She lied about seeing a lost child and being abducted

[Nebulous]

https://www.npr.org/2023/07/24/1189853747/carlee-russell-lying-lost-child-abducted-highway-alabama

Carlee Russell, the Alabama woman who went missing for two days after telling 911 that she found a stranded toddler, has admitted that she was not kidnapped and did not see a young child on the side of the highway.

In a statement given by Russell's attorney to the Hoover Police Department, the 25-year-old apologized for her actions, adding that no one else was involved in her disappearance.

"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," Hoover's police chief, Nick Derzis, read from the statement at a press conference on Monday afternoon.

Russell was initially expected to meet with the police earlier that day. Instead, her attorney, Emory Anthony, gave the department a written update.

It remains unclear why Russell fabricated a story of a stranded child, as well as why she went off radar for two days.

No criminal charges have been yet filed against Russell. Derzis said he is discussing the matter with the Jefferson County District Attorney's Office.

Russell initially told detectives that she was abducted​

Russell went missing on July 13 after telling a 911 dispatcher that she found a toddler wandering on the side of an interstate, according to the police. When officers arrived on scene, Russell and the child was nowhere to be found. But her car, wig and cellphone were on the roadway.

Russell's disappearance and the mysterious circumstances around it grabbed the country's attention before she returned home on July 15.

At the time, Russell told detectives that she was kidnapped by a man who emerged from the trees near her car when she got out to check on the child. She described being blindfolded and taken to a house where she was forced to get undressed. The next day, Russell added, she managed to escape and ran through the woods until she emerged near her house.

Police say they knew Russell's story was a hoax since last week​

Derzis said on Monday that the department believed since last week that Russell's kidnapping was a hoax.

At a press conference on Wednesday, police said Russell's online search history raised questions.

Two days before she went missing, Russell searched online whether you have to pay for an Amber Alert, according to Hoover Police. The day she was gone, Russell searched for local bus tickets as well as the abduction-based action movie Taken.

The police chief said on Wednesday that investigators found other concerning searches that shed light on Russell's state of mind prior to disappearance but the police were not releasing them out of respect for her privacy.

Thoughts?

 

[passenger]

Maybe she wanted to be "in the movies"?

 

[Daltonio]

SMH. But not surprising. There's stories all the time of people falsely confessing to crimes, etc. just so they can try and make themselves a part of the story. I guess this is just the natural next step for that. But I hope she's charged accordingly.

 

[Black Angel]

This shit has me HEATED.

BIPoC women and children (LGBT+ and not) go missing all the FUCKING time in this country, and because of MWWS (Missing White Woman Syndrome) you never ever hear about it is as much as you would say, Madeline McCann, Jon-Benet Ramsey and/or Natalie Holloway.

Missing white woman syndrome - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

So, as nice as it was, that Russell's case did receive nationwide attention, the fucked up part is that, whenever another Black woman or child LEGITIMATELY goes missing, people will just think back to Russell's case, and ASSUME that this person is lying, like Russell did (and I am only saying she lied, because the things she claimed were not true, per her lawyer, I am not saying anything about what her intentions were, or her mental state.. because I don't know..) and then basically proceed to ignore anything related to this next person's disappearance, in the same way that many people IGNORE the brutality faced by BIPoC LGBT+ people, because of what Jussie Smollett did.

So, while I can't say one way or another about Carlee Russell's intent or her mental status (after all, I'm not a psychologist) this situation, has now made it harder for those working to find missing BIPOC women and children.

I honestly don't understand why people do shit like this, ESPECIALLY as a part of the affected demographic..

It really hurts more than it helps.

 

[Webster]

whenever another Black woman or child LEGITIMATELY goes missing, people will just think back to Russell's case, and ASSUME that this person is lying

Tell that to Allisha Watts' family...

Community members hold vigil as friends, family still search for Allisha Watts

Prayer gathering was held at Little Rock Ame Zion Church

www.wbtv.com

CMPD: Boyfriend of missing Allisha Watts ‘important’ to the investigation

There have been many twists, turns and questions in this case.

www.wbtv.com

She's been missing now going on a month tomorrow and its' been a major story on all the local network stations (CBS, NBC, ABC, Fox & CW) in the Charlotte area the whole time.