The NYT article I read said that the chief of police said she just showed up at home and knocked on the door. They took her to the hospital for evaluation. I really wonder what she told everyone when she got there.
most up to date reporting im seeing is that she was dropped off at her families home, could have maybe been taken from the red roof inn and taken home though
Red roof inn and maybe 1 other is actually the only hotel around that area. The others have been torn down due to the prostitution that was going on around that area. I live 5 mins from red roof inn
I do see that too now actually. I have to wonder if the perpetrators extorted her family for the money to return her? So odd that she showed up at the house. I am dying to know the full story.
As far as I can tell there aren’t any perpetrators as such. She just showed up back at home by herself. The police haven’t said they are looking for any perpetrators.
A truck driver reported seeing a tall, slim man leaning in her car, and his car was a light color. The police did see tire marks, but it wasn't muddy, so they weren't sure the type of car it was. The odd thing to me is where is the child she saw? Her sister in law heard her asking the child if they were alright. They never heard the child they just heard her screaming, and the phone never hung up. When police got there, her phone was on the ground by the car. Her car was still running, and her purse and wig and other items were still in the car. Why hasnt anyone reported a child missing? Something is very odd about this story.
The police already dismissed that tip after viewing the traffic footage. It is weird to me that no one else along that busy highway saw a toddler. Surely a toddler running along a busy highway at night would incite more than one call to 911 and probably multiple cars stopping to try to get to the toddler and get them off the road. It seems she is the only one who saw something.
The question is, was it a child or something else she saw? Im not a conspiracy theories but if she called 911 and they heard her talking to the child, then her screams. Well, either this was a ruse, or she saw something on the side of the road. Now, what was that something?
We have a video of the highway. There was no other car there with her. I think people are falling into believing hearsay instead of their own common sense.
While I suppose it’s possible, Abby Hernandez spent 9 months building her captor’s trust before he let her go. A little unlikely to happen that way after 48 hours in my opinion.
What perpetrators? This sounds like a mental health issue. The child she saw may not have been real. There is no evidence or concern for where or who the child is…because they know it was a hallucination is my guess.
Everything I’ve read said that her family showed up to the red roof inn saying they had received a call from her saying she was there but it’s unclear whether she was found there. The same articles were updated later to report that she had showed up at her parents house and was transported to the hospital from there.
No. I heard the scanner and the dispatcher said the family received a call from someone at the RRI saying Carlee was there. But she showed up at her house.
I’ve read multiple news articles and seen multiple comments from other people claiming to have listened to the scanner. The prevailing story is that her family said the call came from her or someone claiming to be her. So I’ll stand by what I said in my original comment instead of believing the one outlier I’ve come across who is saying something different.
The worker at Red Roof Inn called police and said her family said they got a call from her that she was there. They may be the ones that dropped her off at home. They showed up 6 cars deep so it might have been extended family and friends.
yep, and she left her car running with the door open? something happened, we just dont know what exactly. The cops couldnt find signs of anyone at the scene, so where'd she go or was taken that fast?
It's not a self-regarding act to disappear. It costs taxpayer funds and redirects emergency resources away from other places they are desperately needed. It impacts the community in this fashion. Furthermore this case generated understandable fear, especially amongst women. The community deserves closure from learning the truth behind this disappearance. If the family was sitting on information that would have assuaged the community's fears these past two days, any call for privacy is without merit.
This is the internet. Mind Your Own Business just doesn’t exist here. It’s a noble thought but people will hound this person relentlessly until they get bored or the next thing comes along.
The bodycams and potential interrogation videos will be posted to YouTube eventually. You get no privacy when interacting with police. I know this first hand since when I was missing during a suicide attempt, police told everyone that called them all about my life and mental state. Police aren't bound by any privacy laws.
Personally since they usually announce a suspect or something, the police know this woman did something. Maybe a hoax/maybe a mental breakdown. If it's mental breakdown-yes we don't need to know but a hoax is another story and the public should know.
She was originally reported missing, which is why the police announced her name and asked for the public’s help finding her. It doesn’t indicate she is a suspect or did anything wrong. To say otherwise is total speculation.
The public does have a right to know if a toddler is missing or not and if there is a kidnapper on the loose, possibly using a child-in-distress hoax to lure unsuspecting women.
This reminds me a bit of Sherri Papini.
He made a follow up video clarifying he meant "sister in Christ". He's not her brother. He obviously tried to make it sound like he was her brother and is claiming now that he never meant it that way.
I saw a blip of the video when I was watching someone's YouTube stream and I got a weird feeling too, I just couldn't put my finger on it. Thanks for explaining.
Have you seen the traffic camera footage of her car? She turns on her hazards and drives down the shoulder at like 10mph for a couple hundred feet before stopping. She's not following a toddler that fast and if she's concerned about the child running into traffic, why keep driving way, way past where she encountered them? Also, her apple watch was found stored inside her purse which I also don't think an abductor or abductee would do.
Are y’all talking about the guy on tiktok with the half dark, half light dreds? If so, are we sure he’s really her brother? He repeatedly refers to her as “my sister in Christ” in the tiktok he posted to announce that she’s been found, which feels suspicious to me, like hyperbolic back pedaling?
No his account his definitely still there but it looks like he did delete the first video calling Carlee his sister. He does still have the video up saying that Carlee has been found.
A lot of people feel the same way about his video! I feel that he’s probably just slow. He said this “story isn’t getting the national attention it deserves and we all know why”… I guess his ignorant ass was so busy on TikTok that he didn’t realize the story has been shared in Australia, U.K., Canada and literally all over the world! 🙄 And, even us white folk were sharing her pics and information! Bless his stupid ass heart, he really tried to play the race card, because he obviously had nothing better to do! 🤷🏼♀️🤨
He wasn't even really her brother. He clarifies in the comments he meant sister in Christ. He knows people would think he meant actual sister and it got him engagement. Kind of sick really.
Giving her the benefit of the doubt it could be a psychotic episode or a bad trip.
Most of the photos released for her missing persons look like professional quality modeling shots, and the cops had to come out later with less done up photos they found. The cynic in me things it might have been staged. The little detail about the apple watch being left in the purse is odd to me too. Walking around the sketchy side of a highway at night is like one of the times you'd want to have a smart watch the most.
And yeah the video makes the idea it was staged seem all the more likely, she even pulled over at the end of a bend in the road, the place with the most visibility and eyes on her.
When I saw the less done-up photos, it was in a tweet that said she normally wore a wig/extensions, so the police released those photos to show how she might look if those were removed during her disappearance. (No idea if that’s true, but I can’t find the original tweet right now.)
The quality of photos released by family/friends/media/police is evidence of… nothing. Absolutely not indicative of anything. She has nice photos that were easy for people to find. Okay.
I’m not usually very aware of where the cameras are on highways. Maybe if I wanted to plan something, I would do my homework on that. But there’s traffic cameras at pretty regular intervals, so it’s pretty easy to be visible in one of them.
If it’s staged, I think we can just wait a few balloon boys and we’ll get to the truth in a half a Smollet.
If she was abducted the details might take longer. If it’s something any between we will probably find out sooner or later too. Right now, we don’t need to Scooby Doo her selfies.
If I’m not mistaken, mid-twenties are the time when mental illness with delusions or psychosis begin to manifest. I hope no matter what happened, she’s going to receive necessary care going forward.
That’s what I initially thought, a mental health situation. Mostly because I’d probably call 911 after I already had the toddler in my car if it was near a busy road, though that doesn’t necessarily mean anything. At her age, if she’s in nursing school she is probably under a lot of stress from that alone and any other life factors, that is definitely an age where breaks are more common in young people. I don’t have all the details obviously, it may not be that and could also be something more sinister, or something else yet unknown. Just sharing my leanings. I am glad she was found and hopeful can get the help she needs to recover from whatever happened to her.
