Thomar Latrell Simmons, the boyfriend of 25-year-old Carlethia “Carlee” Nichole Russell, the Alabama woman who went missing after notifying police of a child wandering an interstate, revealed, “She was literally fighting for her life for 48 hours.”
Simmons recently made his Facebook public and gave an update on Sunday regarding Russell, who returned home Saturday night around 10:45 p.m., according to Hoover Police Department.
The post began with Simmons thanking God for saving Russell’s life and the public for assisting with the search for his girlfriend and making her story known.
“I have been going nonstop since I received the call that she was missing on Thursday night,” Simmons wrote in the post. “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!”
Simmons expressed gratitude for the prayers and words from friends, family, former teammates and church members. He asked people to respect “Carlee’s situation,” adding she needed time to heal mentally and physically before giving any updates.
“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,” he stated.
HPD reported Russell missing on Friday, July 14. According to a report, the Hoover 911 Center received a call from Russell around 9:34 on Thursday, July 13, regarding a male toddler in a diaper wandering the side of I-459 South. Following her call to 911, she checked on the child and had a family member on the phone, giving them the exact details, News Onyx reported.
This happened after Russell left work around 8:20 p.m. “from a business at The Summit in Birmingham.” They confirmed on Monday that she picked up food from a business at The Colonnade before driving to the interstate, where she spotted the child near mile marker 11. Police reported that Carlee communicated with individuals on her cell phone during her drive before calling 911 to report the child.
Sometime after 9:36 p.m., Russell went missing while on the phone with a relative. Police stated in the most recent update that nearby traffic camera footage showed the portion of the incident where she checked on the child while on the phone, which is currently being investigated along with the 911 call to align both timeframes.
It’s unclear when the video will be available to the public.
When police arrived at the scene, Russell and the child weren’t located, but they did discover her Apple watch, phone and purse on a roadway by her vehicle.
Russell’s family witnessed a miracle when the 25-year-old returned home on foot and was transported by the Hoover Fire Department to UAB Hospital, which treated Russell and then released her.
Carlee Russell located #hooverpd pic.twitter.com/10Av7B6x8j
— Hoover Police Dept (@HooverPD) July 16, 2023
Investigators are retracing Russell’s steps to find out what happened in the time gap from the phone call with the relative to her returning home. Most importantly, investigators are trying to figure out who’s responsible.
In the July 14 update report, police said a witness spotted a “gray vehicle with a light-complected male standing outside of Carlee’s vehicle,” but there are no updates regarding the individual or the vehicle.
Update on Carlethia “Carlee” Nichole Russell#hooverpd pic.twitter.com/nnjTOq7ri8
— Hoover Police Dept (@HooverPD) July 14, 2023
