BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (WIAT) — Days after a woman went missing and was found safe, Carlee Russell has admitted that she was not kidnapped, police report.
During a press conference Monday afternoon, Hoover Police Chief Nick Derzis read a statement from Emory Anthony, Russell's attorney, claiming that the 25-year-old woman was not abducted the night of July 13--as she and her family had previously reported-- and that she had not seen a child walking along I-459 the night she disappeared.
Derzis read the following statement from Russell that was provided to the Hoover Police Department from Emory Anthony:
"My client has given me permission to make the following statement on her behalf. There was no kidnapping on Thursday, 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 help in this incident, that this was a single act done by herself. My client was not with anyone or any hotel with anyone from the time she was missing. My client apologizes for her actions to this 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 attempts to move forward, understanding that she made a mistake in this matter. Carlee, again, asks for your forgiveness and prayers."
On July 13, Russell called police to report allegedly seeing a toddler walking along I-459 near Hoover. Police responding to the scene found Russell's car, but not her. No other reports of a child walking along the interstate were made that night. On July 15, Russell was found after reportedly walking home.
Following her Russell's return, she and her family claimed that she had been abducted. In her statement to police, Russell alleged that she had been taken by an unidentified man while trying to find the alleged toddler along the side of the interstate. According to police, Russell claimed to have escaped while being taken in a car the next day.
Over the last week, there has been speculation on the circumstances surrounding Russell's disappearance. During a press conference on July 19, Derzis questioned several aspects of the case, such as Russell's past text messages leading up to her disappearance, as well as claiming to have followed the child for hundreds of yards along the interstate.
During its investigation, police uncovered several text messages from Russell in the day leading up to her disappearance, such as "You have to pay for an Amber alert," a search for a one-way bus ticket from Birmingham to Nashville for July 13, as well as the plot to the movie "Taken," which involves the abduction of a girl.
Despite these questions, Russell's family previously maintained that she was abducted, telling the "Today" show last week that whoever took her was still out there.
Derzis said police would be meeting with Anthony and that charges against Russell would be announced when and if they were filed. No motive for Russell's false abduction report were revealed.
Derzis ended the press conference by saying that Russell's admission would not alter their ongoing investigation into her whereabouts the night she claimed to have been abducted.
from KRON4 https://ift.tt/uA3Kj80
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