Carlee Russell, the Alabama woman who went missing and told a bizarre tale about seeing a toddler on the side of a freeway and being abducted, lied about the whole thing, authorities said Monday.
Russell, 25, initially went missing after placing a 911 call on July 13 at 9:34 p.m., telling the operator that she saw a 3- to 4-year-old toddler walking along the southbound side of Interstate 459 near Birmingham, Alabama, according to the Hoover Police Department.
Police said Russell took a bathrobe and toilet paper from her employer before getting food and shopping at a Target.
Carlee Russell Googled the movie “Taken” before disappearing on July 13 along with a slew of other searches leading up to the moment where she told a 911 operator that she saw a toddler walking along a busy interstate. On Monday, police said she admitted the whole thing was a hoax. (Dana Mixer for Fox News Digital and Hoover Police Department)
She then remained in the Target parking lot until driving off to Interstate 495 where she called 911.
She returned home on July 15. During a police interview, she said a man with orange hair came out of the woods to check on the toddler, but picked up Russell and made her go over a nearby fence.
He forced her into a car, she said, before recalled being inside an 18-wheel trailer. She said that she was able to escape from the truck and fled the area on foot, but was captured again and placed into a car.
She claimed she was blindfolded to a house and forced to get undressed, and believed pictures were taken of her.
A ribbon tied to a mailbox in Hoover Alabama, Thursday, July 20, 2023. The ribbon was once part of a series of similar such decorations placed on mailboxes along the street according to neighbors, which were placed there in honor of Carlee Russell, the woman who went missing in Alabama after calling 911 about a child on an interstate. (Dana Mixer for Fox News Digital)
She also allegedly told police that the individuals didn’t have any sexual contact with her.
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Fox News’ Adam Sabes contributed to this report.
