzis said Russell told police she was abducted by a man and woman while she was on the side of Interstate 459 checking on a toddler she spotted wandering the side of the road.

She said she was forced into a vehicle, then the trailer of an 18-wheeler, which she claimed to escape before being captured again and held for a residence for some time. She told police her captors blindfolded, undressed and photographed her, but she did not remember and physical or sexual contact.

Finally, she said she was forced into a vehicle that she escaped from somewhere in West Hoover, then fled on foot through the woods before emerging near her own home.

"As you can see there are many questions left to be answered but only Carlee can provide those answers," Derzis said. "What we can say is we have been unable to verify most of Carlee's initial statement made to investigators and we have no reason to believe there is a threat to public safety related to this particular case."