HOOVER, ALABAMA: Carlee Russell, the nursing student in Alabama has confessed that she had made up her entire kidnapping episode. A statement from her was read by police chief Nick Derzis, “There was no kidnapping on Thursday, July 13." Her attorney prepared the statement, “Carlee again asks for your forgiveness and prayers.” After investigating her case for 11 days, the authorities are continuing to work on it, and prosecutors are deciding whether to file criminal charges against her.
Carlee Russell has earlier claimed that she spotted a toddler along the interstate and was later abducted. It is said that she stopped cooperating with police after her return, but initially informed police that she was captured by a white man with ‘orange hair.’ The man came from behind the trees on the side of I-459 after she had spotted a ‘baby boy in a diaper’ walking along the road at around 9.30 pm on Thursday, July 13.
Why did Carlee Russell fake her kidnapping?
As per authorities, Carlee Russell researched the Liam Neeson movie ‘Taken’ and if she was too old for an Amber Alert. She even searched for a one-way bus ticket to Nashville. The nursing student left work around 8.20 pm on Thursday, July 13, before stopping to pick up food for her and her mother. Prosecutors are still looking into the case and working to establish the motivation behind making up the story, as per DailyMail.
'Part of the ongoing investigation'
Carlee Russell made a surprising return while her parents claimed that she escaped her captor. The 25-year-old woman was taken to a hospital to be evaluated, where she was treated and released. Detectives then went to Russell’s home and the hospital to get a statement, “The details of that statement are a part of the ongoing investigation, which is expected to continue over the next few days,” police said in a statement on Monday.
It continued, “During the initial portion of the investigation detectives were able to retrace nearly all of Carlee's steps until the point she went missing and are confident that will continue to be the case. 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.”
Her mother told Today, that Carlee was in a ‘bad state’ when she returned, “We tried to hug as best we could, but I had to stand back because she was not in a good state. So we had to stand back and let medical professionals work with her.”