Carlee Russell lied about seeing a toddler in diapers on the side of the highway and said she was never abducted, according to a statement from her lawyer shared by Hoover Police Chief Nicholas C. Derzis during a press conference Monday.
“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,” Derzis read. “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.”
Watch the Hoover Police Department press conference here:
Authorities are considering pressing charges on the 25-year-old nursing student, who “went missing” after reporting to 911 that there was a toddler on the side of I-459 two weeks ago.
During the 49 hours that she was classified as a missing person, Russell did not leave the Hoover area nor did she have any accomplices, NBC News reported.
'There was no kidnapping': Carlee Russell apologizes after admitting hoax https://t.co/ivPVxcK2Bh
— Ana Cabrera (@AnaCabrera) July 24, 2023
“This was a single act done by herself,” Derzis read. “My client was not with anyone or any hotel with anyone from the time she was missing.”
Russell never did her full interview with police after returning home on foot July 15. However, she said to police that she was taken in an 18 wheeler and a man and a woman took naked photos of her at an undisclosed location, Breitbart reported.
Her parents even appeared on the Today Show and shared how their daughter “fought for her life,” Breitbart reported.
In an exclusive sit down with @NBCNews, the parents of 25-year-old Carlee Russell, Alabama woman who had been missing for two days, are speaking out. @PriscillaWT shares the details. pic.twitter.com/s6z5e3maO4
— TODAY (@TODAYshow) July 18, 2023
The case raised many questions as the police never found any evidence of a toddler walking along the highway.
Russell’s cell phone data shows that she searched Amber Alerts, Taken — a movie about a girl being abducted — and one way bus tickets from Birmingham, Alabama, to Nashville, Tennessee, a day before her disappearance, according to authorities.
Video shows the moment Carlee Russell’s car pulled over and she disappeared in Hoover, Alabama:
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