Carlee Russell — the Alabama woman who recently returned home after a two-day disappearance — searched the movie Taken on her phone in the hours before she vanished, according to Hoover Police Department Chief Nicholas Derzis.
Derzis revealed the findings of Russell’s internet search history in a July 19 press conference, telling reporters the 25-year-old woman also searched Amber Alerts and one-way bus tickets out of Alabama before she disappeared.
The 2008 movie Taken, which stars Liam Neeson, centers on the kidnapping of a young woman and efforts to rescue her.
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Derzis described Russell’s searches as “strange” given the circumstances surrounding her disappearance.
“I do think it’s highly unusual the day that someone gets kidnapped — that seven or eight hours before that they’re searching the internet — Googling the movie Taken about an abduction,” Derzis said. “I find that very, very strange.”
In Russell’s statement to police, she claimed she was approached by a male and a female when she stopped to check on a toddler she saw walking alone on the side of the highway.
The alleged abductor then supposedly picked her up when she approached the child. However, surveillance video of the interstate did not show any evidence of an abduction.
Investigators discovered Russell’s cell phone inside her car, which was left abandoned on the highway after she placed a call to 911 about the toddler seen near the highway.
Authorities thoroughly examined the phone and sought assistance from the United States Secret Service to aid in the analysis of her search history.
The Hoover Police Department said despite Russell’s report of a toddler on the highway, they have not found any evidence to support this claim.
Additionally, they did not receive any other calls reporting a missing child in the area.
Derzis emphasized that the investigation is still ongoing, and they intend to speak with Carlee Russell again to gather more information about the events leading up to her disappearance and the mysterious circumstances surrounding her return.
