Carlethia "Carlee" Nichole Russelll Missing In Hoover, Alabama

The family of a Black woman who went missing while trying to help a child is asking the public for help.

Source: Hoover Police Department / Hoover PD

On Thursday night, 25-year-old Carlethia “Carlee” Nichole Russell of Hoover, Alabama, called 911 to report a child she saw walking alongside Interstate 459. She also told her family she was stopping to check on the child. Moments later, the family member Russell was on the phone with lost contact with her, and officers arrived at the scene to find the 911 caller’s vehicle, but they saw no sign of Russell or the child she went to check on.

Al.com reports that Russell told a 911 dispatcher that she was near mile marker 11 when she saw a toddler walking alone on the side of I-459 between the flyover to the Galleria and Highway 150. After stopping to check on the child she then called a family member to report the same details before the family member lost contact with her while the line remained open.

Source: Hoover Police Department / Hoover PD

“She called 911 when she pulled over,’’ Talitha Russell told Al.com. “She got out of the car. I think she probably let her guard down thinking 911 would be there in a second.”

“My son’s girlfriend heard her asking the child, ‘Are you Ok? She never heard the child say anything but then she heard our daughter scream,’’ Talitha continued. “From there all you hear on her phone is background noise from the interstate.”

“He saw her red car with the door open and he saw a grey car with a tall brown-skinned man with khaki shorts on leaning over in the car,’’ Talitha said.

Source: Hoover Police Department / Hoover PD