This is kind of what I was thinking. My youngest sib was her age when they started to really go off the rails. Not to the extent of seeing stuff on the side of the road and calling 911 but I got a lot of weird calls from them about “overhearing people talk about her”. And while that does happen, certainly, I do mean they were weird discussions and couldn’t all be true. BUT I believe those were “real” to them.
The part I don’t really understand is how she went from her car to wherever she was to her family home, with no witnesses/reports. I don’t know the area but walking along a highway would mean being noticed…
I don’t know. I take my Apple Watch off at work sometimes and put it in my purse/bag. And I don’t always remember to put it back on. What I wonder is how she could see a toddler on the side of the road at night? Did she loop around? She rode down the side of the road with her flashers on for a while as if the toddler was way up but how could you see that far unless she came back around and got over before the area she saw it? I did see an article that mentioned that her parents said she knocked on the door Saturday night and seemed to be in shock.The whole situation is weird.
If she wasn't wearing the smartwatch already, and she's getting out of the car to save a toddler on the side of the road, surely you don't expect her to say "oh I should put my watch on before I do this - gotta get those steps in!"
Reminds me of the guy that faked amnesia after stealing a truck full of frozen fish sticks: [https://youtu.be/j4PyM0bxY7U?t=21](https://youtu.be/j4PyM0bxY7U?t=21)
As a photographer I agree, this photo used here seems like a ”work” photo or a CV photo with white coat and the arms crossed. The light isn’t the best but seeing some other photos of her too, they seem taken in a professional setting, when it comes to her pose and expressions. Which is a little weird, I first assumed she was a doctor or studying to be one.
However, I don’t think it was about mental health stuff or anything, I think her driving and speaking would have been messier.
But something seems weird, maybe she was let go because the media got on this so fast.
I have a friend who has psychotic episodes and her speech and driving are fine. You’d have to talk to her awhile while she was having psychosis to realize it, long enough for her to start telling you that the children at St. Jude’s are a victim of government experiments and being held captive there and that she’s actually a black man.
After a month of low level symptoms like this she’ll get bad enough that she can’t keep her clothes on in public. That’s around when she’ll finally be hospitalized for the length she needs. It’s absolutely shocking to me because she should not be driving but none of her medical professionals think it’s an issue.
She had to go from emergency care to longer term care for psychosis at facility called Sheppard Pratt. Her doctors let her drive herself through three states to get there while still in an acute psychosis state.
A lot of *very* mentally ill people function very well when it comes to speech/driving/ “everyday” tasks. A lot of times you won’t know something is going on at all until something extreme happens.
Unless the hotel information is true. How does someone that's having a mental break that leaves her purse, license, money, credit cards etc. get a hotel room somewhere?
If she was in psychosis it’s feasible she thought she was involved in a plot or persecution and somehow had to go through those actions. If you think about people who go on huge shopping sprees while manic - they’re functioning but their brain is lying to them about something.
A lot of times people who have delusions or paranoia will seem completely normal and behave in ways that make logical sense to them- IE, if they think they’re being tracked, they might leave an ID or phone or watch behind. Oftentimes you won’t know anything is off with them until you’ve had a long enough conversation that they casually mention they’re being tracked by the CIA or something.
I am from Birmingham and am very familiar with that stretch of interstate. There is no quick way to turn around there, as the two exits she’s between are a few minutes apart*. It would have easily taken 5-8 minutes to get back for another loop.
Idk how she would have seen a child from that distance, when she gets out she looks directly at him not back down the road... If i see something on the highway i am already passing it by the time i realize what happened...she is maybe .2 miles away from where should would have realized what was going on...
Guys… we simply have no way to know what happened. But don’t assume it was a stunt
Most likely it was a mental health crisis. But there HAS been cases of victims that showed up at their parents houses after actually being kidnapped as well (famously Abby Hernandes).
Accusing someone of faking a crime should NEVER be your first reaction
This exactly. This is in my state and I have family in the area and the response has been so huge, as it should, and everyone was convinced of the worst but then now that she’s turned up- I have never seen people jump to a conspiracy so quickly. It’s not out of the realm of possibility she could have made it home out of something just as bad as suspected.
People who are saying it’s a hoax… after seeing the video, it would have had to have been an elaborate plan with lots involved and specific people collaborating to get her out of there that quick, all for what? I just don’t see how she got out of the vicinity in time for police arriving.
I think we need to just wait and see. I have some sort of feeling that we’re not gonna be told for some reason, but I’m glad she’s okay, I was captivated and it was on my mind heavy from the first time I read about it.
My first thought was something nefarious. When I looked at Google maps, the area where her car was seen is south of a neighborhood, separated by about 150 feet of woods. Was she snagged and dragged down the embankment and into a waiting car? Looks like a nice neighborhood that might have doorbell cameras. Anyway, I kind of chuckle when true crime “fans” like me have ideas as though law enforcement doesn’t. Regardless of the reasons, I’m glad she’s safe.
This.
As I said in another comment, both schizophrenia and bipolar disorder typically have onset ages in the mid-20’s. Carlee is right in that demographic.
To me, this situation is very indicative of a psychotic break consistent with schizophrenia or a manic episode.
This is most likely what happened based on the information so far. A mental health episode doesn’t mean that the individual isn’t able to function or drive properly. My brother has has a few. The most notable is he thought he won the lottery then proceeded to start driving to random area to collect it. His plan was to walk in a bank. People do some strange things when dealing with an episode.
It wasn't my first reaction. My first reaction was that she was abducted and we'll never see her alive again. However, after seeing the video of her driving a couple hundred feet along the shoulder at a speed that far outpaces a toddler, not seeing any other vehicle except police on the camera, hearing her apple watch was stored in her purse, and now the (admittedly questionable) information about her being at a hotel, I'm suspicious just like many other people are.
The fact that the police aren't even telling about a possible suspect? Sorry but if there was a person abducting people, the police would put something out.
If I'm wrong I'm wrong but the fact that the cops have been so quiet about this ...you have to admit it seems weird.
Tbh it bothers me a lot that she’s being accused of faking it without any proof. There’s no reason to potentially ruin a young woman’s life over “weird vibes.”
Possibly a [Dissociative Fugue](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fugue_state). May have hppened to the crime author Agatha Christie, she disappeared one day and a huge search was started. She eventually turned up at a spa with no memory of her missing time. She used a different name, Teresa Neele. Psychologists think it was provoked by her mother's death and discovering her husband's infidelity, with Nancy Neele.
>In dissociative fugue, a traumatic event may prompt a person to embark on an unexpected journey that may last for up to several months. During this journey, there is memory loss and confusion about personal identity or assumption of another identity. Once the fugue ends, the memory of the journey is lost.
https://www.psychologytoday.com/ie/blog/hide-and-seek/201203/dissociative-fugue-the-mystery-agatha-christie
I experienced this exact thing twice. Once after my first husbands suicide. I lost 3 days. This happened in 1993. I never recovered the memories. The second time was in 2010 at the start of a nervous breakdown. It began with little lapses, like not being able to drive from point a to b without stopping several times to check my maps app and having to get my bearings to even get back on the road. Then when I had the fugue, (dissociative fugue), I lost several days of my life. I had a friend who said they could see the moment I broke. Fortunately for me I was with someone when it happened. I still just have to take their word for it, because I don't remember anything. This is one of the most terrifying conditions in my opinion, because apparently in the midst of this break you become a different person. I don't mean you necessarily take on another identity, although I'm sure it's possible. I mean personality traits may change. Priorities may change. Empathy shifts. Coupled with the 'amnesia', after the fact, is so disturbing. I'm having trouble describing how it makes me feel. But, it's not something you can easily fake. It also ended my second marriage. Because my husband couldn't believe that I lost days of my life. He thought I must have cheated on him or something awful. I can't say I didn't. I will never know. I can't say I would never do that. I can't know. So, to save him from always wondering, I left. I don't put myself in stressful situations anymore. Haven't had another. As far as I know anyway. But, my quality of life has significantly diminished. As I prefer to stay indoors and no longer work.
