Woman from Alabama Admits to Making up Kidnapping Story

In a recent turn of events, an Alabama woman has admitted that she concocted a false story about being kidnapped after allegedly seeing a toddler wandering alone by the interstate. The confession came to light on Monday, as reported by Alabama authorities.

The Chief of the Hoover Police Department, Nicholas Derzis, disclosed that Emory Anthony, the legal representative of Carlee Russell, shared a statement on Monday denying any occurrence of kidnapping.

The statement quoted, “There was no incident of kidnapping on Thursday, July 13. My client did not come across any toddler on the road.” As Derzis read the statement during a press conference, it was clarified that Russell had not left the city and the entire act was carried out solo.

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Anthony further mentioned in his statement, “My client extends her apologies to the community, the volunteers involved in her search, the Hoover Police Department and other respective agencies, as well as her friends and family. We request your prayers for Carlee as she acknowledges her mistake and tries to move ahead. We once again ask for your forgiveness and prayers on Carlee’s behalf.”

Five days after expressing skepticism about Russell’s story, the Hoover Police Department revealed this update. Potential charges against Russell are being contemplated, said Derzis, as the department continues to ascertain her whereabouts during her two-day disappearance.

The police chief referred to the incident as a detailed plot, especially considering the call made to 911.

Russell, aged 25, reportedly vanished after making a 911 call on July 13 about a toddler seen wandering near an interstate. She returned home two days later claiming to have been kidnapped and forced into a vehicle.

Russell’s missing report gained national attention, with pictures of the 25-year-old widely disseminated on social media.

According to authorities at last week’s press conference, Russell shared with the detectives that she was abducted by a man who emerged from the trees as she stopped for the child, forced her into a car and an 18-wheel truck, blindfolded her, and held her in a house where a woman provided her with cheese crackers. Russell alleged she managed to escape at some point and reached her neighborhood running through the woods.

However, investigators had expressed skepticism about her story during a press conference last week. They revealed that prior to her disappearance, her cellphone showed she had searched for Amber Alerts, a movie about a woman’s abduction, and a one-way bus ticket from Birmingham, Alabama to Nashville, Tennessee set for the day she went missing. Her phone records also indicated she had moved about 600 yards while claiming to the 911 operator that she was tailing a 3- or 4-year-old child in a diaper by the highway.

Hoover is located approximately 10 miles (16 kilometers) to the south of Birmingham.

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More about False Kidnapping Claim

• Hoover Police Department Press Releases
• News report about Carlee Russell’s confession
• Local News coverage of the Carlee Russell case