The Alabama woman who reportedly went missing for two days has been charged for faking her kidnapping, police said.
25-year-old Carlee Russell is being charged with falsely reporting to law enforcement officers and falsely reporting an incident after telling 911 she found a stranded toddler.
“I know many are shocked and appalled that Miss Russell is only being charged with two misdemeanors, despite all the panic and disruption her actions caused,” Hoover Police Chief Nicholas Derzis told reporters on Friday. “Let me assure you, I too share the same frustration.” He said the existing laws allow only those charges to be filed.
Derzis said that offense carries a $1,000 bond and is punished by up to a year in jail and a $6,000 fine. Russell was later released after paying bond.
“Her decisions that night created panic and alarm for the citizens of our city and even across the nation as concern grew that a kidnapper was on the loose using a small child as bait,” he added. “The story opened wounds for families whose loved ones really were victims of kidnappings, some of which even helped organize searches.”
The police chief told reporters that no charges had been brought against Russell’s family members or anybody else, but that more charges could be filed as the attorney general’s office continues its investigation.
Russell has since apologized for the incident in a statement given by her attorney to the police department.
“We ask for your prayers for Carlee as she addresses her issues and attempts to move forward understanding that she made a mistake in this matter,” Derzis read from the statement at a news conference.
It is still unclear why Russell fabricated her kidnapping and why she went missing for 49 hours. On July 13, when officers arrived on the scene after receiving her distress call, Russell and the child were nowhere to be found. Her car, wig, and cellphone were discovered on the road.
Russell’s disappearance and the mysterious circumstances surrounding it received national attention before she returned home on July 15. She told detectives at the time that she was kidnapped by a man hiding in the woods.
