How To Watch Today's Carlee Russell Press Conference Live

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Police in Alabama are expected to provide more information about the case of a woman who disappeared from the side of an Alabama interstate before returning home two days later at a press conference on Wednesday.

Carlee Russell, 25, was reported missing on Thursday night after calling 911 to report that she saw a toddler on the side of Interstate 459 in Hoover, a suburb of Birmingham, and was stopping to check on him.

A frantic search for the nursing student was underway when police said she arrived home on foot on Saturday night. Days later, they have yet to reveal anything about what happened to Russell or where she was during the two days she was missing. With so many unanswered questions surrounding the case, neighbors have called on authorities to let them know if a kidnapper is at large.

Russell's parents appeared on NBC's Today show on Tuesday and said their daughter was abducted and fought for her life. In the interview, Russell's mother Talitha Robinson-Russell hit back at those speculating about the case. She has also released a statement saying the family "will not be bullied into doing anything that will compromise our daughter's mental wellbeing or the investigation."

Carlee Russell
The Hoover Police Department will be holding a press conference on July 19 to provide an update on the investigation into the disappearance of Carlee Russell. Courtesy of Hoover Police Department

When Is the Press Conference and How To Watch

The Hoover Police Department will hold a press conference at the Frank and Pam Barefield Training Center, located at 850 Municipal Drive in Hoover.

It is scheduled to begin at 2:30 p.m. CST.

The press conference will be live streamed on the police department's Facebook page, according to an update on Wednesday.

What We Know About the Case

Police have said investigators are continuing to work to retrace Russell's steps to determine where she was after being reported missing on Thursday, shortly after she called 911 to report seeing a toddler on Interstate 459.

Russell called 911 at 9:34 p.m., according to police, then went missing during a call with a relative that was made two minutes later.

Officers arrived on the scene within five minutes of being dispatched, and found Russell's wig, cellphone and purse—with her Apple Watch inside—on the road near her vehicle.

On Tuesday, the police department said it "has not located any evidence" of a toddler walking down the interstate. Police said there were no other calls about a child on the highway "despite numerous vehicles passing through that area as depicted by the traffic camera surveillance video."

In recent days, police have provided details about the timeline leading up to Russell's disappearance.

They said she left work at The Summit mall in Birmingham at 8:20 p.m. to travel to The Colonnade, another mall, to pick up food she had ordered. Police said it appears that she was alone during that time and there was no evidence to suggest she was being followed.

Russell worked at a day spa in The Summit, according to AL.com, and picked up dinner at the Taziki's in The Colonnade.

On Tuesday, they revealed that Russell went to the Target on Highway 280 after leaving The Colonnade and purchased snacks. "These items were not located in the vehicle or with her cell phone and wig at the scene of her disappearance," police said.

They also said that detectives had obtained surveillance video from Russell's neighborhood which shows her "walking down the sidewalk alone" prior to her arrival at her home.

"Fire department radio traffic obtained by several media outlets shows that medics were dispatched to her residence on an 'unresponsive but breathing' person," police said. "That was the term used in the initial dispatch of the Hoover Fire Department to the residence, and the information about her condition was simply a dispatcher relaying information from what a 911 caller told the emergency communicator."

But police said first responders found Russell was "conscious and speaking" when they arrived at her home on Saturday night. She was transported to hospital in that condition and later treated and released, police said.

Detectives briefly spoke to Russell after she returned home and were "waiting for her to be made available to obtain a more detailed statement," the statement on Tuesday said.

The statement added that "numerous evidentiary items are still being evaluated, and those items are key in the process of determining exactly what took place in the approximately 49 hours Carlee was missing, but also what took place prior to her disappearance."

About the writer

Khaleda Rahman is Newsweek's National Correspondent based in London, UK. Her focus is reporting on education and national news. Khaleda joined Newsweek in 2019 and had previously worked at the MailOnline in London, New York and Sydney. She is a graduate of University College London. Languages: English. You can get in touch with Khaleda by emailing k.rahman@newsweek.com


Khaleda Rahman is Newsweek's National Correspondent based in London, UK. Her focus is reporting on education and national news. Khaleda ... Read more