photo courtesy of Facebook/Thomar Simmons
A formerly missing Alabama woman’s boyfriend, Thomar Simmons, has come out to discuss the circumstances surrounding her disappearance. The Facebook post on July 16 answered viral questions and requested respect during the trying time.
The referenced missing woman, Carlee Russell, vanished in Hoover, Alabama, on Thursday, July 13. Her disappearance garnered heavy attention online because of its peculiar circumstances. While on the phone with a family member, according to TMZ, Russell saw a young, lone child walking alone on the side of the I-459 highway. When she got out and approached the child to help, her family member heard Russell scream and then a scuffle. All that was left at the scene was some of Russell’s belongings, her wig, and her phone.
Following her safe recovery, Simmons took to Facebook to thank the public for all their support. He began the post, “I don’t even know how to start off this post but to only say thank you to my lord & savior Jesus Christ for saving my girlfriend’s life! Also, thank you to everyone who shared a picture, came out to the Hoover Met to help us with the search parties, & who went & proceeded to tell other people about Carlee to bring more awareness to her story. I have been going nonstop since I received the call that she was missing on Thursday night. I know she would’ve done the same for me, so I wasn’t going to give up until I saw her face again! I was straight tunnel vision, even when I would get on social media on my downtime & see some of the false allegations & assumptions about me having something to do with her abduction would have me discouraged at times. I didn’t give up & kept my faith! I just want to thank all of my family, friends, former teammates, & church members who called or texted me just to let me know that they’re praying & here for me; you guys don’t know how much that meant to me!”
He continued asking the public to give Russell some grace in the wake of what she went through. “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 & mentally stable again she is not able to give any updates or whereabouts on her kidnapper at this very moment. I also want to thank the people on social media who has been understanding & respectful about what she’s been through in these past few days. Once again I can’t thank you guys enough for helping us bring Carlee home! God bless you all,” Simmons finished.
Details surrounding Russell being found are vague, and not much information about her alleged kidnapping has been released. The Alabama police statement described that they had gotten a call that Russell had shown back up to her home on foot but hadn’t detailed what happened before her return home.