Carlee Russell parents believe her ‘abductor’ is still at large with mother, Talitha Robinson-Russell and father, Carlos Russell insisting daughter fought for her life – while declining to answer specifics as mystery continues surround case.
A victim of human trafficking? The parents of the Alabama woman who returned home over the weekend after vanishing for over 48 hours have insisted that their daughter ‘definitely’ fought for her life, along with claiming her purported abductor is still at large.
‘We tried to hug her as best we could, but I had to stand back because she was not in a good state,’ Talitha Robinson-Russell told NBC News of the moment her daughter Carlethia ‘Carlee’ Nichole Russell turned up on the family’s doorstep in Hoover around 10:45 p.m. Saturday.
Russell, 25, disappeared on Thursday night shortly after calling police to report a toddler walking along I-459, authorities said. This despite no other motorists calling 911 to report also seeing a wandering child nor any reports of a missing child.
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In an exclusive sit down with @NBCNews, the parents of 25-year-old Carlee Russell, Alabama woman who had been missing for two days, are speaking out. @PriscillaWT shares the details. pic.twitter.com/s6z5e3maO4
— TODAY (@TODAYshow) July 18, 2023
Definitely fought for her life – but where are the daughter’s injuries? And how did she escape? And where is the police description?
The nursing student was on the phone with her sister-in-law when she allegedly pulled over to help the purported toddler, only to be heard screaming before the line going silent.
Her car was later found running with her belongings still inside.
There were also no other reports of a wandering child, police said.
Russell’s parents said Carlee ‘definitely fought for her life’ during the two-day ordeal.
While declining to say where the 25 year old woman had been during the 48 hours the parents continued to insist Carlee fighting against all odds to have managed to return home.
‘There were moments when she physically had to fight for her life, and there were moments when she had to mentally fight for her life,’ Robinson-Russell explained.
The parent declined to say where her daughter had returned from and what kind of injuries, if any the woman may have incurred as ‘she fought for her life’.
Short on specifics the parents remain steadfast that Russell was abducted — and that the person responsible is still out there.
Talitha Robinson-Russell and Carlos Russell ‘discourage speculation’
The parents also discouraged ongoing speculation about the case, which they said started even before Russell returned home.
‘There were actually so many calls and texts from people who maliciously lied to us … I just didn’t know people could be so evil,’ Robinson-Russell said.
‘She’s having to deal with the trauma of people just making completely false allegations about her,’ she added of her daughter, who she said has also provided a full statement to investigators.
Police previously said Russell returned to her parents’ house “on foot,” and she appeared to be ‘in shock.’
“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,” Russell’s boyfriend, Thomar Latrell Simmons, wrote on Facebook Sunday.
That same day, Russell’s parents alleged that the child she saw on the road was “bait” to lure her to a sinister fate.
A human trafficking expert questioned that theory Monday, telling Insider ‘this is not a tactic that traffickers use to lure children and women.’
Police to date have not provided an update on the alleged abductor purportedly still at large.