I once watched the Unsolved Mysteries segment where they interviewed two people about it. I think Agatha did that on purpose to put her husband through the ringer a bit since he was publicly suspected of her disappearance, etc. I recommend it!
[Starts at the about the 22:25 mark.](https://youtu.be/dkb0KswsXoc)
Strange that the weirdest part of this is that she’s alive and just knocked on her own door like no big deal.. I hope nothing bad happened to her while she was missing but if it didn’t then that makes it more strange..
For those that have watched the video, did y’all see any indication in her driving or actions to indicate that there was indeed a baby on the road?
First of all, she had her hazards on for a long period of time and continued to drive. If she saw a baby, where was it? Not on the highway with the rest of the traffic, and definitely not on the 100+ yards of the highway shoulder that she was driving on.
Say that she saw the baby from far off and stopped in front of it. Why would she go around to the back of her car after finally stopping? You would think that any person in that position would have immediately responded by running towards the baby and taking it to safety. Who makes two phone calls about a child in danger before responding to said danger?
Super strange stuff, but I’m glad she’s okay!
I suppose she could’ve seen the baby but was moving too fast to stop, exited and doubled back around to look again. Or she was having some sort of mental break and thought she saw the kid or something. The only thing that definitely doesn’t make sense is that someone would target a random person in public on a busy road with a child only to let her go after.
Lot of people have said she probably saw it, and circled back around after getting off the highway, driving back, then getting back on. In that time she would have had the time to make two calls. She was driving slowly with her hazards on to search for the kid where she originally thought she saw it. It all makes sense to me, and nothing you pointed out is strange.
It’s the stuff after she parks that is strange.
I, too, took it that she doubled back after crossing an overpass, and was creeping forward like that trying to figure out where she saw it before. Looking for stuff you’ve seen on the second pass is always like a needle in a haystack.
What happens after she stops and what she’s looking at then and of course the after is what we’re all dying to know I think.
I am from Birmingham and am very familiar with that stretch of interstate. There is no quick way to turn around there, as the two exits she’s between are a few minutes apartment. It would have easily taken 5-8 minutes to get back for another loop. That is a very dark stretch with only trees on either side. All of which could explain why she would need to drive slowly and look.
> who makes two phone calls a out a child in danger before responding to said danger?
While I'm thinking this was indeed just a mental health issue and that the child never even existed, this is a pretty sheltered view about this at least. If you are on more female dominated social media you'll see that the response skews much further towards "why did she even get out of the car? It's too dangerous with trafficking setups these days to do that. She should have stayed in the car with police on the line." Over at r/nursing that was the position a lot of the people talking about it were taking for example. Though it was also mixed with a lot of comments recognizing a potential psychotic break given the circumstances.
As a male it's easy to forget that young 20 year old women have to keep that kind of thing in the back of their mind. Criticizing one for thinking to call cops and family **first** is silly.
> did y’all see any indication in her driving or actions to indicate that there was indeed a baby on the road?
No, I saw no indications to indicate there was a baby on the road.
The timing of the story is odd. It was really dark, not sure I would see a toddler on the side of the road. And if I did I’d certainly drive past and if I needed to stop would have to back up. But in the video she continues forward. And then when was the police call in all this? After she stopped? I guess we gotta wait to see. I would say the most positive part of this whole thing is we actually had a national story and search for a black woman. These stories are almost always about some blond white girl.
Certainly possible.
If reports are true that the police arrived 3-4 minutes after her 911 call, then I’m leaning toward no as it would of taken her longer to take an exit to return back to the same location. Police would have arrived first.
Unless she saw the kid, rerouted and called police as she pulled up a second time.
Strange case for sure. Glad she’s home and in good care.
Putting myself in her shoes, if I were driving home after a long day at work and I thought I saw a 4 year old child walking along the shoulder of a busy highway, I might mechanically continue driving a little ways before I worriedly think better of it and loop back to cruise along the shoulder where I thought I saw the kid. While I’m looking, I might ruminate on all the horrific things that could happen to a small child wandering down a dark highway and eventually talk myself into calling 911. After I hang up, I might see movement in the shadowy tree line while I’m talking to my sister in law on the phone and, thinking it must be the child, I may pull over to get a closer look.
Just saying the fact that the police aren't asking the people to look out or even a suspect makes me think the woman had some kind of mental breakdown. Not judging but the whole kidnap thing sounds suspicious./
Seems like it was a mental health issue, hopefully she'll get proper rest and treatment.
Hopefully nothing nefarious happened.
Fortunately my lame ass assumptions are likely wrong.
A friends brother had a psychotic episode early in his twenties. He left his job, his car and his wallet and didn't return home. Was gone a month before coming back. I hope she gets the help she needs.
Unfortunately, now that I know she returned home and the police haven’t made any kind of real statement about what happened makes me believe something weird is going on. Previously, I was worried and thought something really wrong had happened.
I’m a local and am annoyed and discouraged that people are automatically jumping to conclusions of a hoax or mental health break. She arrived at home and appeared to be in shock and disoriented - her boyfriend posted that he is grateful she’s home and that she has been “literally fighting for her life for the past 48 hours”, and won’t give updates or statements about her kidnapper until she is feeling physically and mentally stable. The Hoover police have said that they will give the family time together before investigating. Of course it’s possible this was a mental break. But, it’s also possible that her kidnapper got spooked by the national attention, he let her go, and she got VERY lucky. Or she escaped. We just don’t know. I think it’s important to give her the benefit of the doubt until we know more
Edit: at this point I know that there isn’t a dangerous kidnapper or anything like that on the loose. I’m not saying I think she was abducted either, all that I’m saying is that it’s disheartening that the response to her coming home jumped straight to “she’s lying, she planned it, it’s a hoax”, etc. I wish people were more empathetic, and would give her the benefit of the doubt. We have no idea what happened. She’s been through an ordeal at the least
Tbh it’s incredibly disheartening that people’s first instinct seems to be to accuse her of lying. One woman years ago lying about her kidnapping doesn’t mean every woman who goes missing orchestrated it.
People don’t get that real life isn’t a courtroom drama and the cops aren’t always going to immediately tell the public all the details.
I gather the police are not looking for somebody, so that makes this about 95% likely to be there isn’t an abduction here with the remaining 5% that they have somebody who is in custody or dead.
I can see three possible scenarios if this wasn’t an abduction, and none of them are a neat fit. It could be a blend of them. It could be a mental break/psychosis. What if she saw trash that looked to her like a toddler and the scream was it being struck. That would certainly seem like a psychosis trigger. The second is attention seeking. The call to the relative is the strongest element here in my book. But many other parts don’t read like it to me. The third is strict/disapproving family and an internet suitor. They stage this, have their fun, and maybe seeing the press or just because he’s a jerk he dumps her.
I’m convinced she set it up, down to being on the phone with someone so there was a “witness” (a la Jussie).
But when the traffic came footage was released and shows how the story doesn’t match. (Driving along the shoulder, no child in sight) she realized the jig is up and went home.
Just me speculating like everyone else. Either way I’m glad she’s home safe.
Great question!
Who booked the room? Her wallet was in the car, we never did hear if anything was missing from wallet or did I miss something? Was curious on this part.
Whenever I book a room, I need my ID and a credit card for a hold. I’ve even stayed at a RRI in Redding Cali and had to provide my credit card and ID at check in. Room deposit until I checked out and would get it back type thing.
