Carlee Russell has been fired from her job at a spa following the mystery surrounding her alleged kidnapping, as investigations remain ongoing.
As per the New York Post, Russell went missing last Thursday (July 13) at around 09:35PM on the side of a busy highway in Alabama.
The 25-year-old allegedly saw a toddler "on the side of I-459" as she was on her way home from work and pulled over to help.
After calling the police about the young boy, she phoned her sister-in-law as she went over to investigate - and things took a turn as a scream was allegedly heard over the phone.
Talitha Robinson-Russell, Carlee's mother, told AL.com: "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."
As police arrived at the scene, they located Carlee's car with her personal belongings still inside but were unable to locate the 25-year-old and there was no sign of a toddler.
Her mother told WVTM-TV that she believed the young boy had been placed there as "bait" to lure a good samaritan out of their vehicle.
As investigations remain ongoing, the cops said in a press release: "The Hoover Police Department has not located any evidence of a toddler walking down the interstate, nor did we receive any additional calls about a toddler walking down the interstate, despite numerous vehicles passing through that area as depicted by the traffic camera surveillance video."
Carlee turned up at her house on foot just over 48 hours after she allegedly went missing, with reports at the time stating that she was "in shock" and had been "dropped off" at the property.
Question marks have been raised over her disappearance, as investigators revealed that she had searched for bus tickets and had researched the movie Taken, which centers around a young woman being kidnapped, just hours before the incident allegedly occurred, per Insider.
As doubt gets cast over Carlee's story, her boss and colleagues at the Woodhouse spa where she works have explained why they feel hurt, and why she has since been sacked from her position.
Speaking to the New York Post, Stuart Rome, the owner, stated: "It was really devastating for them [Carlee's colleagues] thinking a co-worker was abducted."
He added that they had gone above and beyond in the hope of finding Carlee. "The following day, Saturday, it was the busiest day of the week, and they had to plug along and work and in the off times pass out flyers and other things," Rome said.
Since the investigations have started to question Carlee's story, Rome said: "As the information came out that there were some questionable things, we’ve been a little p***** off, mainly because so many people took so much time out to search."
The spa has also been hit with a tirade of negative reviews simply because Carlee was affiliated with it.
"Basically, we’ve spent the last day battling to get things deleted," Rome said. "Comments. I’ve had to shut down my comment section on Instagram and Facebook page which hurts us because we do a lot of marketing there. We’re just trying to keep the doors open."
Carlee had told investigators that she was abducted by a man who blindfolded her and forced her into an 18-wheeler truck, and she was then taken back to his home.
After a female captor allegedly took pity on the 25-year-old and fed her cheese crackers, Carlee claims that she managed to escape and ran back through the woods to her house.
The investigation is ongoing, and whether the whole thing was a hoax currently remains unknown.
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