Boyfriend of Carlee Russell deletes social media posts after police cast doubt over her kidnapping story

Carlee Russell’s family and friends say she was ‘fighting for her life’ in two-day search

The boyfriend of Carlee Russell has seemingly deleted social media posts containing photos or mentions of Ms Russell after police cast doubt over her allegations that she was kidnapped.

Ms Russell, 25, told police she was kidnapped on 13 July after pulling over on the side of the interstate to help a toddler who she claims was walking alone.

Two days later, on 15 July, she returned home.

Her boyfriend, Thomar Latrell Simmons posted on Facebook announcing her return and attesting to her claim that she was kidnapped. He wrote that Ms Russell had been “fighting for her life for 48 hours” and not “physically or mentally stable” enough to speak about her kidnapping.

“I don’t even know how to start off this post but to only say thank you to my lord & savior Jesus Christ for saving my girlfriend’s life!” he said on Sunday.

The post included photos of himself and Ms Russell.

“Also, thank you to everyone who shared a picture, came out to the Hoover Met to help us with the search parties, & who went & proceeded to tell other people about Carlee to bring more awareness to her story. I have been going nonstop since I received the call that she was missing on Thursday night. I know she would’ve done the same for me, so I wasn’t going to give up until I saw her face again!”

But after Hoover police revealed they were unable to verify most of Ms Russell’s story on Wednesday, Mr Simmons deleted his posts from Facebook and Instagram.

Mr Simmons did not make any follow-up posts indicating why he deleted his content of Ms Russell.

The Independent has reached out to Mr Simmons for comment.

25-year-old Carlee Russell was reported missing after she called 911 and stopped to check on a toddler on the side of an Alabama highway on 13 July (Hoover police department)

Ms Russell’s boyfriend is not the only person who publicly claimed she had been kidnapped. Her parent sat down with TODAY on Tuesday to attest that their daughter had gone through a great physical and mental ordeal in the 49 hours she was missing.

But after police contradicted those statements, neither Mr Simmons nor Ms Russell’s family have come out with any official statements.

Ms Russell told her family and police she was kidnapped by a man with orange hair after she pulled her car over on Interstate 459 to assist a toddler who was walking alone.

She said that the man, and a woman, held her captive for two days before she escaped.

However, Hoover police have no evidence that a toddler was walking unattended on the side of the road and cannot verify her claims of being kidnapped.

Police chief Nick Derzis said that Ms Russell’s internet search history gave investigators a peak into her mental state in the days and hours before her disappearance.

Ms Russell searched for things like information on Amber Alerts, one-way bus tickets out of Birmingham and the movie Taken.