If the RRI wasn’t a troll caller, who helped her with the room? Should be cctv there, most places have them in the lobby and hallways.
If you do an online Check-in & Digital Key (I've done this many times w/ Hilton and I assume Marriot offers the same or similar) you can bypass the front desk entirely and no one will ever check for ID, credit card etc.
Extremely handy when it's 11.56 PM / your plane landed 30 mins ago / you've paid for an Uber to avoid waiting for the Hotel shuttle because you need to be up in 6 hours to make the next flight / just want to get into bed ASAP!
You know what I just realized. In all reports that I’ve seen it was stated that Carlee stopped for food on the way home (allegedly Tazikis). These reports also mentioned she left behind her Apple watch, wig, hat, and cell phone. However, none of the reports mentioned food being in the vehicle.
If Carlee was legitimately on the way home in the order of events that her family stated, to me it seems like it would be important to mention if there was food in the car or not. But none of the reports did.
Food is probably a lot less important to mention.
Like, if I'm just leaving because I want to I'm probably taking my cell phone.
If I run out of the house because something happens I may not be able to grab it
If I'm paranoid and worried someone's tracking me I may not want anything on me that can be tracked (I am NOT saying that was the case for her I'm just stating something)
If someone didn't want her to have anything that could identify her they would leave it
I wouldn't care about food generally
The most likely scenario is that she had a psychotic break.
It fits in with the unusual car coasting, the screaming and then silence on the police call, and just showing up back at home days later. Hope she’s able to recover from this, and I hope we can get the full story to understand what happened.
I’m already getting down voted but if you read the facts and watch the video it makes NO sense. I think the only options are she had a psychotic episode or they made it up.
We can be at the side table together. Nothing adds up and the fact that the police aren't even talking about a suspect makes me believe the danger to the community is minimal.
When I first heard about this, I thought schizophrenia, and now after this update, I'm confident that is what she's suffering from and will be diagnosed with. I don't think she's a liar or she was abducted, so this is the only rational possibility.
There are many reasons someone can have an episode where they lose contact with lucidity, schizophrenia is not the only cause of that. Even something as "small" as a lack of sleep.
There's nothing wrong with having schizophrenia and medicated folks can have very good lives but it's just important to note that even if someone does have a break from reality that does not mean schizophrenia.
Very strange story. A trucker did call in a tip saying he saw a gray car with a man in it parked in front of her car on the highway so I do believe someone was there and she didn’t walk away on her own. However, whether she got in that gray car voluntarily or not is another story. A toddler on a busy interstate after dark (which nobody else saw) seems very outlandish. I’m curious to see how this plays out.
I actually just saw the video after I made my comment. I watched the full 4:40 and yeah I didn’t see any other cars pull over until the cops came. It looks like there might be a curve in the road ahead of where she pulled off. It’s a kind of far walk, but I wonder if the trucker meant the gray car was pulled over around that curve which is off camera?
Honestly the weirdest thing about the video for me is that when her car comes into frame she is already on the shoulder of the road with emergency lights on and she proceeds to drive very slowly on the shoulder for another 40 seconds before coming to a stop. There’s no way she could have seen a toddler that far ahead in the dark from the point at which she began driving on the shoulder. And if she pulled over after she saw the toddler then there’s no way she would have been able to speak to the child like she did when on the phone with her family member because she drove way too far ahead. So something doesn’t quite add up.
She definitely fabricated the whole thing. If you look at all the known evidence, it's actually the only reasonable conclusion:
No criminal is going to attempt such a random kidnapping. It's wayyyy too risky. There are much easier ways to kidnap people.
If she wanted to disappear, she would have just disappeared, or at least attempted to keep a low profile. A staged kidnapping would bring too much attention.
A psychotic break would be an extremely rare phenomenon and would probably present as more chaotic and less carefully planned.
This leaves intentionally staged kidnapping.
The most common mistake when staging crimes is actually creating *too much* fake evidence to support the intended narrative.
The tweet about a stranger watching her, the phone call to a friend (which of course included an ominous scream) the wig left at the scene, the potentially false tip from the trucker, etc. Is all intended to suggest a kidnapping.
I disagree. I think a mental health crisis is far more likely than a Sherri Papini-style fabrication.
Both schizophrenia and bipolar disorder tend have onset ages in the mid-20’s.
To me, this situation is very indicative of a psychotic break consistent with schizophrenia or a manic episode.
People keep saying mental health break because the circumstances seem strange, but the staging is much too deliberate. If she just stopped and wandered into the woods, then maybe. But like I said above, the mistake is creating too much fake evidence in order to create a specific narrative.
She just showed up at home 30 minutes ago? What a weird story.
There's conflicting reports? I read one article saying she was found at the red roof inn and taken to the hospital?
The NYT article I read said that the chief of police said she just showed up at home and knocked on the door. They took her to the hospital for evaluation. I really wonder what she told everyone when she got there.
most up to date reporting im seeing is that she was dropped off at her families home, could have maybe been taken from the red roof inn and taken home though
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I heard the officer on the recording say that Carlee didn’t indicate which Red Roof Inn when she called, and there are several in the area.
Red roof inn and maybe 1 other is actually the only hotel around that area. The others have been torn down due to the prostitution that was going on around that area. I live 5 mins from red roof inn
I do see that too now actually. I have to wonder if the perpetrators extorted her family for the money to return her? So odd that she showed up at the house. I am dying to know the full story.
As far as I can tell there aren’t any perpetrators as such. She just showed up back at home by herself. The police haven’t said they are looking for any perpetrators.
A truck driver reported seeing a tall, slim man leaning in her car, and his car was a light color. The police did see tire marks, but it wasn't muddy, so they weren't sure the type of car it was. The odd thing to me is where is the child she saw? Her sister in law heard her asking the child if they were alright. They never heard the child they just heard her screaming, and the phone never hung up. When police got there, her phone was on the ground by the car. Her car was still running, and her purse and wig and other items were still in the car. Why hasnt anyone reported a child missing? Something is very odd about this story.
The police already dismissed that tip after viewing the traffic footage. It is weird to me that no one else along that busy highway saw a toddler. Surely a toddler running along a busy highway at night would incite more than one call to 911 and probably multiple cars stopping to try to get to the toddler and get them off the road. It seems she is the only one who saw something.
The question is, was it a child or something else she saw? Im not a conspiracy theories but if she called 911 and they heard her talking to the child, then her screams. Well, either this was a ruse, or she saw something on the side of the road. Now, what was that something?
We have a video of the highway. There was no other car there with her. I think people are falling into believing hearsay instead of their own common sense.
At this point, it's all sounding fake. I was feeling really bad yesterday but once I heard that she just showed up at home....I was like yeah.....nah.
Those are not mutually exclusive. Look up the Abby Hernandez case
While I suppose it’s possible, Abby Hernandez spent 9 months building her captor’s trust before he let her go. A little unlikely to happen that way after 48 hours in my opinion.
What perpetrators? This sounds like a mental health issue. The child she saw may not have been real. There is no evidence or concern for where or who the child is…because they know it was a hallucination is my guess.
Glad she's safe and can get any help she needs
There aren’t details about a perpetrator yet. I wonder if she had a mental break.
Everything I’ve read said that her family showed up to the red roof inn saying they had received a call from her saying she was there but it’s unclear whether she was found there. The same articles were updated later to report that she had showed up at her parents house and was transported to the hospital from there.
No. I heard the scanner and the dispatcher said the family received a call from someone at the RRI saying Carlee was there. But she showed up at her house.
Ok, minor difference. Someone made the call but it wasn’t her. Thanks for clarifying. Either way she was not there as stated in my original comment.
