Woman missing after reporting seeing a toddler on the highway

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The last few pages are mostly people making stuff up and in a mean spirited way - jumping to conclusions with a clear bias.

Exactly. First she was a beautiful, young, smart, and caring person who was trafficked. Then, becuase she's alive, she's an unhinged whackjob.

We may never have answers. This isn't a movie. It's a person's life. The story was made public in order to help find her, and no one owes us a conclusion now that she's home.

If you saw a movie that was like real life, you'd be like "what the hell was that movie about?".
Life doesn't make narrative sense.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Just wanted to say I'm happy that in this instance the police acted as police should act. They immediately began with search parties, released cam footage, etc. Now that Carlee is back home, they're not imposing themselves on an already traumatized family.

Kudos to this local Alabama police department for doing the job they're paid to do, and for treating this family respectfully.

+1

Unfortunately, that won't stop the crazies on DCUM.

If you’re all so upset with speculation on this thread, why do you keep clicking on it? Why are you on DCUM at all? You know this is how every DCUM thread is.

Not every thread. Just the ones that attract the crazies.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The last few pages are mostly people making stuff up and in a mean spirited way - jumping to conclusions with a clear bias.

Exactly. First she was a beautiful, young, smart, and caring person who was trafficked. Then, becuase she's alive, she's an unhinged whackjob.

We may never have answers. This isn't a movie. It's a person's life. The story was made public in order to help find her, and no one owes us a conclusion now that she's home.

She can be both. That's actually important. People who have mental health crises, or make bad judgement calls in a moment of panic, or even become "unhinged" from their typical selves and go a bit whackjob from stress, and still be beautiful, young, smart, and caring people.

Something happened. That something involved her making the choice to call 911, and her leaving behind a running car (voluntarily or involuntarily), and her disappearing for days while her family was crying with grief and horror, and the resources of an entire town and county were almost completely focused on her disappearance while other people in need of help were left without it. And now she is back, and now there is absolutely no sign of urgency from the police.

It might be a psychotic break, although there are a lot of reasons we have been given that make that unlikely. It might have been a choice made under duress of some kind. It might (increasingly inexplicably) have been an actual abduction, although the lack of any pursuit or general warning about this would make that incredibly unlikely.

Whatever it was, she's now someone who was at the crux of national attention, and that will follow her name wherever she goes. Everyone in her circle of family and friends will be much more aware of the details than anyone else. And even if it was a series of bad decisions, she still will be the same beautiful, young, smart, and caring person she has always been -- she would just also be complex, like most humans.

+1 While I agree about the waste of resources, people aren’t just the equivalent of “honor students” or thugs. The media is so reductive.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The last few pages are mostly people making stuff up and in a mean spirited way - jumping to conclusions with a clear bias.

Exactly. First she was a beautiful, young, smart, and caring person who was trafficked. Then, becuase she's alive, she's an unhinged whackjob.

We may never have answers. This isn't a movie. It's a person's life. The story was made public in order to help find her, and no one owes us a conclusion now that she's home.

But someone should owe that community for the wasted resources if it turns out it was a scam.

Pretty sure the police don't need your help on this.

DP. They were not police dollars that were spent on this -- they were taxpayer dollars. That doesn't mean everyone is owed a specific accounting, but it's more complicated than you imply.

Again, pretty sure the police don't need your help on this. They are responsible for enforcing the law, including fraud.

[Anonymous]

They got the public involved. It’s understandable that we want an explanation, and it’s not unreasonable to want one, so PPs should stop pathologizing our interest.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You guys were so quick to dismiss me saying it was a case of a runaway. And so quick to create a “lure” trend that doesn’t even seem to exist.

Whether for fake hostage situation, mental health break, or just to get away to do something her family wouldn’t approve of, this is increasingly likely.

Occam’s razor… random toddlers running around the highway at night to serve as a lure for human trafficking is absurd. Cooking this up intentionally or because of mental health issues was the simplest explanation.

I haven't posted to this thread before. But using Occam's razor, the idea that she somehow cooked up this scheme to go do something fun is absurd. The more likely situation seemed that somehow a toddler did get on the side of the road (Could have been from a neighborhood adjacent to the highway, could have gotten out from a vehicle that was stopped for a flat tire etc.) And, especially as a nurse, she was motivated to find the child. I could see myself being in that situation. The idea that she would create this complicated scheme, involving a call to 911 and a family member, makes no sense. That may be what happened here, but this definitely did not seem like the most likely scenario.

Or an animal that looked like a toddler in the dark or occlude view.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The last few pages are mostly people making stuff up and in a mean spirited way - jumping to conclusions with a clear bias.

