Carlee Russell, who disappeared for two days in Alabama, is facing possible charges for two felonies. Any of which could put her in prison for a year if she is found guilty.
Alabama Police Pursuing Criminal Charges Against Russell
Jefferson County Chief Assistant District Attorney Lane Tolbert told ABC News that charges of fake reporting to law enforcement and fabricating an event might be brought against Russell. He said that the maximum sentence for class A offenses is one year in prison.
Tolbert informed the media outlet that they just advised what they think the charges should be. He added that the office of the circuit clerk of Jefferson County, Bessemer Division's office, will be responsible for filing any criminal charges.
Earlier this week, Hoover Police Chief Nick Derzis said that charges against Russell had not yet been filed. Tolbert told Fox News that they will make the charges public when and if they are brought.
Russell Made Up Abduction Story
According to the New York Post, the 24-year-old nursing student from Alabama vanished on July 13 at 9:34 PM local time after she called police to report a child wandering along the northbound side of Interstate 459 in the Birmingham area.
She said a narrative about being abducted by a white guy with orange hair and then showed up at her parents' home two days later, following a frantic 49-hour search. Her whereabouts when she was missing are unknown, thus the investigation will continue.
On Monday, July 24, Derzis said his office had received a letter from Russell's lawyer, admitting she was never abducted and that her 911 call about a missing child on a highway was false. Russell apologized to the community, searchers, police, and her family in a letter, Derzis said. Russell also said that she fabricated her story alone.
During this strange ordeal, Russell had looked up the abduction action film Taken and the Amber Alerts website.
In a statement made after originally supporting Russell, her boyfriend now says he is "blindsided" and "disgusted" by her behavior.
After rumors spread that Russell was fabricating her trauma, she was sacked from her work at Birmingham's Woodhouse Spa.
Meanwhile, retired FBI special agent Jonathan Gilliam told Fox News that the lady may be financially responsible for some or all of the costs associated with the investigation into her disappearance, which he estimated to be well over $100,000.
He told the media that the potential dangers and costs of the project rapidly added up: "You know, you're looking at dozens of man hours plus the fact that somebody could get wrongly convicted or killed or, you know, so the cost and the safety of it adds up very quickly."
