'It brings up terrifying, horrifying feelings': Father of Aniah Blanchard says he's troubled by developments in Carlee Russell investigation

ALL RIGHT, JASON, WE’LL CHECK BACK IN WITH YOU COMING UP IN JUST A FEW. FIRST, THE LATEST REVELATIONS IN THE CARLEE RUSSELL CASE. THEY WERE UPSETTING TO MANY OF THE PEOPLE WHO DONATED MONEY AND THEIR TIME WITH THOSE SEARCH EFFORTS. IT’S ESPECIALLY TROUBLING FOR THOSE WHO HAVE HAD MISSING CHILDREN LIKE ANIAH BLANCHARD’S FAMILY, POLICE SAY LAST THURSDAY, CARLEE LEFT HER WORK, PICKED UP DINNER, BOUGHT SNACKS AT TARGET AND THEN LATER CALLED 911, REPORTING A TODDLER WALKING NEXT TO 459 NOT HEARD FROM UNTIL SHE RETURNED HOME LATE ON SATURDAY NIGHT. THEN ON WEDNESDAY, POLICE UPDATED THEIR INVESTIGATION, INCLUDING THE SEARCH HISTORY THE SECRET SERVICE FOUND ON HER PHONE, INCLUDING QUESTIONS ABOUT AMBER ALERTS AND BUSSES. WVTM 13, LISA CRANE SPOKE TO ANI’S FATHER TODAY. SHE JOINS US LIVE THIS EVENING IN HOOVER. LISA, I CAN IMAGINE THIS REALLY BROUGHT UP SOME DIFFICULT MEMORIES FOR HIM. YEAH, ABSOLUTELY. BRITTANY ELIJAH BLANCHARD SAYS WHEN HE FIRST HEARD CARLEE RUSSELL WAS MISSING, HIS HEART WENT OUT TO THE FAMILY BECAUSE HE SAYS, UNLESS YOU’VE BEEN THERE, AS HE HAS, YOU HAVE NO IDEA JUST HOW FRIGHTENING THAT IS. BUT HE SAYS BY THE NEXT DAY HE FELT TROUBLED WITH THE SITUATION BECAUSE IT JUST DIDN’T FEEL RIGHT. NOW, WITH EVERYTHING THAT’S COME OUT, HE SAYS HIS FEELINGS ARE BEST DESCRIBED AS HURT. IT’S BEEN FOUR YEARS SINCE ELIJAH BLANCHARD’S DAUGHTER ANAYA, DISAPPEARED AND WAS LATER FOUND MURDERED. HE SAYS THE WOUND IS STILL FRESH AND CARLIE RUSSELL’S CASE HAS CAUSED MORE PAIN. IT DOES OPEN UP WOUNDS BECAUSE OUR DAUGHTER WAS TAKEN AND AS A FATHER, YOU KNOW, YOUR DAUGHTER’S YOUR PRIDE AND JOY. I MEAN, REALLY, ESPECIALLY YOUR BABY GIRL. AND IT TOUCHED HOME A LOT. AND TO KIND OF FIND OUT LATER THAT, YOU KNOW, CARLIE RETURNS HOME. WE’RE REALLY NO JUSTIFICATION OF WHAT HAPPENED. YOU KNOW, AND IT BOTHERS ME BECAUSE IT WAS A POST THAT WAS MADE THAT SAYS SHE FOUGHT FOR HER LIFE AND ANAYA DID FIGHT FOR HER LIFE. AND, YOU KNOW, FOR SOMEONE TO USE THAT PHRASE, IT BRINGS UP TERRIFYING AND HORRIFYING FEELINGS WITHIN ME. IN YOUR MIND, IS THERE IS THERE ANY POSSIBILITY THAT SHE WAS ABDUCTED IN YOUR MIND RIGHT NOW? NO. NO, NOT IN MY MIND. NO, NO, MA’AM. I’M JUST BEING I’M JUST BEING HONEST. I DON’T THINK SO. I DON’T REALLY KNOW. I DON’T KNOW. I DON’T THINK SHE WAS ABDUCTED. I THINK SHE WAS I THINK SHE WAS GOING THROUGH SOME PERSONAL STUFF. AND I THINK THAT SHE WANTED SOME ATTENTION AND SHE GOT IT. BLANCHARD SAYS HE’S HOPEFUL CARLIE WILL COME FORWARD WITH ALL THE FACTS AND APOLOGIZE TO THE PUBLIC. IT NEEDS TO BE SOME TYPE OF REPRIMAND BEHIND HER ACTIONS. AND I’M SPEAKING BOLDLY ABOUT THAT BECAUSE I’VE BEEN THROUGH SOMETHING. AND LIKE I SAID, WHAT WITH MY FAMILY HAS GONE THROUGH, WE WAS NOT IT WASN’T THREE DAYS. WE DIDN’T SLEEP. IT WAS SEVERAL WEEKS THAT WE DIDN’T SLEEP, NOT KNOWING WHERE OUR CHILD WAS, NOT KNOWING THEY DIDN’T HAVE A CLUE WHERE SHE WAS. WE FOUND A CAR, BUT SHE WAS STILL MISSING. WE FOUND THE SUSPECT, BUT SHE WAS STILL MISSING. AND THEN ALL OF A SUDDEN WE FOUND HER REMAINS THAT HAD BEEN LAYING IN THE WOODS, THREW AND THROWING THE TRASH LIKE A LIKE A LIKE, YOU KNOW, SHE WAS THROWING IN THE TRASH LIKE LIKE GARBAGE. YOU CAN TELL BY THAT INTERVIEW THAT’S BROUGHT UP A LOT OF HURTFUL MEMORIES FOR THE BLANCHARD FAMILY. COMING UP AT FIVE, WE’RE GOING TO TALK TO ANIAH BLANCHARD’S MOTHER ABOUT THIS CASE. SHE AND VOLUNTEERS FROM HER NONPROFIT CALLED ANAYA’S HEART. THEY PUT A LOT OF HOURS IN SEARCHING ON THE GROUND IMMEDIATELY AFTER CARL