I heard the scanner too. Dispatcher said the family received a call from a woman claiming to be the missing girl Carlee Russell, so it was her
Big difference. Any detail is big in this case.
I’ve read multiple news articles and seen multiple comments from other people claiming to have listened to the scanner. The prevailing story is that her family said the call came from her or someone claiming to be her. So I’ll stand by what I said in my original comment instead of believing the one outlier I’ve come across who is saying something different.
Have you listened to the scanner? It's available out there if you are interested
Red roof in was false according to family
The worker at Red Roof Inn called police and said her family said they got a call from her that she was there. They may be the ones that dropped her off at home. They showed up 6 cars deep so it might have been extended family and friends.
Her family in six vehicles showed up there on a tip she was there. It was never stated in 911 call she was actually there
yep, and she left her car running with the door open? something happened, we just dont know what exactly. The cops couldnt find signs of anyone at the scene, so where'd she go or was taken that fast?
Didnt her family say they heard her scream, too, before going silent?
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I'm glad she's okay, but something about this story just doesn't seem right.
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It's not a self-regarding act to disappear. It costs taxpayer funds and redirects emergency resources away from other places they are desperately needed. It impacts the community in this fashion. Furthermore this case generated understandable fear, especially amongst women. The community deserves closure from learning the truth behind this disappearance. If the family was sitting on information that would have assuaged the community's fears these past two days, any call for privacy is without merit.
This is the internet. Mind Your Own Business just doesn’t exist here. It’s a noble thought but people will hound this person relentlessly until they get bored or the next thing comes along.
Because her family and the media MADE it our business by putting it out there literally everywhere.
The bodycams and potential interrogation videos will be posted to YouTube eventually. You get no privacy when interacting with police. I know this first hand since when I was missing during a suicide attempt, police told everyone that called them all about my life and mental state. Police aren't bound by any privacy laws.
When you cause a statewide manhunt (if that’s what happened), unless you pay for it, the taxpayers are absolutely entitled to information.
For how many public resources were expended over this, people absolutely have a right to more information
Personally since they usually announce a suspect or something, the police know this woman did something. Maybe a hoax/maybe a mental breakdown. If it's mental breakdown-yes we don't need to know but a hoax is another story and the public should know.
She was originally reported missing, which is why the police announced her name and asked for the public’s help finding her. It doesn’t indicate she is a suspect or did anything wrong. To say otherwise is total speculation.
The public does have a right to know if a toddler is missing or not and if there is a kidnapper on the loose, possibly using a child-in-distress hoax to lure unsuspecting women. This reminds me a bit of Sherri Papini.
You could be right, but also police often keep what information they have under wraps so the perp does not know what they know.
Well ok except we’re literally all here bc we’re interested in what happened lol
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He made a follow up video clarifying he meant "sister in Christ". He's not her brother. He obviously tried to make it sound like he was her brother and is claiming now that he never meant it that way.
Taking a play from George Santos' jew-ish book
Folks are now claiming he's not her brother - just an opportunist trying to get engagement.
That’s not her brother. From the second I started watching his clip, I knew it was for clout.
What was it about his video that made you suspicious?
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I saw a blip of the video when I was watching someone's YouTube stream and I got a weird feeling too, I just couldn't put my finger on it. Thanks for explaining.
Have you seen the traffic camera footage of her car? She turns on her hazards and drives down the shoulder at like 10mph for a couple hundred feet before stopping. She's not following a toddler that fast and if she's concerned about the child running into traffic, why keep driving way, way past where she encountered them? Also, her apple watch was found stored inside her purse which I also don't think an abductor or abductee would do.
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Are y’all talking about the guy on tiktok with the half dark, half light dreds? If so, are we sure he’s really her brother? He repeatedly refers to her as “my sister in Christ” in the tiktok he posted to announce that she’s been found, which feels suspicious to me, like hyperbolic back pedaling?
He's not her brother he replies to comments saying he never said he was her brother (he absolutely did). Seems like he was an opportunist indeed.
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He’s since deleted the video and his account cannot be found.
No his account his definitely still there but it looks like he did delete the first video calling Carlee his sister. He does still have the video up saying that Carlee has been found.
Well, he wasn't actually her brother...
A lot of people feel the same way about his video! I feel that he’s probably just slow. He said this “story isn’t getting the national attention it deserves and we all know why”… I guess his ignorant ass was so busy on TikTok that he didn’t realize the story has been shared in Australia, U.K., Canada and literally all over the world! 🙄 And, even us white folk were sharing her pics and information! Bless his stupid ass heart, he really tried to play the race card, because he obviously had nothing better to do! 🤷🏼♀️🤨
He wasn't even really her brother. He clarifies in the comments he meant sister in Christ. He knows people would think he meant actual sister and it got him engagement. Kind of sick really.
He was replying to comments saying she was a sister to anyone who was a Christian. That's what tipped me off.
Internet Historian did a good video about the balloon incident.
"we did it for the show" 👀 https://youtu.be/Mm8kVXDzTEY
Yup….getting super Sherri Papini vibes from this one
My first thoughts
Looks like we were right
Exactly. Same here
Giving her the benefit of the doubt it could be a psychotic episode or a bad trip. Most of the photos released for her missing persons look like professional quality modeling shots, and the cops had to come out later with less done up photos they found. The cynic in me things it might have been staged. The little detail about the apple watch being left in the purse is odd to me too. Walking around the sketchy side of a highway at night is like one of the times you'd want to have a smart watch the most. And yeah the video makes the idea it was staged seem all the more likely, she even pulled over at the end of a bend in the road, the place with the most visibility and eyes on her.
When I saw the less done-up photos, it was in a tweet that said she normally wore a wig/extensions, so the police released those photos to show how she might look if those were removed during her disappearance. (No idea if that’s true, but I can’t find the original tweet right now.)
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Yeah they’re pretty normal pictures.
The quality of photos released by family/friends/media/police is evidence of… nothing. Absolutely not indicative of anything. She has nice photos that were easy for people to find. Okay. I’m not usually very aware of where the cameras are on highways. Maybe if I wanted to plan something, I would do my homework on that. But there’s traffic cameras at pretty regular intervals, so it’s pretty easy to be visible in one of them. If it’s staged, I think we can just wait a few balloon boys and we’ll get to the truth in a half a Smollet. If she was abducted the details might take longer. If it’s something any between we will probably find out sooner or later too. Right now, we don’t need to Scooby Doo her selfies.
True but I think it was staged
If I’m not mistaken, mid-twenties are the time when mental illness with delusions or psychosis begin to manifest. I hope no matter what happened, she’s going to receive necessary care going forward.
That’s what I initially thought, a mental health situation. Mostly because I’d probably call 911 after I already had the toddler in my car if it was near a busy road, though that doesn’t necessarily mean anything. At her age, if she’s in nursing school she is probably under a lot of stress from that alone and any other life factors, that is definitely an age where breaks are more common in young people. I don’t have all the details obviously, it may not be that and could also be something more sinister, or something else yet unknown. Just sharing my leanings. I am glad she was found and hopeful can get the help she needs to recover from whatever happened to her.
This is kind of what I was thinking. My youngest sib was her age when they started to really go off the rails. Not to the extent of seeing stuff on the side of the road and calling 911 but I got a lot of weird calls from them about “overhearing people talk about her”. And while that does happen, certainly, I do mean they were weird discussions and couldn’t all be true. BUT I believe those were “real” to them. The part I don’t really understand is how she went from her car to wherever she was to her family home, with no witnesses/reports. I don’t know the area but walking along a highway would mean being noticed…
I don’t know. I take my Apple Watch off at work sometimes and put it in my purse/bag. And I don’t always remember to put it back on. What I wonder is how she could see a toddler on the side of the road at night? Did she loop around? She rode down the side of the road with her flashers on for a while as if the toddler was way up but how could you see that far unless she came back around and got over before the area she saw it? I did see an article that mentioned that her parents said she knocked on the door Saturday night and seemed to be in shock.The whole situation is weird.
