By Ryan Michaels
The Birmingham Times
On Tuesday, the same day that Carlethia “Carlee” Russell’s parents talked about the return of their missing daughter on national television, a Birmingham attorney said that some parts of the story don’t add up.
While saying that he is happy the Russell is safe, Eric Guster, a legal analyst who appears on local and national television as well as across social media, has raised questions about Russell’s account that she was abducted while stopping on the side of an interstate to check on a child standing alone.
According to Hoover Police Department, Russell called 911 at about 9:34 p.m. on July 13 to report that a toddler was walking on the side of I-459. After getting off the phone with 911, Russell then called a family member as Russell stopped and checked on the toddler, according to police. Russell then reportedly disappeared not long after.
The 25-year-old returned home Saturday evening and was taken to UAB Hospital, police said.
“If there is someone out here snatching women, we would have a description by now,” said Guster in a Facebook video posted Tuesday, the same day that NBC’s Today show aired an exclusive interview with Russell’s parents.
“Her parents, in that interview, said that we’re still looking for an abductor. Who? The three-foot abductor? Six feet? 10 feet? How big is the dude? We need to know,” said Guster.
Additionally, the Birmingham lawyer, said that in the Today interview, Talitha, Russell’s mother, suggested that medical professionals were already on the scene when Russell returned home.
“We tried to hug as best we could, but I had to stand back because she was not in a good state, so we had to stand back and let medical professionals work with her…” said Talitha, crying during the Today show interview.
However, Guster said, medical professionals were not present when Russell arrived home. His statement is in line with what HPD has released, saying public safety officials had to be called out to the property after Russell returned.
“They had to call 911 for the medical professionals to come at the time, and you cannot convince me that if a child was missing for two or three days, that her parents did not hug her. The story didn’t make sense,” Guster said.
However, Jennifer Coffindaffer, a retired FBI special agent and now a law enforcement expert for Eagle Security Group, said Russell’s case is “complicated” and that it could be one of three avenues, a real abduction, a hoax or a mental health crisis. Evidence could support any of the three, Coffindaffer said.
If it was a mental health crisis, Coffindaffer said it’s likely that Russell herself believes her story, even if it’s false.
“That’s why she called 911, she abandoned her car because she believed she was being kidnapped. These things happen, these types of situations are very real—but I wouldn’t want to diagnose her that way at this point,” Coffindaffer told Newsweek.
Russell’s mother, Talitha, has said that HPD investigators are continuing to pursue her daughter’s abductor or abductors and that the family has been harassed since her daughter was declared missing.
“There were actually just so many calls and texts from people … I just didn’t know people could be so evil,” Talitha said in the Today interview.
She also said that her daughter had moments “when she had to physically fight for her life, and there were moments when she had to mentally fight for her life” and that her daughter is ” having to deal with the trauma of people just making completely false allegations about her.”
In his video, Guster said he views Russell’s parents “as victims” but that he needed to speak because of what harm could be done if Russell’s story is false.
“When people lie, this is how boys and men end up in prison for the rest of their lives—this right here—because when people come up with a story, they stick with it…Even when they go to court, they stick with it, and then 20 years later, the evidence is being overturned, and a person’s lost 20 years of their life in prison,” Guster said.
According to HPD, officers arrived on-scene within five minutes of Carlee’s 911 call to find Russell absent. Her wig, cell phone and purse, which contained her Apple Watch, were on the roadway near her vehicle, according to HPD.
The investigation immediately began after finding her absent, according to HPD.
At 10:44 p.m. on Saturday, HPD received a call saying that Russell had appeared at her parents’ home on-foot.
On Friday, the day after the search for Russell began, video was released showing footage from traffic cameras at the time of her disappearance.
In the video, a car can be seen moving slowly on the shoulder of the road, with its hazard lights on, before stopping next to a bright object. Then, a person appears to open the driver-side door and walk around the back of the vehicle to the passenger side.
Because of the quality of the video, little else is easy to see.
“Who drives with their caution lights on in the emergency lane in advance cause they see a toddler walking on the side of the interstate,” said Christy Ellard, a resident of St. Clair County, on an AL.com Facebook post of the video.
“Something isn’t adding up in this story,” Ellard added.
