Carlee Russell pleads guilty after false abduction report
- Carlee Russell disappeared after a 911 call saying she saw a child on the highway
- She returned after two days claiming to have been abducted and escaped on foot
- Russell later admitted to making up the entire story, which led to a two-day search
(Courtesy Hoover Police Department)
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(NewsNation) — Alabama woman Carlee Russell pleaded guilty to filing a false police report and falsely reporting an incident to law enforcement after claiming she was abducted.
Russell entered the plea Thursday morning at the Jefferson County Courthouse and will not face any jail time. She was given a six-month suspended jail sentence and will be on probation for a year along with paying nearly $18,000 in restitution to the city of Hoover, Alabama, and serving 100 hours of community service.
The case captured the attention of the nation as a search for her went on for two days. The nursing student claimed she had been abducted, but her story unraveled after she returned home.
In July of 2023, Russell called 911, saying she had seen a toddler in a diaper walking along the interstate and was going to check on the child. After hanging up with 911, she called a relative who heard a scream before the call disconnected.
Police arrived five minutes after the initial call and found Russell’s purse, cell phone, Apple Watch and wig on the road near her car.
Law enforcement immediately launched a search and during the investigation, police found several internet searches Russell had made, including searches about amber alerts, bus tickets and the movie “Taken.”
After 49 hours, Russell returned home on foot with a minor injury to her lip. She was taken to the hospital for evaluation and told police she had been taken by a white man with orange hair and a woman who used an 18-wheeler to take her to a house in the woods where she escaped and ran home on foot. She also said the couple had forced her to undress and taken photos of her.
Eventually, Russell admitted to making up the story. A statement released through her lawyer said there had never been any child on the road and she had fabricated the entire event on her own.
In an initial hearing, Russell pleaded not guilty to the two charges but was found guilty by a judge and given jail time. Her attorneys appealed, leading to the most recent hearing where she pleaded guilty.