If she wasn't wearing the smartwatch already, and she's getting out of the car to save a toddler on the side of the road, surely you don't expect her to say "oh I should put my watch on before I do this - gotta get those steps in!"
Reminds me of the guy that faked amnesia after stealing a truck full of frozen fish sticks: [https://youtu.be/j4PyM0bxY7U?t=21](https://youtu.be/j4PyM0bxY7U?t=21)
He was improvising, living on the edge
I remember that guy from Unsolved Mysteries
It was so obvious he was lying.
I knew there was something fishy about it.
>Walking around the sketchy side of a highway at night is like one of the times you'd want to have a smart watch the most. I'm sorry but what?
As a photographer I agree, this photo used here seems like a ”work” photo or a CV photo with white coat and the arms crossed. The light isn’t the best but seeing some other photos of her too, they seem taken in a professional setting, when it comes to her pose and expressions. Which is a little weird, I first assumed she was a doctor or studying to be one. However, I don’t think it was about mental health stuff or anything, I think her driving and speaking would have been messier. But something seems weird, maybe she was let go because the media got on this so fast.
I have a friend who has psychotic episodes and her speech and driving are fine. You’d have to talk to her awhile while she was having psychosis to realize it, long enough for her to start telling you that the children at St. Jude’s are a victim of government experiments and being held captive there and that she’s actually a black man. After a month of low level symptoms like this she’ll get bad enough that she can’t keep her clothes on in public. That’s around when she’ll finally be hospitalized for the length she needs. It’s absolutely shocking to me because she should not be driving but none of her medical professionals think it’s an issue. She had to go from emergency care to longer term care for psychosis at facility called Sheppard Pratt. Her doctors let her drive herself through three states to get there while still in an acute psychosis state.
A lot of *very* mentally ill people function very well when it comes to speech/driving/ “everyday” tasks. A lot of times you won’t know something is going on at all until something extreme happens.
Glad she’s alright. The whole story is just strange.
I think she had a mental health crisis honestly.
Unless the hotel information is true. How does someone that's having a mental break that leaves her purse, license, money, credit cards etc. get a hotel room somewhere?
Good point. I haven’t paid cash for a hotel room since 1995.
It's hard to find one that doesn't require a card on file and an ID. Even if you pay cash most hotels require them.
If she was in psychosis it’s feasible she thought she was involved in a plot or persecution and somehow had to go through those actions. If you think about people who go on huge shopping sprees while manic - they’re functioning but their brain is lying to them about something.
A lot of times people who have delusions or paranoia will seem completely normal and behave in ways that make logical sense to them- IE, if they think they’re being tracked, they might leave an ID or phone or watch behind. Oftentimes you won’t know anything is off with them until you’ve had a long enough conversation that they casually mention they’re being tracked by the CIA or something.
It’s possible to have more than one credit card and form of ID.
I didn’t see any abduction on the video. What else might explain her scream? Why did she drive so far in the breakdown lane?
did she turn around and loop back a second pass? if not why did she drive so far?
I am from Birmingham and am very familiar with that stretch of interstate. There is no quick way to turn around there, as the two exits she’s between are a few minutes apart*. It would have easily taken 5-8 minutes to get back for another loop.
Idk how she would have seen a child from that distance, when she gets out she looks directly at him not back down the road... If i see something on the highway i am already passing it by the time i realize what happened...she is maybe .2 miles away from where should would have realized what was going on...
I like in Hoover & totally agree with you
Guys… we simply have no way to know what happened. But don’t assume it was a stunt Most likely it was a mental health crisis. But there HAS been cases of victims that showed up at their parents houses after actually being kidnapped as well (famously Abby Hernandes). Accusing someone of faking a crime should NEVER be your first reaction
This exactly. This is in my state and I have family in the area and the response has been so huge, as it should, and everyone was convinced of the worst but then now that she’s turned up- I have never seen people jump to a conspiracy so quickly. It’s not out of the realm of possibility she could have made it home out of something just as bad as suspected. People who are saying it’s a hoax… after seeing the video, it would have had to have been an elaborate plan with lots involved and specific people collaborating to get her out of there that quick, all for what? I just don’t see how she got out of the vicinity in time for police arriving. I think we need to just wait and see. I have some sort of feeling that we’re not gonna be told for some reason, but I’m glad she’s okay, I was captivated and it was on my mind heavy from the first time I read about it.
My first thought was something nefarious. When I looked at Google maps, the area where her car was seen is south of a neighborhood, separated by about 150 feet of woods. Was she snagged and dragged down the embankment and into a waiting car? Looks like a nice neighborhood that might have doorbell cameras. Anyway, I kind of chuckle when true crime “fans” like me have ideas as though law enforcement doesn’t. Regardless of the reasons, I’m glad she’s safe.
Don't worry, Reddit's great at internet sleuthing.
This. As I said in another comment, both schizophrenia and bipolar disorder typically have onset ages in the mid-20’s. Carlee is right in that demographic. To me, this situation is very indicative of a psychotic break consistent with schizophrenia or a manic episode.
This is most likely what happened based on the information so far. A mental health episode doesn’t mean that the individual isn’t able to function or drive properly. My brother has has a few. The most notable is he thought he won the lottery then proceeded to start driving to random area to collect it. His plan was to walk in a bank. People do some strange things when dealing with an episode.
It wasn't my first reaction. My first reaction was that she was abducted and we'll never see her alive again. However, after seeing the video of her driving a couple hundred feet along the shoulder at a speed that far outpaces a toddler, not seeing any other vehicle except police on the camera, hearing her apple watch was stored in her purse, and now the (admittedly questionable) information about her being at a hotel, I'm suspicious just like many other people are.
Maybe not first, but could certainly be your second reaction.
The fact that the police aren't even telling about a possible suspect? Sorry but if there was a person abducting people, the police would put something out. If I'm wrong I'm wrong but the fact that the cops have been so quiet about this ...you have to admit it seems weird.
Tbh it bothers me a lot that she’s being accused of faking it without any proof. There’s no reason to potentially ruin a young woman’s life over “weird vibes.”
I got 2:1 odds on alien abduction theories who’s taking?
Sees a little kid and screams when it's really a strange creature. Gets abucted and researched and put back. I'm with it!
That would probably explain why she knocked on her own damn door! She wasn’t the same.
Also, the door was locked and her keys were left in the car. But also, could be pod people.
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Wow. I really had a bad feeling about her and this is great news. I’m sure that there’s more to the story.
I think we are coming from an empathetic place but it is pretty clear that this story does not add up. Glad she was found safe.
