Carlee Russell, a 25-year-old woman from Alabama who went missing on Thursday, returned home Saturday night, according to local police.
Russell was reported missing Thursday night after she called 911 at about 9:35 p.m. to report that she saw a child walking on the side of the I-459 South in Hoover, a suburb of Birmingham. Russell stopped along the interstate to check on the child and also called family members "with the same details," according to police.
However, her family then lost contact with her, but the phone line remained open, police said. When police arrived on the scene, they located Russell's car and belongings, but were unable to find her or a child in the area sparking an investigation into her disappearance, which has captured national attention. Her family would not hear from Russell for roughly two days.
Hoover police received a call at 10:45 p.m. Saturday night that Russell had returned to her home where police responded "to investigate this latest development in the case," Hoover police said in a statement to Newsweek on Sunday.
Hoover Fire medics also responded to assess Russell and ultimately transported her to The University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) hospital for evaluation, according to the police's statement.
She has since been released, according to police, who have also taken an initial statement from Russell that will be part of the investigation.
In its statement to Newsweek, police wrote that they are working to retrace Russell's movements before she went missing. At about 8:20 p.m. on Thursday, she left work from Birmingham and ordered food from a nearby business. Police have not been able to locate anyone with Russell from the time she left that business until the 911 call was made. Investigators are also analyzing traffic camera footage obtained that depicted the incident, but details on this were not available, according to the statement.
Once officers arrived at the scene, they located her wig, cell phone and purse in the road near her vehicle.
A police spokesperson told Newsweek earlier on Sunday morning that more information, including details about her condition and how she went missing, were not yet available, but that the investigation into Russell's disappearance remains ongoing.
Russell's boyfriend Thomar Simmons wrote in an Instagram post on Sunday that Russell was "fighting for her life" during her disappearance.
"All I asked from everyone right now is to be respectful of Carlee's situation. She was literally fighting for her life for 48 hours, so until she's physically and mentally stable again she is not able to give any updates or whereabouts on her kidnapper at this very moment," Simmons wrote.
Russell's mother Talitha Robinson-Russell wrote in a Facebook post Sunday: "God is faithful and He has answered our prayers. We are so grateful to each of you for all the acts of kindness, generosity, and compassion you have shown. Our baby is safe!!!!!!!!!! Thank you Father God."
She asked for privacy for the time being, but said the family will release more information at a later date.
Robinson-Russell previously described the phone call with her daughter to local television news station WBRC.
"At some point, she got out of the car and my daughter-in-law could hear her asking the child if they were OK," she said. "The child did not respond, or at least she did not hear her respond. And then she heard our daughter Carlee scream and from there on all we could hear was noise, background noise in her phone which we later found out was noise from the interstate."
Hoover Police Chief Nicholas Derzis told WBRC that police are "very pleased" that Russell made it home.
"Just know that the police department is very happy. We wanted her to come home safe and sound, and we'll hope that's what happened here," he said. "The investigation portion, we'll get to, but to me the main deal is making sure that she got home safe with her family. And I couldn't be more excited, and I hope the community feels the same way."
Update 07/16/2023 4:25 p.m. ET: This article was updated with additional information.
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