KIDNAPPING HOAX: Alabama woman FAKES her abduction, gets off with misdemeanors



Carlee Russell, a 25-year-old Alabama nursing student, is facing two misdemeanors after faking her own kidnapping earlier this month.

On July 13, Russell called 911 to report a toddler wandering alone down the side of the interstate. When police arrived at the site, there was no toddler, no evidence of a toddler, and no Russell.

Russell’s car, however, was abandoned at the scene, which incited a widespread search involving local, state, and federal agencies.

Two days later, Russell showed up at her parents’ house claiming that a white man with orange hair had held her hostage.

“A white man – of course,” says Sara Gonzales, clearly annoyed.

Investigators were skeptical when they found Russell’s phone, which was left in her car.

“She had searches in her phone’s history that included the movie ‘Taken,’” which is about a young girl’s abduction, Sara reports.

Russell also searched for information about Amber Alerts.

“She was clearly searching terms that indicated that she wanted to fake her own abduction,” Sara says.

Russell’s strange abduction story was quickly disproven, and “her attorney later confirmed to police in a press conference that she did, in fact, just make everything up.”

As of now, Russell’s motives behind her kidnapping hoax are unclear.

“My personal opinion,” Sara says, “is that we are living in a society that is so narcissistic that she just wanted attention.”

Regardless of Russell’s intentions, she now must contend with charges for “false reporting to law enforcement and falsely reporting an incident.”

Many people have expressed frustration with Russell’s consequences, claiming that they are far too soft, especially considering “police dedicated resources to searching for her” – resources “that were taken away presumably from other actual emergencies,” Sara adds.

“They had $63,000 donated to Crime Stoppers to try to help find her,” Sara explains, adding, “I actually wish it was a felony.”

“She needs to be made an example of,” John Doyle agrees.


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Alabama woman admits kidnapping story with child on the side of the highway was a complete hoax



Carlee Russell, the woman who claimed that she had been lured into a kidnapping by a child left on the side of a freeway, admitted on Monday that the story was a hoax.

The story made national headlines as police sought for the woman and online sleuths scoured all available media for clues to her apparent disappearance after she claimed she had seen a child in a diaper and stopped to help.

On Monday, Russell admitted in a statement through her attorney that the story was a hoax.

"My client has given me permission to make the following statement on her behalf," said Hoover Police Department chief Nick Derzis, who read the statement at a media briefing.

"There was no kidnapping ... My client did not see a baby on the side of the road. My client did not leave the Hoover area when she was identified as a missing person. My client did not have any help in this incident. This is a single act done by herself. My client was not with anyone, or in any hotel with anyone from the time she was missing," the statement continued.

"My client apologizes for her actions to this community, the volunteers who were searching for her, to the Hoover Police Department and other agencies as well," Derzis added.

The statement from Russell's attorney asked for forgiveness as well as prayers.

Online critics turned against Russell after she had shown up on the doorstep of her family's home claiming she had been kidnapped. Some noted that the police statement at that time had been non-committal about whether the kidnapping had actually happened.

Others pointed to discrepancies in the grainy video from the highway that didn't appear to show any child on the side on the road.

One human trafficking expert told the Business Insider that this kind of kidnapping was rare for traffickers because they typically try to avoid the spotlight and instead seek victims by other means.

"As far as we are aware, this is not a tactic that traffickers use," said Sabrina Thulander of Polaris.

She went on to say that human traffickers tend to be a family member to their victim or an intimate partner who exploits a victim's vulnerabilities.

Here's more from the media briefing on Monday:

Carlee Russell Fake Disappearance: She wasn't abducted, charges could be coming | LiveNOW from FOX www.youtube.com

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Family says Alabama woman was kidnapped after being 'lured' by toddler on side of a highway, but skeptics are crying hoax



The family of an Alabama woman says she was kidnapped after she stopped to help a child on the road and was held for several days before she was able to walk home.

The bizarre series of events began on Thursday when 25-year-old Carlee Russell disappeared after calling 911 to report a small child walking alone in a diaper on the side of interstate I-459.

Her family reported her missing, and a frantic search began for the woman.

Officers found her car on the side of the road and found some of her belongings, including her wig and her cellphone.

After several days of the search, Russell knocked on the door of her family's home after walking there alone on Saturday at about 10:30 p.m.

Russell was treated at a hospital and released on Sunday. Police said she gave them a statement about what happened, but they did not release any information about what she said.

"We celebrate with the Russell family on her safe return," read a statement from Lt. Daniel Lowe of the Hoover Police Department.

Russell's mother said that her daughter had called a family member after seeing the child and screamed before the phone call was cut off.

Her boyfriend claimed in a post on Facebook that Russell had been kidnapped and fought for her life for two days.

“She was literally fighting for her life for 48 hours, so until she’s physically & mentally stable again, she is not able to give any updates or whereabouts on her kidnapper at this very moment,” wrote Thomar Latrell Simmons in the post.

Her parents also said that the child has been used to "lure" Russell.

Some people on social media have cast doubt on the official story, and they're claiming that the kidnapping was a hoax. They point to grainy surveillance video showing Russell's car stop on the side of the road with no sign of the child anywhere.

A human trafficking expert told the Business Insider that it is highly unlikely a trafficker would use a child as a lure because abductions attract a lot of attention.

"As far as we are aware, this is not a tactic that traffickers use," said Sabrina Thulander of Polaris.

She went on to say that traffickers are more likely to use trickery and manipulation. Often they are family members of the victim or intimate partners who are exploiting a vulnerability of the victim.

Here's more about the alleged kidnapping:

Missing Alabama woman returns home after reporting toddler on highway and disappearing www.youtube.com

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