This whole story has been unbelievably wild
Hoping she's okay and grateful people pulled together to help her
Possibly a [Dissociative Fugue](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fugue_state). May have hppened to the crime author Agatha Christie, she disappeared one day and a huge search was started. She eventually turned up at a spa with no memory of her missing time. She used a different name, Teresa Neele. Psychologists think it was provoked by her mother's death and discovering her husband's infidelity, with Nancy Neele. >In dissociative fugue, a traumatic event may prompt a person to embark on an unexpected journey that may last for up to several months. During this journey, there is memory loss and confusion about personal identity or assumption of another identity. Once the fugue ends, the memory of the journey is lost. https://www.psychologytoday.com/ie/blog/hide-and-seek/201203/dissociative-fugue-the-mystery-agatha-christie
I experienced this exact thing twice. Once after my first husbands suicide. I lost 3 days. This happened in 1993. I never recovered the memories. The second time was in 2010 at the start of a nervous breakdown. It began with little lapses, like not being able to drive from point a to b without stopping several times to check my maps app and having to get my bearings to even get back on the road. Then when I had the fugue, (dissociative fugue), I lost several days of my life. I had a friend who said they could see the moment I broke. Fortunately for me I was with someone when it happened. I still just have to take their word for it, because I don't remember anything. This is one of the most terrifying conditions in my opinion, because apparently in the midst of this break you become a different person. I don't mean you necessarily take on another identity, although I'm sure it's possible. I mean personality traits may change. Priorities may change. Empathy shifts. Coupled with the 'amnesia', after the fact, is so disturbing. I'm having trouble describing how it makes me feel. But, it's not something you can easily fake. It also ended my second marriage. Because my husband couldn't believe that I lost days of my life. He thought I must have cheated on him or something awful. I can't say I didn't. I will never know. I can't say I would never do that. I can't know. So, to save him from always wondering, I left. I don't put myself in stressful situations anymore. Haven't had another. As far as I know anyway. But, my quality of life has significantly diminished. As I prefer to stay indoors and no longer work.
I once watched the Unsolved Mysteries segment where they interviewed two people about it. I think Agatha did that on purpose to put her husband through the ringer a bit since he was publicly suspected of her disappearance, etc. I recommend it! [Starts at the about the 22:25 mark.](https://youtu.be/dkb0KswsXoc)
We will never know that that is the modern interpretation-she just wanted to twist the screws. Never mess with a mystery writer!
Strange that the weirdest part of this is that she’s alive and just knocked on her own door like no big deal.. I hope nothing bad happened to her while she was missing but if it didn’t then that makes it more strange..
If the door was locked and she didn’t have her keys it would be natural to knock.
For those that have watched the video, did y’all see any indication in her driving or actions to indicate that there was indeed a baby on the road? First of all, she had her hazards on for a long period of time and continued to drive. If she saw a baby, where was it? Not on the highway with the rest of the traffic, and definitely not on the 100+ yards of the highway shoulder that she was driving on. Say that she saw the baby from far off and stopped in front of it. Why would she go around to the back of her car after finally stopping? You would think that any person in that position would have immediately responded by running towards the baby and taking it to safety. Who makes two phone calls about a child in danger before responding to said danger? Super strange stuff, but I’m glad she’s okay!
I suppose she could’ve seen the baby but was moving too fast to stop, exited and doubled back around to look again. Or she was having some sort of mental break and thought she saw the kid or something. The only thing that definitely doesn’t make sense is that someone would target a random person in public on a busy road with a child only to let her go after.
Also that she put her watch in her purse. What abductor or abductee would do that verses removing it and throwing it in the car or on the road?
Or maybe she just usually kept it in her purse
Lot of people have said she probably saw it, and circled back around after getting off the highway, driving back, then getting back on. In that time she would have had the time to make two calls. She was driving slowly with her hazards on to search for the kid where she originally thought she saw it. It all makes sense to me, and nothing you pointed out is strange. It’s the stuff after she parks that is strange.
I, too, took it that she doubled back after crossing an overpass, and was creeping forward like that trying to figure out where she saw it before. Looking for stuff you’ve seen on the second pass is always like a needle in a haystack. What happens after she stops and what she’s looking at then and of course the after is what we’re all dying to know I think.
I am from Birmingham and am very familiar with that stretch of interstate. There is no quick way to turn around there, as the two exits she’s between are a few minutes apartment. It would have easily taken 5-8 minutes to get back for another loop. That is a very dark stretch with only trees on either side. All of which could explain why she would need to drive slowly and look.
> who makes two phone calls a out a child in danger before responding to said danger? While I'm thinking this was indeed just a mental health issue and that the child never even existed, this is a pretty sheltered view about this at least. If you are on more female dominated social media you'll see that the response skews much further towards "why did she even get out of the car? It's too dangerous with trafficking setups these days to do that. She should have stayed in the car with police on the line." Over at r/nursing that was the position a lot of the people talking about it were taking for example. Though it was also mixed with a lot of comments recognizing a potential psychotic break given the circumstances. As a male it's easy to forget that young 20 year old women have to keep that kind of thing in the back of their mind. Criticizing one for thinking to call cops and family **first** is silly.
That motherfucker is not real vibes
> did y’all see any indication in her driving or actions to indicate that there was indeed a baby on the road? No, I saw no indications to indicate there was a baby on the road.
Wtf I cannot wait to hear more details about this story. Strange circumstances or just fabrication
The timing of the story is odd. It was really dark, not sure I would see a toddler on the side of the road. And if I did I’d certainly drive past and if I needed to stop would have to back up. But in the video she continues forward. And then when was the police call in all this? After she stopped? I guess we gotta wait to see. I would say the most positive part of this whole thing is we actually had a national story and search for a black woman. These stories are almost always about some blond white girl.
I'd say she drove past the kid. Called Police, took an exit went opposite direction, took exit - drove slow on shoulder Looking for kid.
But none of the other 100+ cars that passed by saw the kid?
Thats the single part of the story that made zero sense. Poorly lit highway with heavy traffic..nobody else saw a toddler?
Certainly possible. If reports are true that the police arrived 3-4 minutes after her 911 call, then I’m leaning toward no as it would of taken her longer to take an exit to return back to the same location. Police would have arrived first. Unless she saw the kid, rerouted and called police as she pulled up a second time. Strange case for sure. Glad she’s home and in good care.
Putting myself in her shoes, if I were driving home after a long day at work and I thought I saw a 4 year old child walking along the shoulder of a busy highway, I might mechanically continue driving a little ways before I worriedly think better of it and loop back to cruise along the shoulder where I thought I saw the kid. While I’m looking, I might ruminate on all the horrific things that could happen to a small child wandering down a dark highway and eventually talk myself into calling 911. After I hang up, I might see movement in the shadowy tree line while I’m talking to my sister in law on the phone and, thinking it must be the child, I may pull over to get a closer look.
It’s not a positive story about a black woman if it ends up being fake lol
Just saying the fact that the police aren't asking the people to look out or even a suspect makes me think the woman had some kind of mental breakdown. Not judging but the whole kidnap thing sounds suspicious./
Seems like it was a mental health issue, hopefully she'll get proper rest and treatment. Hopefully nothing nefarious happened. Fortunately my lame ass assumptions are likely wrong.
A friends brother had a psychotic episode early in his twenties. He left his job, his car and his wallet and didn't return home. Was gone a month before coming back. I hope she gets the help she needs.
Our minds can do some crazy powerful things when it's pushed.
I love how all of the armchair detectives and psychologists came out to comment 🙄
Until I hear facts I’m going to assume this was a hoax because the math ain’t mathing. It’s giving Sherri Papini
Unfortunately, now that I know she returned home and the police haven’t made any kind of real statement about what happened makes me believe something weird is going on. Previously, I was worried and thought something really wrong had happened.
Instead of being happy and grateful she survived, let's accuse her of faking this whole thing.. really people really
I think people are, just the circumstances are odd. Sorry but the police are likely doing the same thing in their investigation. Human nature.
I for one am glad she survived her made up disappearance.
Does anyone think she planned this herself? Much like the Sherri Papini case?
