Carlee Russell’s lawyer predicts charges as ex-boyfriend slams ‘disgusting’ kidnap hoax story

A forensic analysis of Ms Russell’s cell phone, work and home computers found she looked up information about the movie Taken, Amber Alerts, booking a bus ticket from Birmingham to Nashville and “how to take money from a register without being caught”, according to Hoover Police Department Nicholas Derzis.

On July 11, Ms Russell searched: “Do you have to pay for amber alert or search”.

The searches shed light on the 25-year-old’s mindset leading up to when she claimed to have been kidnapped after seeing a toddler walking along the side of Interstate 459 on 13 July.

Before 25-year-old Carlee Russell went missing for a mysterious 49 hours – a disappearance, she admitted on Monday, that was staged – she posted a series of bizarre tweets.

On the day she went “missing” on 13 July, she tweeted at 8.55pm: “today was a GREAT day God be looking out im telling you!!”

One minute later, Ms Russell wrote: “someone to tell you ‘i love you’ and don’t got a reason.”

Finally, she tweeted, “yeah i want a family now” at 9.19pm. Just moments later, around 9.30pm, the Alabama woman called 911 and told detectives that she was following a lost toddler along the interstate.

After she returned home, Ms Russell claimed was abducted by a man with “orange hair,” before escaping. She later turned up on foot at her parent’s home with $107 tucked in her right sock, and alleged she had barely survived the encounter.

Thomar Simmons posted a statement on Instagram on Monday night where he slammed his 25-year-old former girlfriend and said that he – like the wider public – had been “blindsided” by her lies.

“Carlee’s actions created hurt, confusion and dishonesty,” he wrote.

“I was made aware of the false narrative after coming to the defense of my ex Carlee Russell. Myself and my family’ nature was to react in love and genuine concern. We are disgusted [by] the outcome of this entire situation.”

Authorities in Alabama have revealed that Carlee Russell’s story about being kidnapped on the side of a highway after stopping to check on a toddler was a hoax.

Ms Russell’s disappearance baffled police in Hoover after the 25-year-old’s car was found in the stretch of a highway following a 911 call she made reporting a stranded toddler. She inexplicably reappeared at her parents’ home 49 hours later, claiming she was kidnapped by “a man with orange hair” and was forced to undress and pose for photographs.

After much speculation about the veracity of her claims, Hoover Police Department Chief Nicholas Derzis confirmed on Monday that Ms Russell has admitted to lying about her supposed abduction in a statement she provided through her attorney.

“There was no kidnapping on Thursday, July 13. My client did not see a baby on the side of the road,” the statement read, according to Chief Derzis, who read it at a news conference. “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.”

Ms Russell lives with her parents in Hoover, a fast-growing suburb on the southern outskirts of Birmingham.

She worked part-time at The Woodhouse Spa and was also a student at Jefferson State Community College, where she was studying to be a nurse, according to AL.com.

On the day she went “missing,” Ms Russell had spent time with officers from Harpersville Police Department, according to a Facebook post on Friday asking for help finding her.

“We were honored to spend time with this smart, courteous and honoring young woman yesterday,” the department said on social media.

“She was handling some business in the Town of Harpersville yesterday and we were so impressed by her respect, poise, good attitude and her drive to become a nursing student and help others.”

The police department later issued an update after its initial post led to the spread of unfounded rumours.

“For clarification, Ms Russell was not at the Harpersville Police Department,” they later added. “Contrary to the stigma, we consistently encounter citizens while engaging the community and those occasions are primarily positive.”

Carlee Russell falsely claimed she vanished after calling 911 to report seeing a young boy in diapers on the side of a busy interstate.

The Independent’s Bevan Hurley reports:

During an interview with police after she reappeared at her parents’ home, Ms Russel alleged that she got out of her vehicle when she saw a barefoot toddler walking in a field next to the highway. A man with orange hair and a bald spot then “came out of the trees” and abducted her, she claimed.

Ms Russell told police that she heard a woman and a baby inside the trailer of an 18-wheeler semi, before making a brief escape. She said she was then recaptured and taken to a house, where her alleged captors forced her to undress and pose for photographs.

She allegedly escaped for a second time while she was being forced inside a car and fled to the woods and finally turned up at her parent’s home.

The Secret Service analysed her phone and computers, and found internet searches that are “very relevant to this case,” Mr Derzis said. On July 11, Ms Russell searched: “Do you have to pay for amber alert or search”.

Carlee Russell’s “blindsided” ex-boyfriend has said that he is “disgusted” after learning that the 25-year-old faked her own abduction.

Read his Instagram post below:

Police in Hoover, Alabama have said they were unable to verify most of Carlee Russell’s claims that she was kidnapped after pulling off to the side of the road while reporting a toddler was walking alone, leading to questions about whether she may face charges.

Ms Russell, 25, falsely claimed she went missing on 13 July after calling 911 to report a young child was walking alone and barefoot on Interstate 459.

Hoover police chief Nick Derzis said no other drivers on the busy interstate reported a child walking alone and there were no missing children alerts. He said Ms Russell was the only person to make the 911 call and there were no signs of a toddler when authorities arrived.

He added that during Ms Russell’s brief phone call with a 911 operator, she claimed she pulled her car over to assist the child but phone tracking data shows she moved 600 yards – the length of six football fields.

Mr Derzis expressed doubt that a small child between the ages of two and four could move 600 yards in the time Ms Russell was on the phone.

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

Before 25-year-old Carlee Russell went missing for a mysterious 49 hours – a disappearance, she admitted on Monday, that was staged – she posted a series of bizarre tweets.

One minute later, Ms Russell wrote: “someone to tell you ‘i love you’ and don’t got a reason.”

Finally, she tweeted, “yeah i want a family now” at 9.19pm. Just moments later, around 9.30pm, the Alabama woman called 911 and told detectives that she was following a lost toddler along the interstate.

After she returned home, Ms Russell claimed was abducted by a man with “orange hair,” before escaping. She later turned up on foot at her parent’s home with $107 tucked in her right sock, and alleged she had barely survived the encounter.

She has since admitted that the abduction was a hoax, police said.