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Post by Admin on Jul 15, 2023 19:46:26 GMT
Police in Hoover, Alabama, say 25-year-old Carlee Russell went missing after calling 911 to report a toddler walking on the side of the interstate. WVTM’s Patsy Douglas has the details.
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Post by Admin on Jul 16, 2023 9:20:55 GMT
It's a case investigators are calling bizarre. A woman in Alabama disappears after making an emergency 911 call about a child walking along a highway. CBS News Correspondent Astrid Martinez reports. READ MORE: cbsloc.al/3NWAGZG
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Post by Admin on Jul 25, 2023 5:42:25 GMT
Carlee Russell, the Alabama woman who went missing earlier this month after she reported seeing a toddler walking along the interstate, admitted to police Monday that she was not kidnapped and there was no child on the side of the road walking alone before she vanished for two days.
Russell’s admission, which ends a near two-week saga filled with more questions than answers, came in a statement through her attorney, Emory Anthony, and was sent to Hoover Police Chief Nick Derzis early Monday.
In a brief press conference Monday afternoon, Derzis read the statement in which Russell asked for forgiveness.
“My client apologizes for her actions to the community, the volunteers who were searching for her, to the Hoover Police Department and other agencies, as well as to her friends and family,’' Anthony wrote. “We ask for your prayers for Carlee as she addresses her issues.”
Derzis added that based on the facts announced last week, the department “knew it was a hoax” and said possible charges would be discussed with the local district attorney’s office on Tuesday.
'First case that went viral' As doubt grew around the Russell case, many critics have highlighted the twisted irony in the widespread coverage and resources devoted to Russell’s safe return that have been nonexistent for thousands of other missing Black women.
“This was really the first case that went viral of a missing Black woman or young girl,” Natalie Wilson, co-founder of the Black and Missing Foundation, told Yahoo News.
Russell’s safe return after she vanished for 49 hours was initially celebrated as a rare victory. But as more evidence was made public last week — including a number of revealing Google searches she made on her cellphone in the days and hours leading up to her disappearance about an abduction movie and the cost of Amber Alerts — many questioned whether a crime took place at all.
Now that the new details reveal Russell was never abducted, advocates want to keep the momentum on finding other missing Black women and girls.
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Post by Admin on Jul 28, 2023 22:24:15 GMT
Alabama authorities announced on Friday that Carlethia "Carlee" Nichole Russell, a 25-year-old nursing student, was charged with two misdemeanors for falsely claiming that she was kidnapped earlier this month.
Russell was charged with falsely reporting to law enforcement and falsely reporting an incident, said Hoover Police Chief Nick Derzis. Both charges are Class A misdemeanors that carry a maximum punishment of one year in jail and could carry a $6,000 fine upon conviction, said Derzis. The charges were filed in municipal court, said Derzis.
Russell turned herself in to law enforcement voluntarily and was booked and processed at the Hoover City Jail, said Derzis. She was released on a $1,000 bond for each of the charges, Derzis said.
Derzis said he "shares the same frustrations" as people who called and emailed his office that only misdemeanor charges could be filed against Russell. He said he was going to ask state legislators to "add enhancements" to current legislation for people who report a false crime.
Derzis also requested the assistance of Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall for further investigation into the case. Marshall said on Friday his office will "continue to monitor if additional charges are warranted in this case," and that it is not uncommon for the attorney general's office to be involved in a misdemeanor case investigation.
During the Friday news conference, a journalist asked if the police would treat future missing persons investigations of young Black and Brown women as seriously as they treated Russell's after the ordeal Russell caused. Derzis responded that they would and Marshall echoed that, noting that he's been in law enforcement for 27 years.
"I've never seen anybody interested in the color of your skin in investigating a criminal case, and I expect, regardless of your gender, your race, when that report is filed, that Alabama law enforcement's going to do its job," Marshall said.
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