By Aaron Miller-
Authorities in Alabama said on Friday they had filed criminal charges against a woman who confessed to fabricating a story that she was kidnapped after stopping to check on a toddler she saw walking on the side of an interstate highway.
Carlee Russell (pitured)was charged with misdemeanor, false reporting to law enforcement and falsely reporting an incident.
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The Hoover police chief, Nick Derzis, announced the charges at a news conference.
Russell, 25, disappeared after calling 911 on 13 July to report a toddler wandering beside a stretch of highway. She returned home two days later, telling 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 widely. Russell’s attorney, Emory Anthony, said she made the story up.
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In a statement read by police on Monday, Anthony said Russell was not kidnapped, did not see a baby on the side of the road, did not leave the city and acted alone.
He said Russell apologized and he asked for prayers and forgiveness as she “addresses her issues and attempts to move forward, understanding that she made a mistake in this matter”.
Russell told detectives she was taken by a man who came out of the trees when she stopped to check on the child.
She said the man 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, Russell said, she was put in a vehicle again but managed to escape and run through the woods to her neighborhood.
The 25-year-old had called 911 shortly before disappearing on 13 July – sparking a nationwide search – but she returned home 49 hours later.
Russell, who is a nursing student, also made up that she was forced into a huge truck and taken to a home where a man and a woman told her to get undressed and then took photos of her.
She now faces two charges – falsely reporting an incident and falsely reporting to law enforcement.
Russell posted a bond of $2,000 (£1,556) and was released from jail, but could face a year in prison and a $6,000 (£4,668) fine if convicted of the charges.
Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall said “we intend to fully prosecute this case”, adding his office will monitor the investigation for potential further charges.
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