Carlee Russell, the 25-year-old Alabama woman whose account of her mysterious 48-hour disappearance was questioned by police, admitted she was not kidnapped, authorities said in a news conference Monday.
“There was no kidnapping,” Emory Anthony, Russell’s attorney, said in a statement read by Hoover Police Chief Nick Derzis. “This was a single act done by herself.”
In a previous news conference on July 19, Hoover Police Chief Nick Derzis said that authorities “owe it to our citizens to tell them the facts that we have uncovered.” He then listed a number of details that were inconsistent with the statement Russell allegedly gave police after her disappearance made national headlines. The nursing student had abandoned her car on the night of July 13, leaving behind her purse, cellphone and other belongings after calling 911 to say she had seen a toddler in a diaper walking along the busy highway. In a call to her relatives moments later, her mother said they heard her scream before going silent.
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After a massive nationwide search involving the Hoover Police Department, the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency, the FBI and the U.S. Marshals, Russell returned home on foot. A 911 caller said that Russell was “unresponsive but breathing,” but police said she was conscious and speaking when first responders arrived. She was transported to a hospital. Before being treated and released, Russell told detectives an elaborate story about being abducted by a couple that night.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
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