Carlee Russell has admitted to lying.
The 25-year-old told Hoover police that she was not kidnapped from the side of Interstate 459 when she said she stopped to check on a toddler walking alone, via local news reports.
Her attorney, Emory Anthony, issued a statement to Hoover Police Chief Nick Derzis on Monday (July 24).
“Dear Chief Derzis, my client has given me permission to make the following statement on her behalf: There was no kidnapping on July 13, 2023. 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, but this was a single act done by herself,” he wrote.
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“My client was not with anyone or at any hotel during the time she was missing,” he continued.
“My client apologizes for her actions to the community, the volunteers who were searching for her, to the Hoover Police Department and other agencies, as well as to her friends and family. We ask for your prayers for Carlee as she addresses her issues and intends to move understanding that she made a mistake. Carlee again asks for your forgiveness and prayers.”
It was not made clear where she was during the 48-plus hours that she was missing, however she was not at the Red Roof Inn despite reports, via her legal rep to AL.com.
No charges have been filed against Carlee Russell, however the police chief said they are discussing possible charges with the District Attorney’s Office in the Bessemer Cutoff and will meet with her lawyer this week.
If you didn’t know, Carlee Russell apparently vanished Thursday, July 13, after calling 911 and a family member to report seeing a young child in a diaper walking alone on the interstate. The family member reported hearing a scream, and then only noise. The search quickly went viral on social media, when two days later, she arrived alone at her parents home in Hoover. She was taken to UAB Hospital for evaluation, and told police she escaped a man and woman who took her from the side of Interstate 459.
Police said no one else ever reported seeing a toddler on the interstate.
Data from her phone showed she traveled approximately 600 yards in her vehicle while she was on the phone with 911. When police arrived, they found her wig, cell phone and purse on the road near her vehicle. Her Apple Watch was in her purse.
Her parents have maintained she was abducted, telling Today that “Carlee has given detectives her statement so they can continue to pursue her abductor.”
This story is still developing.