HOOVER, Ala. — Monday, Alabama authorities announced that a woman admitted to fabricating a story that she was abducted after pausing to check on a child walking along the side of an interstate.
Chief Nicholas Derzis of the Hoover Police Department stated that Carlee Russell’s counsel, Emory Anthony, issued a statement on Monday denying an abduction.
“There was no kidnapping on July 13th, Thursday.” According to Derzis, who read the statement at a news conference, “my client did not see a baby on the side of the road.” She remained in the city and acted alone, according to the statement.
In a statement, Anthony said, “My client apologizes to the community, the volunteers who were searching for her, the Hoover Police Department and other agencies, as well as to her friends and family, for her actions.” “We ask that you pray for Carlee as she confronts her issues and tries to move on, recognizing that she made an error in this matter. Carlee again requests forgiveness and your petitions.
Five days after casting doubt on Russell’s story, the Hoover Police Department revealed the development. Derzis indicated that it is conceivable for Russell to face prosecution. According to him, they are attempting to determine where she was during her two-day absence.
“This was a complex transaction. When you discuss dialing 911,” the superintendent stated.
25-Year-Old Russell’s Disappearance: A Kidnapping Tale Unraveled
Russell, age 25, vanished on July 13 after contacting 911 to report a toddler meandering alongside an interstate. Two days later, she returned home and told authorities she had been kidnapped and coerced into a vehicle.
Her disappearance was covered by national news outlets. On social media, images of the vanished 25-year-old were widely disseminated.
Russell told detectives she was abducted by a man who emerged from the trees when she stopped to check on the child, placed her in a vehicle and a tractor-trailer.
Authorities stated at a news conference last week that she was blindfolded and detained at a residence where a woman fed her cheese wafers. Carlee Russell reported that she was again placed in a vehicle, but she escaped and fled through the woods to her neighborhood.
Last week, investigators cast doubt on her story during a news conference. In the days leading up to her disappearance, she reportedly researched Amber Alerts, a film about a woman’s abduction, and a one-way bus ticket from Birmingham, Alabama, to Nashville, Tennessee, departing the day she vanished.
In addition, her phone revealed that she traveled approximately 600 yards while telling a 911 operator she was following a 3- or 4-year-old wearing a diaper on the side of the road.
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Source: ABC News, Clarion Ledger
