Carlee Russell, the Alabama woman who claimed to see a kid along a highway before she vanished and came home days later, testified to authorities in Hoover, Alabama, that she was never kidnapped during the 49 hours she was missing.
Hoover Police said that on the evening of July 13, Russell's family reported her missing from a highway in a Birmingham neighborhood after receiving a 911 call about a child wandering along the interstate. On July 15, she made her way back home on foot.
Confession to the Police
Hoover Police Chief Nick Derzis claimed in a news conference on Monday, July 24, that his agency had received a letter from Russell's lawyer. It states that Russell was never kidnapped and that her story of a lost child on an interstate during a 911 call was fraudulent.
According to Derzis, Russell wrote a letter in which she apologized to the community, searchers, police, and her family for what had happened. Russell also confirmed that no one helped her fabricate her narrative.
In a report by USA Today, Derzis added the cops still had no idea what drove Russell to fake her stories. They also do not know where Russell was for those 49 hours, so the inquiry will continue.
"I am glad that we received this. It at least puts some of the social media 'super-sleuths' hopefully to rest for a little bit as far as the conjecture of what everyone thinks took place," Derzis stated.
One of the questions during the Monday press conference was whether Russell would be charged with a crime. Derzis said that criminal charges against Russell for the hoax will be decided by prosecutors. According to him, Russell is not in police custody at the moment.
Fake Disappearance and Lost Kid Report
At a separate press conference last week, Derzis disclosed a clip of the 911 call in which Russell mentioned seeing a kid on a highway. Russell's 911 call was the sole timely report of a young person on the road, but Derzis claimed police had not received any complaints of a missing child in that vicinity.
Russell informed the 911 operator: "I think it's a little boy ... It's a white t-shirt. It doesn't look like he has any pants on. It looks like a diaper." She allegedly stopped her vehicle and stated to 911 that she needed to check on the kid.
According to a statement released on July 17 by Lieutenant Daniel Lowe of the Hoover Police Department, officers arrived on the scene five minutes after being called. They discovered Russell's car unlocked and running with her bag, Apple Watch, and wig still inside.
On the night of her disappearance, Russell clocked out of her work at around 8:00 PM CT. Based on a previous police statement, she shopped at the nearby mall for groceries and then went to Target.
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