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 arrested for kidnapping hoax claiming child on side of highway was used as 'bait'



The Alabama woman who claimed to have been kidnapped after seeing a child on the side of the highway was charged with calling in a hoax to police on Friday.

Carlee Russell made national headlines when she appeared on the doorstep of her family's home two days after disappearing in a dramatic incident reportedly involving a child being used as a "lure." She later admitted that she had made up the story.

Hoover police chief Nick Derzis announced in a media briefing that Russell had been arrested and charged with making false statements to police.

"Her decisions that night created panic and alarm for the citizens of our city, and even across the nation, as the concern grew that a kidnapper was on the loose, using a small child as bait," said Derzis.

"Numerous law enforcement agencies, both local and federal, began working tirelessly, not only to bring Carlee home to her family but locate her kidnapper, that we know now never existed. Many private citizens volunteered their time and energy in looking for a potential kidnapping victim that we know now was never in any danger," he added.

Derzis said that Russell was charged with falsely reporting to law enforcement and falsely reporting an incident. Both are misdemeanors that carry a sentence of up to one year in jail and a potential fine of $6,000 upon conviction.

He added that Russell turned herself in and was booked into the Hoover City Jail before posting her bond and being released.

Officials said they had no information about where Russell was during the time she claimed she had been kidnapped.

Derzis said that he was frustrated she was only charged with misdemeanors but explained that existing laws only allowed the charges that were filed against her. He added that he would petition the state's legislature to pass laws to add further punishments for hoax calls like the one Russell made.

Some on social media had skepticism about the case from the beginning after video from the night of Russell's alleged kidnapping showed her car driving for several hundred feet before stopping on the side of the road but no child anywhere to be seen.

A human trafficking expert also said that those involved in trafficking don't generally kidnap their victims because it brings pressure from the community and law enforcement. Instead, traffickers often target their own family members or people with whom they are in an intimate relationship already.

Here's more about kidnapping hoax charges:

Alabama police charge Carlee Russell with 2 misdemeanors over 'hoax' kidnapping | ABCNL www.youtube.com

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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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