A lack of police action on the case of Carlethia "Carlee" Russell, who returned home on Saturday after disappearing for 48 hours, might signal that the 25-year-old nursing student experienced a mental health crisis, one expert has told Newsweek.
Russell was driving back home from work on Thursday night in Hoover, Alabama, when she called 911 about a toddler she said she had spotted walking alone on the side of Interstate 459. She then called a family member as she pulled over to see if she could help the child but the call was interrupted and the family member lost contact with her.
Traffic camera footage shows her vehicle, a red Mercedes, slowly driving down the shoulder lane with her flashers on and then coming to a stop. No child can be seen in the footage.
Officials called to the scene found Russell's abandoned vehicle with her purse and phone in it. There was no trace of either Russell or the child she said she had seen.
After a frantic 48-hour search for the missing woman, Russell returned to her parents' home on Saturday, which police said she reached on foot. Authorities were called to the scene and brought her to a local hospital, where she was treated and later discharged.
While her boyfriend published an Instagram post after Russell's return saying she had been "fighting for her life for 48 hours" and mentioned a "kidnapper," police have made no mention of any abduction.
An investigation led by the Hoover Police Department is currently trying to establish what happened to Russell during the 48 hours she was missing.
The circumstances around her disappearance—the toddler who does not appear on traffic camera footage and her sudden return home—has led to online speculation about whether Russell was ever in danger, with some accusing her of faking her own kidnapping for attention.
Jennifer Coffindaffer, a retired FBI special agent and now a law enforcement expert for Eagle Security Group, told Newsweek that people should be careful before judging Russell as all options are still open.
"This case is certainly one that's very complicated, and so far I see three different avenues," Coffindaffer said.
One possibility, she said, is that Russell "was actually kidnapped, and that's why she disappeared. They took her to a residence and then they let her go, or she was able to escape and get back home."
Certain facts support this theory according to Coffindaffer. There's video evidence that Russell pulled over on the side of I-459, leaving her car door open and the engine running. She also talked to a relative who heard Russell talking to a child, "although it was very clear that they didn't hear the child respond," Coffindaffer said.
A second possibility is that the kidnapping is a hoax, as some social media users are suggesting, "for the purpose of attention seeking," Coffindaffer said. She added that she doesn't think this is the case based on how genuine the despair of Russell's family was over her disappearance.
A third possibility is that Russell experienced a mental health crisis.
"In her mind, she truly believed that she saw a three- or four-year-old," Coffindaffer said. "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."
For Coffindaffer, all three options are possible. There are witnesses who said they saw a man pulling over in a gray car near Russell's vehicle.
"These witness accounts cannot be quickly discounted," she said, and they could support the theory that Russell was kidnapped.
The absence of action from the police, Coffindaffer added, would suggest that, on the other hand, she was not abducted.
"There's no child reported missing out here, and police have not warned people that there's an assailant on the loose. And I find the absence of any such notice opportunities or communication with the media to be insightful," Coffindaffer said.
That would suggest that either Russell was not kidnapped or the culprit has already been apprehended.
"But that really doesn't make sense because I think they would have announced that," Coffindaffer said of the latter. "So maybe this was a mental health crisis."
While the police investigation into Russell's disappearance continues, Coffindaffer thinks people should refrain from judgment.
"We really don't know for sure" what happened to Russell, Coffindaffer said. "And when you're talking about something that's so fragile and important as a possible mental health crisis, it's really unfair to make such a conclusion without more information."
Newsweek contacted the Hoover Police Department for comment by email on Tuesday.
