Carlee Russell update: Boyfriend begs public to stop bullying Alabama woman amid abduction hoax claims

The parents of Carlee Russell, the 25-year-old Alabama woman who disappeared for 48 hours after reporting that she spotted a child on the side of a highway, have spoken out for the first time since their daughter returned.

“We tried to hug as best we could, but I had to stand back because she was not in a good state,” Talitha Russell told The Daily Beast earlier this week about seeing her daughter return home. “So we had to stand back and let medical professionals work with her.”

While Ms Russell has been reported safe, mystery still swirls around what happened in the two days in which she vanished.

Police have since shared their doubt about her claims, suggesting that her internet search history indicates that she may have staged her own kidnapping.

While police have not made any official allegations against Ms Russell, should they find that she made a false report, law enforcement could choose to charge her.

Section 13A-10-9 of the Alabama criminal code states that making a false report to law enforcement, knowingly, is a Class A misdemeanour.

When asked if law enforcement was planning on charging Ms Russell on Wednesday, Mr Derzis replied: “To be perfectly honest with you, that hasn’t even entered our mind or been discussed.”

Ariana Baio has the story.

Carlee Russell has been fired from the Alabama beauty spa where she was working on the night she claimed to have been kidnapped, according to a new report.

Owner Stuart Rome told the New York Post Ms Russell was no longer employed at the Woodhouse spa in Birmingham, and that staff were “pissed” about her abduction claims.

The 25-year-old told police she was kidnapped while stopping to help a toddler on Interstate 459 on 13 July. However, police say they have doubts about her account after finding suspicious internet searches on her phone.

Mr Rome said staff had been devastated by Ms Russell’s disappearance, and had passed out flyers in an effort to help find her.

“As the information came out that there were some questionable things, we’ve been a little pissed off, mainly because so many people took so much time out to search,” Mr Rome toldthe New York Post.

The mother of slain teen Aniah Blanchard has sent a dire message in the wake of an exhaustive investigation by Alabama authorities into the mysterious circumstances in which Carlee Russell allegedly went missing.

Angela Harris, who created a nonprofit organization to promote safety education after her 19-year-old daughter was murdered in 2019, helped in the search for Ms Russell and has now called for the public to remain patient — and cautious — as an investigation is underway.

“People want to know the truth, they need to know if there’s a predator out there … Y’all, there are predators out there that you need to beware of. Were’ not [just] talking about the Carlee situation … just in general, in life,” Ms Russell said in a TikTok video posted on Tuesday.

“There are predators out there, everywhere, it doesn’t matter. Please get that into your head. It can happen to anybody, anywhere, anytime.”

Andrea Blanco has the full story.

The father of Daniel Robinson, who has been missing since 2021, says he is concerned that Carlee Russell’s case will make it harder for Black families to get attention for their loved ones.

“It damages the problems we already have with law enforcement with taking our stories serious,” David Robinsontold CNN.

Daniel Robinson vanished in Buckeye, Arizona, in June 2021, and authorities were initially reluctant to take the missing person report seriously, his father said.

Black people are over-represented in missing person cases according to FBI data, making up 31 per cent of reports despite having just 14 per cent of the US population.

Black & Missing Foundation co-founder Derrica Wilson told CNN she had 6,000 missing person cases on her database, most of them unsolved.

She said it was often difficult to attract attention to the cases of missing persons cases involving Black people.

“We are disappointed that there are inconsistencies with (Ms Russell’s) story especially when there are a staggering number of people of colour who are still missing and they need our help,” Ms Wilson said.

Missing white woman syndrome was a term coined by social scientists to describe how cases involving attractive, young white women receive far greater media attention than those of missing indigenous or Black women and men.

Carlee Russell’s boyfriend has pleaded with the public to stop cyberbullying the Alabama nursing student amid mounting suspicion she faked her own abduction.

“I know what it seems like what she did. Just stop bullying on social media,” Thomar Latrell Simmons told the New York Post.

“Think about her mental health. She doesn’t deserve that. She doesn’t. Nobody deserves to be cyberbullied.”

Ms Russell, 25, told police she was kidnapped after stopping to help a toddler in diapers walking alone on Interstate 459 on the evening of 13 July.

Police arrived five minutes later to find her red Mercedes still running, and her cellphone, wallet and wig in the car.

While Ms Russell was missing, Mr Simmons appealed for information from the public to help find her.

He later deleted a social media post stating that his girlfriend had been abducted.

Hoover police chief Nick Derzis told reporters that authorities were “unable to verify” most of the statements that Ms Russell gave police about her whereabouts during the 49 hours she was missing.

Ariana Baio examines four unanswered questions about the perplexing case.

Carlethia “Carlee” Nichole Russell vanished on 13 July after calling 911 to report she had seen a toddler walking on the side of Interstate 459 in Alabama.

The 25-year-old told dispatch she stopped her car to check on the child, and called a family member before losing contact, according to the Hoover Police Department.

By the time officers arrived five minutes later, Ms Russell had disappeared with her car engine still running, and the toddler was nowhere to be found.

Law enforcement and family mounted a desperate search for the missing woman and pleaded with the public for help.

Then just over 48 hours later, police were notified that Ms Russell had returned home on foot.

She told detectives that she had been kidnapped by a white man with “orange hair”, and held captive in a semi-truck trailer and house before escaping.

Carlee Russell’s boyfriend has pleaded with the public to stop cyberbullying the Alabama nursing student amid mounting suspicion she faked her own abduction.

“I know what it seems like what she did. Just stop bullying on social media,” Thomar Latrell Simmons told the New York Post.

“Think about her mental health. She doesn’t deserve that. She doesn’t. Nobody deserves to be cyberbullied.”

Ms Russell, 25, told police she was kidnapped after stopping to help a toddler in diapers walking alone on Interstate 459 on the evening of 13 July.

Police arrived five minutes later to find her red Mercedes still running, and her cellphone, wallet and wig in the car.

While Ms Russell was missing, Mr Simmons appealed for information from the public to help find her.

He later deleted a social media post stating that his girlfriend had been abducted.

The father of Daniel Robinson, who has been missing since 2021, says he is concerned that Carlee Russell’s case will make it harder for Black families to get attention for their loved ones.

“It damages the problems we already have with law enforcement with taking our stories serious,” David Robinson told CNN. 

Daniel Robinson vanished in Buckeye, Arizona, in June 2021, and authorities were initially reluctant to take the missing person report seriously, his father said.

Black people are over-represented in missing person cases according to FBI data, making up 31 per cent of reports despite having just 14 per cent of the US population.

Black & Missing Foundation co-founder Derrica Wilson told CNN she had 6,000 missing person cases on her database, most of them unsolved.

She said it was often difficult to attract attention to the cases of missing persons cases involving Black people.

“We are disappointed that there are inconsistencies with (Ms Russell’s) story especially when there are a staggering number of people of colour who are still missing and they need our help,” Ms Wilson said.

Missing white woman syndrome was a term coined by social scientists to describe how cases involving attractive, young white women receive far greater media attention than those of missing indigenous or Black women and men.