Three Years Later Carlee Russell Is Back In Court With Still Many Unanswered Questions About Her Kidnapping Hoax [VIDEO]

On July 13, 2023, Carlethia “Carlee” Russell called 911 in Hoover, Alabama, claiming she saw a toddler wandering alone on Interstate 459. She then vanished for 49 hours before returning home on foot.  After returning, Russell claimed she had been kidnapped and held captive. Police found no evidence supporting her story and uncovered suspicious web searches on her phone regarding Amber Alerts and the movie Taken. On July 24, 2023, her attorney admitted that the kidnapping was a hoax.  On March 21, 2024, Russell pleaded guilty to two misdemeanor counts of falsely reporting an incident and false reporting to law enforcement, and a judge sentenced her to 12 months of supervised probation (with suspended jail time), 100 hours of community service, continued mental health counseling, and $17,974.88 in restitution to the city of Hoover.  Carlee Russell’s attorney says she’s been paying $100 a month and hasn’t missed one.

Three years later, with still many unanswered questions, Carlee Russell was back in court today for a check-in on restitution in her kidnapping hoax case. 

“The frustrating thing is not only for me, but I think for our community and for people that have called in and said, this is outrageous, to think that someone’s going to pay like $50 a month forever, to pay us back and then, you know, that’s just, again, over all, I was probably a little miffed or more, I would say more than miffed if they know me, back then,”… “I think the public still would love to know what happened during that period of time that she was missing, and again, we have still no idea,” … “There’s no question in my mind, the reason that we don’t know is the fact that, I would say, there’s probably a very good possibility that she had help, obviously. And, they just don’t want us to know who helped her.”-Mayor Nick Derzis

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