The Alabama woman who went missing for two days and admitted to fabricating a story about seeing a toddler walking on the highway and being abducted has been charged with two misdemeanor charges Friday afternoon, police said.
The 25-year-old woman, Carlethia “Carlee” Nichole Russell, turned herself in and has been released after posting bail, Hoover Police Chief Nick Derzis said in a press conference Friday.
Russell was arrested and charged with two misdemeanors including false reporting to law enforcement authorities and falsely reporting an incident, each with a $1,000 bond.
Russell went missing in Hoover, Alabama, on July 13 and reappeared at her house about 49 hours later. Police said earlier they were investigating where she was during the two days she was missing. Earlier this week an attorney for Russell, Emory Anthony, sent a letter to the Hoover Police Department saying her story had been fabricated.
“There was no kidnapping,” Derzis read from the letter from Anthony at a news conference earlier this week. “My client did not see a baby on the side of the road.”
USA TODAY has reached out to Anthony, Russell’s attorney. Keith Czeskleba, public information officer for Hoover police, told USA TODAY earlier this week that the department had met with Anthony.
What happened to Russell?
Russell knocked on her family’s front door, returning to the home alone and on foot, according to police. The case sparked national media attention and an intense police search after Russell was first reported missing off an Alabama Highway in a Birmingham suburb after calling 911 to report a toddler walking alone along the interstate.
Russell was taken to an area hospital to be evaluated and was treated and released, police said.
“The Hoover Police Department continues to be extremely grateful for the outpouring of support from the Hoover community and beyond, and all of the assistance provided by our law enforcement partners which are too numerous to name,” Lieutenant Daniel Lowe wrote in a statement at the time. “We rejoice with the Russell family as they continue to rest and recover from this situation and ask for their wishes to be respected regarding their privacy.”
Russell’s mother, Talitha Russell, took to Facebook to announce her daughter’s return.
Russell’s whereabouts over the 48 hours she was missing is still unclear, according to police.
Officers got a 911 call informing them that Russell had returned home. Detectives went to the home and the hospital “to take an initial statement from Carlee . . . the details of that statement are a part of the ongoing investigation which is expected to continue over the next few days,” police said.
Hoover Police Chief Nick Derzis initially told Fox 6 that police were giving the Russell family the time they requested “to get themselves back together… When we think it’s time to be able to sit down and have a conversation with Carlee and try to get some facts, we’ll do that.”
“The main thing right now is her- to make sure that she’s okay,” Derzis said.
The night of the disappearance
Russell was driving home from work when she called 911 at 9:34 p.m. to say that she saw a male toddler in a diaper walking alone along the side of the interstate on I-459 south, roughly eight miles south of Birmingham.
Police have been unable to confirm whether there was a child on the highway. “Carlee’s 911 call remains the only timely report of a child on the interstate,” Hoover police said in a statement at the time.
The dispatcher told Russell to stay with the child until police arrived, her mother, Talitha Russell, told the New York Times.
Immediately after, Russell called her brother’s girlfriend to share what she saw. Russell stayed on the phone with the girlfriend as she got out of her car to check on the child and called out to him. Sometime after 9:36 p.m., the relative heard what sounded like Russell screaming and the phone drop to the ground, Talitha Russell said.
“My son’s girlfriend heard her asking the child, ‘Are you OK?’ She never heard the child say anything but then she heard our daughter scream,’’ Talitha said to AL.com. “From there, all you hear on her phone is background noise from the interstate.”
Police officers responded to the scene within five minutes of Russell’s 911 call and found her car abandoned on the side of the interstate. They also located Russell’s wig, cell phone and purse on the roadway near the vehicle and her apple watch was in her purse. However, they were “unable to find her or a child in the area,” police said in a statement.
Police did obtain video surveillance footage of the interstate that shows the moment when Russell pulled over her red Mercedes-Benz and slowly drove forward with her headlights flashing. The footage is grainy and doesn’t depict anyone else pulling their car over after Russell and before the police showed up.
