The US woman who disappeared after telling family she was stopping her car to help a wandering toddler has come clean and admitted she invented the entire episode.
Alabama woman Carlethia “Carlee” Nichole Russell, 25, sparked community fears and sent people out looking for her when she went missing after stopping on the highway near her home on July 13.
Panicked family heard her refer to stopping to help a wandering toddler, a claim Russell also made to 911.
She returned home after two days and her boyfriend spoke out to say she was kidnapped and “fighting for her life” while she was away.
“This was a single act done by herself. My client was not with anyone or at any hotel with anyone from the time she was missing.”
Through her lawyer, Russell apologised to her family, the police and those who had helped search for her.
“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.”
Hoover Police Chief Nick Derzis said police are now considering criminal charges against Russell, but still don’t know where she really was.
“We still don’t know about those 49 hours, where she was, did she have any help, we have no idea,” Derzis said.
What she told her family
Russell’s parents previously said that their daughter had been lured away by someone using the toddler as “bait”.
Talitha Russell told AL.com her daughter was headed home in the community about 16km south of Birmingham after leaving work and stopping to get food. She was on the phone with her brother’s girlfriend when she said she saw a child on the roadside.
“My son’s girlfriend heard her asking the child, ‘Are you Ok?’ She never heard the child say anything but then she heard our daughter scream,’’ Talitha Russell said. “From there, all you hear on her phone is background noise from the interstate.”
Russell’s whereabouts were not immediately clear since around 10.45 p.m. Thursday from when she called 911 and a family member to report seeing a young child walking on the side of Interstate 459.
Video showed Russell's car slowing and stopping. Photo / AL.com
Police found Russell’s car and her cellphone but were unable to find her or a child in the area.
Hoover Police Lt. Daniel Lowe said the family member on the phone with Russell lost contact with her even though the line remained open. A single witness reported possibly seeing a grey vehicle and a man standing outside of Carlee’s vehicle, but they had no additional information.
Poor quality video from the scene showed Russell’s car slowing and stopping but did not offer much detail.
Doubts were cast on Russell’s story from the beginning and police previously revealed Russell had researched the Liam Neeson movie Taken and googled whether she was too old to be the subject of an Amber Alert.
“The sad thing is that there were so many people involved who took this thing seriously,” Derzis told media today.
