Case Details
- Photo URLs:
-
- Missing Since:
- Missing Since 09/04/1995
- Missing From:
- Missing From Bayonet Point, Florida
- Classification:
- Classification Endangered Missing
- Gender:
- Female
- Race:
- Race White
- Date of Birth:
- Date of Birth 02/11/1965 (59)
- Age:
- Age 30 years old
- Height and Weight:
- Height and Weight 5’5 – 5’8, 135 – 145 pounds
- Clothing/Jewelry Description:
- Clothing/Jewelry Description Blue jeans, a blue or yellow t-shirt, white socks, white sneakers and a gold wedding ring with a small imbedded diamond.
- Distinguishing Characteristics:
- Distinguishing Characteristics Caucasian female. Brown hair, brown eyes. Russell has scars on her left wrist and abdomen. She wore contact lenses in 1995, but did not have them on at the time of her disappearance. Some agencies spell her last name “Russel.”
- Details of Disappearance:
- On September 4, 1995, Russell disappeared from her home in Bayonet Point, Florida. She and her boyfriend, Larry Podolski, were sleeping when they heard tapping on their windows around 1 a.m. Russell went to check it out, but never returned. Podolski said he found her gone later that morning. $245 was also missing from their home.
Podolski claimed he called the police at 1 p.m. that day but was told to wait 48 hours before reporting her missing. He officially reported her missing two days later. However, police have no record of his initial call, and there’s no such policy.
Russell’s family found her disappearance strange. She left behind important things like her license and contacts, and wouldn’t leave her children without a plan. While Podolski said they were planning a wedding, her mother claimed Russell wanted to leave him and take the children.
The couple had a history of problems, including a violent argument in July 1995 that led to Podolski’s arrest (later dropped). Both had substance abuse issues. Russell’s family strongly suspected Podolski of killing her.
Podolski died of a drug overdose in 2008 without ever being charged, but he remains a suspect in Russell’s disappearance, which remains a mystery.
- Agency:
- Pasco County Sheriff’s Office
- Source Links:
This person was missing Missing Since 09/04/1995