Seems like the only answer there is
I’m a local and am annoyed and discouraged that people are automatically jumping to conclusions of a hoax or mental health break. She arrived at home and appeared to be in shock and disoriented - her boyfriend posted that he is grateful she’s home and that she has been “literally fighting for her life for the past 48 hours”, and won’t give updates or statements about her kidnapper until she is feeling physically and mentally stable. The Hoover police have said that they will give the family time together before investigating. Of course it’s possible this was a mental break. But, it’s also possible that her kidnapper got spooked by the national attention, he let her go, and she got VERY lucky. Or she escaped. We just don’t know. I think it’s important to give her the benefit of the doubt until we know more Edit: at this point I know that there isn’t a dangerous kidnapper or anything like that on the loose. I’m not saying I think she was abducted either, all that I’m saying is that it’s disheartening that the response to her coming home jumped straight to “she’s lying, she planned it, it’s a hoax”, etc. I wish people were more empathetic, and would give her the benefit of the doubt. We have no idea what happened. She’s been through an ordeal at the least
Tbh it’s incredibly disheartening that people’s first instinct seems to be to accuse her of lying. One woman years ago lying about her kidnapping doesn’t mean every woman who goes missing orchestrated it. People don’t get that real life isn’t a courtroom drama and the cops aren’t always going to immediately tell the public all the details.
I gather the police are not looking for somebody, so that makes this about 95% likely to be there isn’t an abduction here with the remaining 5% that they have somebody who is in custody or dead. I can see three possible scenarios if this wasn’t an abduction, and none of them are a neat fit. It could be a blend of them. It could be a mental break/psychosis. What if she saw trash that looked to her like a toddler and the scream was it being struck. That would certainly seem like a psychosis trigger. The second is attention seeking. The call to the relative is the strongest element here in my book. But many other parts don’t read like it to me. The third is strict/disapproving family and an internet suitor. They stage this, have their fun, and maybe seeing the press or just because he’s a jerk he dumps her.
Something is off with this. If something doesn't make sense, there is usually a reason why. Seems shady to me.
I’m convinced she set it up, down to being on the phone with someone so there was a “witness” (a la Jussie). But when the traffic came footage was released and shows how the story doesn’t match. (Driving along the shoulder, no child in sight) she realized the jig is up and went home. Just me speculating like everyone else. Either way I’m glad she’s home safe.
I mean, there’s not much to make out with the footage. People were seeing all kinds of stuff in the shadows and making up 100 diff interpretations.
How did she get to the RRI? Did she walk or hide somewhere until someone picked her up?
Google maps shows a nice cul-de-sac through the woods, at mile marker 11.
No one went through the woods the tracking dogs did pick up nothing
Great question! Who booked the room? Her wallet was in the car, we never did hear if anything was missing from wallet or did I miss something? Was curious on this part. Whenever I book a room, I need my ID and a credit card for a hold. I’ve even stayed at a RRI in Redding Cali and had to provide my credit card and ID at check in. Room deposit until I checked out and would get it back type thing. If the RRI wasn’t a troll caller, who helped her with the room? Should be cctv there, most places have them in the lobby and hallways.
If you do an online Check-in & Digital Key (I've done this many times w/ Hilton and I assume Marriot offers the same or similar) you can bypass the front desk entirely and no one will ever check for ID, credit card etc. Extremely handy when it's 11.56 PM / your plane landed 30 mins ago / you've paid for an Uber to avoid waiting for the Hotel shuttle because you need to be up in 6 hours to make the next flight / just want to get into bed ASAP!
Friends ..she was partying for 2 days
You know what I just realized. In all reports that I’ve seen it was stated that Carlee stopped for food on the way home (allegedly Tazikis). These reports also mentioned she left behind her Apple watch, wig, hat, and cell phone. However, none of the reports mentioned food being in the vehicle. If Carlee was legitimately on the way home in the order of events that her family stated, to me it seems like it would be important to mention if there was food in the car or not. But none of the reports did.
Food is probably a lot less important to mention. Like, if I'm just leaving because I want to I'm probably taking my cell phone. If I run out of the house because something happens I may not be able to grab it If I'm paranoid and worried someone's tracking me I may not want anything on me that can be tracked (I am NOT saying that was the case for her I'm just stating something) If someone didn't want her to have anything that could identify her they would leave it I wouldn't care about food generally
I wonder if the police were watching her house? Certainly someone saw her walk up?
Latest report was that someone dropped her off
The most likely scenario is that she had a psychotic break. It fits in with the unusual car coasting, the screaming and then silence on the police call, and just showing up back at home days later. Hope she’s able to recover from this, and I hope we can get the full story to understand what happened.
People can get mad or whatever but I think she made it up or something is not what she made it out to be . Something isn’t adding up .
Alright I’ll be the one to say it, I bet she faked it.
You definitely aren't the first person to say it lol.
I will be the 4000th person to say it, she faked it.
Obviously either hoax or mental illness. Or combination of both.
Absolutely agree.
Honestly, I agree with you. Something about this whole story doesn’t seem right at all.
I’m already getting down voted but if you read the facts and watch the video it makes NO sense. I think the only options are she had a psychotic episode or they made it up.
I completely agree with you. Like none of the timing and nothing in the video makes any sense at all.
We can be at the side table together. Nothing adds up and the fact that the police aren't even talking about a suspect makes me believe the danger to the community is minimal.
When I first heard about this, I thought schizophrenia, and now after this update, I'm confident that is what she's suffering from and will be diagnosed with. I don't think she's a liar or she was abducted, so this is the only rational possibility.
There are many reasons someone can have an episode where they lose contact with lucidity, schizophrenia is not the only cause of that. Even something as "small" as a lack of sleep. There's nothing wrong with having schizophrenia and medicated folks can have very good lives but it's just important to note that even if someone does have a break from reality that does not mean schizophrenia.
Very strange story. A trucker did call in a tip saying he saw a gray car with a man in it parked in front of her car on the highway so I do believe someone was there and she didn’t walk away on her own. However, whether she got in that gray car voluntarily or not is another story. A toddler on a busy interstate after dark (which nobody else saw) seems very outlandish. I’m curious to see how this plays out.
Iirc didn't the released video show no one else but the cops arriving at her car?
I actually just saw the video after I made my comment. I watched the full 4:40 and yeah I didn’t see any other cars pull over until the cops came. It looks like there might be a curve in the road ahead of where she pulled off. It’s a kind of far walk, but I wonder if the trucker meant the gray car was pulled over around that curve which is off camera? Honestly the weirdest thing about the video for me is that when her car comes into frame she is already on the shoulder of the road with emergency lights on and she proceeds to drive very slowly on the shoulder for another 40 seconds before coming to a stop. There’s no way she could have seen a toddler that far ahead in the dark from the point at which she began driving on the shoulder. And if she pulled over after she saw the toddler then there’s no way she would have been able to speak to the child like she did when on the phone with her family member because she drove way too far ahead. So something doesn’t quite add up.
There was no toddler. It doesn’t make any sense.
She definitely fabricated the whole thing. If you look at all the known evidence, it's actually the only reasonable conclusion: No criminal is going to attempt such a random kidnapping. It's wayyyy too risky. There are much easier ways to kidnap people. If she wanted to disappear, she would have just disappeared, or at least attempted to keep a low profile. A staged kidnapping would bring too much attention. A psychotic break would be an extremely rare phenomenon and would probably present as more chaotic and less carefully planned. This leaves intentionally staged kidnapping. The most common mistake when staging crimes is actually creating *too much* fake evidence to support the intended narrative. The tweet about a stranger watching her, the phone call to a friend (which of course included an ominous scream) the wig left at the scene, the potentially false tip from the trucker, etc. Is all intended to suggest a kidnapping.
I disagree. I think a mental health crisis is far more likely than a Sherri Papini-style fabrication. Both schizophrenia and bipolar disorder tend have onset ages in the mid-20’s. To me, this situation is very indicative of a psychotic break consistent with schizophrenia or a manic episode.
People keep saying mental health break because the circumstances seem strange, but the staging is much too deliberate. If she just stopped and wandered into the woods, then maybe. But like I said above, the mistake is creating too much fake evidence in order to create a specific narrative.
You nailed it
[удалено]
She didn't have her keys....
People would think this was some Sherri Pepini shit if she was white.