Current:Home > ScamsAlabama woman confesses to fabricating kidnapping-Angel Dreamer Wealth Society D1 Reviews & Insights
Alabama woman confesses to fabricating kidnapping
View Date:2024-12-23 21:15:21
HOOVER, Ala. (AP) — Authorities in Alabama said Monday that a woman has confessed to fabricating a story that she was kidnapped after stopping to check on a toddler she saw walking on the side of the interstate.
Hoover Police Department Chief Nicholas Derzis said Carlee Russell’s attorney, Emory Anthony, provided a statement on Monday saying there was no kidnapping.
“There was no kidnapping on Thursday July 13. My client did not see a baby on the side on the road,” the statement read, according to Derzis, who read it at a news conference. She did not leave the city, and acted alone, the statement added.
Related stories Police cast doubt on Carlee Russell’s kidnapping claim after reporting toddler on an Alabama highway Carlee Russell returns home after search, but no word from Alabama police on where she’d been Alabama woman who disappeared after reporting child on highway returns home following two-day search“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, as to her friends and family,” Anthony said in a statement. “We ask for your prayers for Carlee, as she addresses her issues and attempts to move forward, understanding that she made a mistake in this matter. Carlee again asks for your forgiveness and prayers.”
The Hoover Police Department announced the development five days after casting doubt on Russell’s story. Derzis said it is possible that Russell could face charges. He said they are trying to determine where she was in the two days she was gone.
“This was an elaborate deal. When you talk about calling 911,” the chief said.
Russell, 25, disappeared after calling 911 on July 13 to report a toddler wandering beside a stretch of interstate. She returned home two days later and told police she had been abducted and forced into a vehicle.
Her disappearance became a national news story. Images of the missing 25-year-old were shared broadly on social media.
Russell told detectives she was taken by a man who came out of the trees when she stopped to check on the child, put her in a car and an 18-wheel truck, blindfolded her and held her at a home where a woman fed her cheese crackers, authorities said at a news conference last week. At some point, Carlee Russell said she was put in a vehicle again but managed to escape and run through the woods to her neighborhood.
Investigators cast doubt on her story in a news conference last week. They said in the days before her disappearance, she searched for information on her cellphone about Amber Alerts, a movie about a woman’s abduction and a one-way bus ticket from Birmingham, Alabama, to Nashville, Tennessee, departing the day she disappeared. Her phone also showed she traveled about 600 yards while telling a 911 operator she was following a 3- or 4-year-old child in a diaper on the side of the highway.
Hoover is about 10 miles (16 kilometers) south of Birmingham.
veryGood! (44)
Related
- Why the US celebrates Veterans Day and how the holiday has changed over time
- Dwayne The Rock Johnson gets ownership rights to his nickname, joins TKO's board
- Are Yankees changing road uniforms in 2024? Here's what they might look like, per report
- New York man convicted of murdering woman who wound up in his backcountry driveway after wrong turn
- New York eyes reviving congestion pricing toll before Trump takes office
- Oscar 2024: What to know about 'Barbie,' Cillian Murphy, Lily Gladstone nominations
- Tristan Thompson Suspended for 25 Games After Violating NBA Anti-Drug Program
- Sheryl Lee Ralph shares Robert De Niro revelation in Oprah interview: Exclusive clip
- Kendall Jenner Is Back to Being a Brunette After Ditching Blonde Hair
- Rights center says Belarusian authorities have arrested scores of people in latest crackdown
Ranking
- Review: 'Emilia Pérez' is the most wildly original film you'll see in 2024
- Girl, 8, describes 'magical' moment Jason Kelce picked her up to say hi to Taylor Swift
- Ryan Gosling Calls Out Margot Robbie and Greta Gerwig’s Barbie Oscars Snubs
- Cristiano Ronaldo's calf injury could derail match against Lionel Messi, Inter Miami
- Infowars auction could determine whether Alex Jones is kicked off its platforms
- Just 1 in 10 workers in the U.S. belonged to labor unions in 2023, a record low
- Sorry San Francisco 49ers. The Detroit Lions are the people's (NFC) champion
- Memphis residents endure 4 days of water issues after cold weather breaks pipes: 'It's frustrating'
Recommendation
-
'Serial swatter': 18-year-old pleads guilty to making nearly 400 bomb threats, mass shooting calls
-
Dueling political factions demonstrate in Venezuela’s capital as presidential election race heats up
-
Man ordered to stand trial in slaying of Detroit synagogue leader
-
WWE’s ‘Raw’ is moving to Netflix next year in a major streaming deal worth more than $5 billion
-
Nicole Kidman Reveals the Surprising Reason for Starring in NSFW Movie Babygirl
-
New Hampshire Republicans want big changes, but some have concerns about Trump, AP VoteCast shows
-
Flyers goalie Carter Hart taking an indefinite leave of absence for personal reasons
-
Georgia secretary of state says it’s unconstitutional for board to oversee him, but lawmakers differ