Claims of a kidnapping made by 25-year-old nursing student Carlee Russell that sparked a nationwide manhunt were a hoax, Alabama police said Monday. File Photo courtesy Hoover, Ala., Police Department/Facebook
July 24 (UPI) — Carlee Russell, whose 48-hour disappearance earlier this month sparked a nationwide manhunt, has admitted her claims of being kidnapped were a hoax, Alabama police said Monday.
Hoover, Ala., Police Chief Nick Derzis said he had received confirmation from the 25-year-old nursing student’s attorney, Emory Anthony, that her story of being kidnapped while stopping to help a toddler along an interstate highway was entirely fictitious.
Derzis read a statement from Anthony during a press conference in which the attorney indicated his client has admitted that she “did not see a baby on the side of the road” and that “there was no kidnapping on July 13.”
“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,” the attorney said in the statement.
“Carlee again asks for your forgiveness and prayers,” he added.
The chief said no charges have yet been filed against Russell, but that authorities are scheduled to meet with Anthony on Tuesday.
Russell returned to her home in Hoover on June 15 claiming she had been kidnapped. Forty-eight hours earlier she had called authorities to report a toddler walking alongside of Interstate 459, but when police arrived at the scene, she had vanished. Her car and belongings had been left behind.
Responding officers also were unable to find a child in the area and indicated they had not received any calls about missing toddlers.
During her absence, the nationwide hunt for Russell became a social media phenomenon and the subject of widespread conspiracy theories.
After her return, she claimed she was held by assailants in an 18-wheeler truck and at one point during her alleged ordeal was forced to get undressed while they took nude photos of her.