The confusing details about the disappearance—and reappearance—of 25-year-old Carlee Russell last week have led some online to believe that aliens were involved.
Russell disappeared shortly after calling 911 about a toddler she saw on the side of an Alabama highway, only to appear on her parents’ doorstep two days later. Her 911 call about the child was the only report of an unaccompanied minor on the highway at the time, CNN reported.
Many have latched on to specific details concerning Russell’s disappearance and hypothesized that she was abducted by extraterrestrials.
“Hear me out…Carlee Russell was abducted by aliens,” @lizzz_anya tweeted, also saying she didn’t believe that Russell was a victim of human trafficking. “A baby walking down a highway, not crying or showing distress??”
“So Carlee Russell just showed up at her parents’ house after going missing for couple days?” @dk4balls tweeted. “And y’all are telling me aliens aren’t real?”
“Was Carlee Russell abducted by UFO’s!?” TikToker @blackhumaninfrastructure wrote in the overlay text of their video which shows the footage. “And what’s up! with light popping up and disappearing!?”
@blackhumaninfrastructure #carleerussellabduction #UFO #ufoabduction #shadyshit #conspiracytiktok #theblackhumaninfrastructure #NYC #FIGHT #blackwomenoftiktok #fightback #blackvotesmatter #⚠️fakesituation⚠️ #VOTE #COLLEGE #youngvoters #youngblacksuccessful #YOUTH #playwithsomethingsafe #GERRYMANDERED #blackgirltiktok #educationalpurpose #blackpeopleproblem #inequality #tiktok #STAYWOKE #tiktokviral #tiktoking #injustice #tiktokviral #forblackpeople #tiktok #tiktoktraditions #justiceforblackpeople #love #tellem #historytok #historytoks #Racialinjustices #educateyourse #trendinghastags #trending #democracy #politics #Blackrepresentation #intersectionalactivisim #speakup #SpeakOut #blackpeople #intersection #whataboutus #Reparations #reparation #blackpower #WhileBlack #blackpowermovement #blackwomanbiztrain #bREAKINGNEWS #pov #religion #religioustrauma #racist #fyp #viral #news #republicans #ytwomen #vtmenneedtoblestopbed #ytmen #blackpeoplestidkingtogether #blackgiri #blackgirltrend #blackgirlmagic #blackgurlmagic #blackgurl #blacksoldier #blackmilitary #socialjustice #oppression #follow #followme #followers #safespace #democrats #democratsoftiktok #blacksafespace #blacktiktoks #blacktiktokcommunity #blacktiktoktakeover #blackvotersmatter #blackamerican #blackamericans #blackwomen #blackamericanmen #blackdemocrats #whiteevangelicans #blackmilitarytiktok #blackmilitarywomen #melanin #caribbean #caribbeangirl #caribbeangirls #caribbeantiktok #caribbeantiktokeurs #jamacia #westindies #westindian #X #jamaicatiktoke #jamaicatiktoke #jamaicantiktok viral #americanhorrorstory #africa #africantiktok #british #blackbritish #blktiktok #wakeupblackpeople #supportblackownedbusinesses #useyourvoice #tellthetruth #telltnetruth #wakeningup #systemicracism #systemicracismisreal #civildisobedience #blacktok #brooklyn #newyork #newyorkcity #bronx #Queens #manhattan #r #viralcaribbean #undocumentedimmigrants #undocumented #LATINOS #LATINAS ♬ Epic Music(836381) – Pavel
Another TikToker thinks that the traffic cam footage shows Russell being abducted.
“It looks like someone jumped out of the ditch and pulled her down,” @newsandviralcontent wrote in the overlay text of their video. “You can see someone disappear behind the [road] sign.”
@newsandviralcontent Carlee Russells Kidnapper Running Into the WOODS. #viral #news #breakingnews #fyp #missingpersons #missingpeople #missingpersoncases #missing #conspiracy #conspiracytiktok #conspiracytok #conspirancytheory #conspiracytheories #conspiracies #aliens #alien #ufo #ufos #disclosure #truecrime #carleerussel #carleerussellabduction #carleerussellgonemissing #carleerussell ♬ Spooky, quiet, scary atmosphere piano songs – Skittlegirl Sound
At a press conference on Wednesday, Hoover Police Department Chief Nick Dervis revealed more information about Russell’s disappearance—none of which involved aliens.
Dervis said that in an interview with detectives, Russell said that she was abducted by a man and put into an 18-wheeler, aka a semi-trailer truck. Though she escaped, she said that she was abducted again, this time by a woman. Russell said she escaped a second time.
“Police said Russell had a small injury to her lip and her head was hurting,” according to ABC 33/40, an Alabama news station. “Detectives also found $107 cash in her right sock.”
Dervis also said that the Secret Service assisted police in their search for Russell and discovered what Russell had recently searched on her phone.
The list included, “Do you have to pay for an amber alert”; “How to take money from a register without being caught”; “Birmingham bus station”; “One way bus ticket from Birmingham to Nashville”; “The movie Taken“; and “Maximum age of an amber alert.”
Russell has not consented to a further interview, Dervis said.
Update 10:59am CT, July 25: In a statement from her attorney on Monday, Carlee Russell said that she was not kidnapped nor did she see a child on the side of the highway. Her attorney also said that in Russell’s faked abduction, she “did not have any help… this was a single act done by herself.”
“My client apologizes for her actions to the community, the volunteers who were searching for her, to the Hoover Police Department and other agencies,” Russell’s attorney said. “As well as to her friends and family.”
AL.com reported that Hoover Police Chief Nick Derzis called Russell’s initial story about being abducted “a hoax.”
“It is what it is,‘’ Derzis said.
