Carlee Russell searched Google for ‘Taken’ movie, ‘Amber Alert’ hours before disappearance, Alabama police say

HOOVER, Ala. – Carlee Russell Googled the movie “Taken” before disappearing on July 13 along with a slew of other search terms leading up to the moment where she told a 911 operator that she saw a toddler walking along a busy interstate.

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 along the side of Interstate 459 South near Birmingham, Alabama, according to the Hoover Police Department.

After the 911 call, Russell called a relative and 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.

During a press conference on Wednesday, Hoover Police Capt. Keith Czeskleba said that Russell took 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.

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Afterward, Russell ordered food from Taziki’s Mediterranean Café and picked it up at their Colonnade location in Birmingham before going to Target, where she bought some granola bars and Cheez-Its. She remained in the parking lot until 9:21 p.m.

Various personal belongings such as Russell’s purse and Apple Watch were found inside the car, including the Taziki’s order. Her cell phone was located near the car. The items she bought from Target weren’t found inside the car.

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.”

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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.

Czeskleba said it’s “highly unusual” for someone who gets kidnapped to have searched for the movie “Taken” just hours before.

At 2:35 a.m. on July 13, she searched for a one-way bus ticket from Birmingham to Nashville with the departure date being July 13.

She also allegedly used a work computer to search for the “maximum age of an Amber Alert.”

Czeskleba said that the U.S. Secret Service, Federal Bureau of Investigation, and U.S. Marshals assisted in the investigation. He said that officials are still working to account for Russell’s whereabouts during the 49 hours she was missing.

Surveillance video obtained by detectives shows that Russell was seen walking down the sidewalk in her neighborhood before arriving at her parent’s house on July 15.