Exactly. First she was a beautiful, young, smart, and caring person who was trafficked. Then, becuase she's alive, she's an unhinged whackjob.

We may never have answers. This isn't a movie. It's a person's life. The story was made public in order to help find her, and no one owes us a conclusion now that she's home.

But someone should owe that community for the wasted resources if it turns out it was a scam.

Pretty sure the police don't need your help on this.

DP. They were not police dollars that were spent on this -- they were taxpayer dollars. That doesn't mean everyone is owed a specific accounting, but it's more complicated than you imply.

Again, pretty sure the police don't need your help on this. They are responsible for enforcing the law, including fraud.

I’m not sure why you keep saying this. I highly doubt the police are coming to DCUM for leads. No one here is inserting themselves into the investigation. These are just people on the internet talking about a crazy story. If you don’t like it, click on another thread.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You guys were so quick to dismiss me saying it was a case of a runaway. And so quick to create a “lure” trend that doesn’t even seem to exist.

Whether for fake hostage situation, mental health break, or just to get away to do something her family wouldn’t approve of, this is increasingly likely.

Occam’s razor… random toddlers running around the highway at night to serve as a lure for human trafficking is absurd. Cooking this up intentionally or because of mental health issues was the simplest explanation.

I haven't posted to this thread before. But using Occam's razor, the idea that she somehow cooked up this scheme to go do something fun is absurd. The more likely situation seemed that somehow a toddler did get on the side of the road (Could have been from a neighborhood adjacent to the highway, could have gotten out from a vehicle that was stopped for a flat tire etc.) And, especially as a nurse, she was motivated to find the child. I could see myself being in that situation. The idea that she would create this complicated scheme, involving a call to 911 and a family member, makes no sense. That may be what happened here, but this definitely did not seem like the most likely scenario.

You think a toddler that no one is looking for was just sitting on the side of a highway at 9 pm on a Thursday is a simpler explanation than a 25 year old with controlling parents went looking for a little freedom?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The last few pages are mostly people making stuff up and in a mean spirited way - jumping to conclusions with a clear bias.

Exactly. First she was a beautiful, young, smart, and caring person who was trafficked. Then, becuase she's alive, she's an unhinged whackjob.

We may never have answers. This isn't a movie. It's a person's life. The story was made public in order to help find her, and no one owes us a conclusion now that she's home.

But someone should owe that community for the wasted resources if it turns out it was a scam.

Pretty sure the police don't need your help on this.

DP. They were not police dollars that were spent on this -- they were taxpayer dollars. That doesn't mean everyone is owed a specific accounting, but it's more complicated than you imply.

Again, pretty sure the police don't need your help on this. They are responsible for enforcing the law, including fraud.

I'm not sure you understand how budgets, voting, and public discourse work. In theory, at least, the police don't have unfettered discretion to make decisions about where to spend large portions of public funding money.

I guess you could have a police state, if you want. That isn't here yet, though.

There is going to be public discussion about this, and to an extent that wouldn't happen if she had returned more quickly and we weren't facing the huge response that was pulled out for her safety. That was necessary since she was missing, of course. But if that was the result of voluntary actions, then the responsibility lies at least in part with her. That wasn't a few hours of time by a police clerk, and it affected far more people than just her.

I'm sorry about that. I'm especially sorry if she was in your social circle or even in your family, and you just happened to find your way here. Believe me, there are a lot of people with great compassion who were wishing her well. But you can't reasonably expect people not to have conversations about it. You can expect people not to bother her family, and moderators of some online discussion areas (maybe this one?) might shut their forums to discussions. But these discussions are going to be had as people sort it out, especially given the magnitude of the response she swayed.

If (if!) there was a voluntary component, and if she had kept the situation small, then this wouldn't be an ongoing conversation. Unfortunately, that is not where we are.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You guys were so quick to dismiss me saying it was a case of a runaway. And so quick to create a “lure” trend that doesn’t even seem to exist.

Whether for fake hostage situation, mental health break, or just to get away to do something her family wouldn’t approve of, this is increasingly likely.

Occam’s razor… random toddlers running around the highway at night to serve as a lure for human trafficking is absurd. Cooking this up intentionally or because of mental health issues was the simplest explanation.

I haven't posted to this thread before. But using Occam's razor, the idea that she somehow cooked up this scheme to go do something fun is absurd. The more likely situation seemed that somehow a toddler did get on the side of the road (Could have been from a neighborhood adjacent to the highway, could have gotten out from a vehicle that was stopped for a flat tire etc.) And, especially as a nurse, she was motivated to find the child. I could see myself being in that situation. The idea that she would create this complicated scheme, involving a call to 911 and a family member, makes no sense. That may be what happened here, but this definitely did not seem like the most likely scenario.

