Carlee Russell update: Boyfriend pleads with public to stop bullying Alabama woman amid kidnapping hoax claims – News Block

Hoover Police Chief Nick Derzis told reporters that authorities were “unable to verify” most of the statements 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 went missing on July 13 after calling 911 to report that she had seen a child walking on the side of Interstate 459 in Alabama.

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

When officers arrived five minutes later, Ms. Russell was gone with her car engine still running, and the boy was nowhere to be found.

Police and family mounted a desperate search for the missing woman and appealed to the public for help.

Then, just over 48 hours later, the 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 trailer and house before escaping.

Before Carlee Russell, 25, went missing for 49 hours, she posted a series of bizarre tweets.

The day she disappeared on July 13, she tweeted at 8:55 pm: “Today was a GREAT day, God be with you, I tell you!”

A minute later, Mrs. Russell wrote: “Someone who tells you ‘I love you’ and doesn’t have a reason.”

She finally tweeted, “yes I want a family now” at 9:19 p.m. Moments later, around 9:30 p.m., the Alabama woman called 911, telling detectives she was following a missing child down the interstate.

After returning home, Ms Russell claimed she was kidnapped by a man with “orange hair”. She appeared on foot at her parents’ house with $107 stuffed in her right sock and claimed that she had barely survived the encounter.

The parents of Carlee Russell, the 25-year-old Alabama woman who went missing for 48 hours after reporting she saw a boy on the side of a road, have spoken out for the first time since their daughter returned.

“We tried to hug each other as best we could, but I had to back off because she wasn’t in good shape,” Talitha Russell said. the daily beast earlier this week about seeing her daughter come home. “So we had to step back and let the medical professionals work with her.”

While Ms Russell has been reported to be safe, the mystery still revolves around what happened in the two days she went missing.

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

While the police have not made any official charges against Ms Russell, if they discover that she made a false report, the police may choose to charge her.

Section 13A-10-9 of the Alabama penal code states that knowingly making a false report to police is a Class A misdemeanor.

Asked if police planned to charge Ms Russell on Wednesday, Mr Derzis replied: “To be completely honest with you, that hasn’t even occurred to us or been discussed.”

Ariana Baio has the story.

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

Owner Stuart Rome said the new york post office Ms Russell no longer worked at the Woodhouse spa in Birmingham, and those staff were “angry” over her kidnapping claims.

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

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

“As the information came out that there were some questionable things, we got a little upset, mainly because a lot of people took a long time to search,” Rome said.the New York Post.

The mother of slain teenager Aniah Blanchard sent a terrible message following an extensive investigation by Alabama authorities into the mysterious circumstances under which Carlee Russell allegedly disappeared.

Angela Harris, who created a non-profit 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 on the public to be patient and cautious while an investigation takes place.

“People want to know the truth, they need to know if there is a predator out there… You guys, there are predators out there that you need to be careful of. We weren’t (just) talking about Carlee’s situation…just in general, in life,” Russell said in a TikTok video posted Tuesday.

“There are predators out there, everywhere, it doesn’t matter. Please put that in your head. It can happen to anyone, anywhere, at any time.”

Andrea Blanco has the full story.

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

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

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

Blacks are overrepresented in missing person cases according to FBI data, accounting for 31 percent of reports despite making up only 14 percent of the US population.

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

She said it was often difficult to draw attention to missing person 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 color who are still missing and need our help,” Ms. Wilson said.

Missing White Woman Syndrome was a term coined by social scientists to describe how cases involving young, attractive white women receive far more media attention than cases of missing Native American or Black men and women.

Carlee Russell’s boyfriend has pleaded with the public to stop cyberstalking the Alabama nursing student amid growing suspicions that she faked her own kidnapping.

“I know what appears to be what she did. She just stops bullying on social media,” said Thomar Latrell Simmons. the new york post office.

“Think about his mental health. She doesn’t deserve that. She doesn’t. No one deserves to be cyberbullied.”

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

Police arrived five minutes later and found her red Mercedes still running, and her cell phone, wallet and wig in the car.

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

He later deleted a social media post saying his girlfriend had been kidnapped.

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

Ariana Baio examines four unanswered questions about the perplexing case.