Carlee Russell is a 25-year-old nursing student from Alabama who disappeared for two days in July 2023 after she dialed 911 to report a toddler wandering on the interstate.
Carlee Russell claimed that she captured by a man into a truck and took her to a house where she was stripped and shot.
Carlee Russell said she figured out how to escape when they endeavored to move her and went through the forest until she contacted her home.
However, police have not found any proof of her kidnapping or the toddler she reported, and have disclosed that she searched for Amber Alerts and the movie Taken before her disappearance.
Table of Contents
The connection between Taken and Carlee Russell’s abduction story is that Russell may have either copied the film to fake her own vanishing for some reason, or that she may have had a mental breakdown or a dissociative episode that made her think that she was in a similar situation as the characters in the film.

Courtesy Hoover Police Department via Facebook
Analysis
One possible reason for the connection between Taken and Carlee Russell’s abduction story is that Russell was motivated by the film to orchestrate her own disappearance for some benefit, such as attention, sympathy, or something else. According to police, Russell had several “odd” searches in her history, including how to steal money from a register, buying a one-way bus ticket, instructions on Amber alerts, and the movie Taken. She also purchased snacks from a Target store before her disappearance, but they were not found in her car or possessions. These searches and actions could suggest that Russell was planning to flee or hide somewhere, and that she used the movie Taken as a model for creating a believable abduction scenario.
Another possible reason for the connection between Taken and Carlee Russell’s abduction story is that Russell was suffering from a mental health problem or a traumatic event that caused a dissociative episode or a delusion that made her believe that she was abducted. According to some experts, dissociation is a psychological process that involves a disruption in one’s sense of identity, memory, perception, or consciousness.
Delusions can also involve themes of persecution, grandeur, or reference.
It is conceivable that Russell was encountering separation or daydream when she called 911 and revealed seeing a baby on the highway, which might have been a mental breakdown or a projection of herself as a kid.
She may have also imagined being kidnapped by a man who resembled the villains in Taken, and being taken to a house where she was exploited like the victims in the film.
Gigi Hadid and Friend Fined for Importing Marijuana into the Cayman Islands
Carlee Russell Abduction Story: Conclusion
Taken is a film series that shows the horrors of human trafficking and abduction, and how one man fights to save his family from these threats.
She said she escaped when they tried to move her and ran back home. However, police have found no evidence of her kidnapping or the toddler she reported, and have discovered that she searched for Amber Alerts and the movie Taken before her disappearance. The connection between Taken and Carlee Russell’s abduction story could be that Russell either staged her own kidnapping using the film as a guide, or that she suffered from a mental breakdown or a dissociative episode that made her believe that she was in a similar situation as the characters in the film.