Or an animal that looked like a toddler in the dark or occlude view.

+1 which could also be the result of alcohol and/or drugs

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:^^This is from another site:

I’m a mom of daughters, but the convo I had with them last night wasn’t about children used as bait by traffickers. It was about what to do if a situation in life has gone wrong or if they’re worried about how they feel and are functioning, and that there’s very little mom and dad can’t help fix in life and there’s nothing so embarrassing or shameful that they can’t come to us. I guess I hope we have all of the conversations. Agree 1000% on better, safer outcomes.

I'm becoming pretty sure this needs to be the take-home message from this incident. Maybe some details may still unfold, but if this is what it looks like, it will also be the starting point potentially for some pretty important conversations.

Our children don't always have a lot of solid perspective, and life is harder than we may remember. It would be great if this sparks some conversations in families about what to do when you are lost and overwhelmed, and where our priorities are as parents.

100% this

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You guys were so quick to dismiss me saying it was a case of a runaway. And so quick to create a “lure” trend that doesn’t even seem to exist.

Whether for fake hostage situation, mental health break, or just to get away to do something her family wouldn’t approve of, this is increasingly likely.

Occam’s razor… random toddlers running around the highway at night to serve as a lure for human trafficking is absurd. Cooking this up intentionally or because of mental health issues was the simplest explanation.

I haven't posted to this thread before. But using Occam's razor, the idea that she somehow cooked up this scheme to go do something fun is absurd. The more likely situation seemed that somehow a toddler did get on the side of the road (Could have been from a neighborhood adjacent to the highway, could have gotten out from a vehicle that was stopped for a flat tire etc.) And, especially as a nurse, she was motivated to find the child. I could see myself being in that situation. The idea that she would create this complicated scheme, involving a call to 911 and a family member, makes no sense. That may be what happened here, but this definitely did not seem like the most likely scenario.

You think a toddler that no one is looking for was just sitting on the side of a highway at 9 pm on a Thursday is a simpler explanation than a 25 year old with controlling parents went looking for a little freedom?

There are a thousand other, simpler ways she could have done this. It happens daily. Lying about where you’re going, sneaking out your window are just two common ones. I think a toddler on the side of the highway is every bit as unlikely and a 25 year old making up that story and staging her abduction to go to a party. Neither story is the obvious truth.

[Anonymous]

Wondering if she used some weed in her car right after her shift, and had a reaction going from AC to heat multiple times. Disoriented? Alabama was hit with a heat index ranging from 94-100 Tuesday to 96-104 on Wednesday, and 97-105.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You guys were so quick to dismiss me saying it was a case of a runaway. And so quick to create a “lure” trend that doesn’t even seem to exist.

Whether for fake hostage situation, mental health break, or just to get away to do something her family wouldn’t approve of, this is increasingly likely.

Occam’s razor… random toddlers running around the highway at night to serve as a lure for human trafficking is absurd. Cooking this up intentionally or because of mental health issues was the simplest explanation.

I haven't posted to this thread before. But using Occam's razor, the idea that she somehow cooked up this scheme to go do something fun is absurd. The more likely situation seemed that somehow a toddler did get on the side of the road (Could have been from a neighborhood adjacent to the highway, could have gotten out from a vehicle that was stopped for a flat tire etc.) And, especially as a nurse, she was motivated to find the child. I could see myself being in that situation. The idea that she would create this complicated scheme, involving a call to 911 and a family member, makes no sense. That may be what happened here, but this definitely did not seem like the most likely scenario.

You think a toddler that no one is looking for was just sitting on the side of a highway at 9 pm on a Thursday is a simpler explanation than a 25 year old with controlling parents went looking for a little freedom?

How do you know they're controlling parents? For all you know, she has a history of mental health issues.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The last few pages are mostly people making stuff up and in a mean spirited way - jumping to conclusions with a clear bias.

Exactly. First she was a beautiful, young, smart, and caring person who was trafficked. Then, becuase she's alive, she's an unhinged whackjob.

We may never have answers. This isn't a movie. It's a person's life. The story was made public in order to help find her, and no one owes us a conclusion now that she's home.

But someone should owe that community for the wasted resources if it turns out it was a scam.

The police could confirm she went missing on her own and that there isn't a missing toddler or threat to the community. They don’t need to give details about her mental state or whereabouts.