Update 3: Carlee Russell turned herself in to the Hoover City Jail, where she was arrested on Class A misdemeanors for false reporting to law enforcement authorities and falsely reporting an incident.
Russell was released from jail after posting $2,000 bond on Friday afternoon.
Russell’s mugshot will be released soon.
Hoover Police Chief Nick Derzis said he received angry calls and emails from people all over the country who expressed frustration that Russell was only being charged with 2 misdemeanors.
Derzis said he will speak to state legislators about more serious laws for people like Russell who make false allegations about kidnapping.
Watch the live press conference below.
Update 2: Carlee Russell has turned herself in to Hoover police according to multiple published reports.
The 26-year-old former nursing student was seen leaving her attorney’s office with her parents, Talitha and Carlos Russell, in Birmingham, Alabama on Friday.
News footage shows Russell climbing into the back of a black pickup truck driven by her father.
Russell’s attorney, former judge Emory Anthony, accompanied the family to the Hoover Police Department in his own vehicle.
WBRC reports that Hoover Police will hold a news conference today at 2 p.m. ET to announce Russell’s arrest.
Update: Carlee Russell may be on the hook for over $100,000 in investigative costs for her kidnapping hoax.
Former FBI Special Agent Jonathan Gilliam told Fox News Digital that Russell may be forced to pay over $100,000 for man hours wasted looking for her.
Gilliam said the amount Russell will be forced to pay back depends on her income and employment status.
“If she works at some kind of a massage therapy place, you know, she’s not making enough money to pay all that stuff back. So she may get a fine, but it won’t be enough to pay back the man hours that were used,” Gilliam said.
Russell, 26, was fired from her job at a spa after she was accused of stealing cash, a bathrobe, a roll of toilet paper, and other items on the night she went missing.
Russell disappeared after she reported seeing a toddler walking on the side of Highway 459 in Hoover on July 13.
She turned up 2 days later at her parents’ home, acting as if nothing had happened.
On Wednesday, Russell’s attorney, former Judge Emory Anthony said he expected criminal charges against his client.
Anthony reportedly accompanied Russell to the Hoover Police Department on Wednesday to turn herself in. However, police sent her home without pressing any charges.
Russell’s apparent eagerness to turn herself in suggests police may be looking at charging others in her inner circle.
Police later said Russell is expected to be charged with false reporting to law enforcement authorities and falsely reporting an incident, both of which are Class A misdemeanors. Each charge carries a maximum punishment of one year in jail and a $5,000 fine.
Originally published on: July 27, 2023 at 7:35 PM:
Police in Volusia County, Florida, arrested an 11-year-old girl after she texted the Sheriff’s Communication Center at 9:45 a.m. to report her friend had been kidnapped on Thursday.
She sent further texts describing the “armed” kidnapper and his white van.
The text messages prompted a massive search for the white van, the kidnapper, and the little girl.
Authorities eventually determined the texts were a prank after they traced the number to the girl’s house.
“For the next hour and a half, the girl texted updates including a description of the male suspect and that he had a gun,” Volusia Sheriff’s Office said in a statement. “Ultimately, deputies were directed to a home in Port Orange by investigative means tracking the cell phone used to text 911.”
Police arrested the unidentified girl the same day and charged her with making a false report to 911.
Body cam video shows officers escorting the handcuffed girl from her house in Port Orange, Florida. Her face is obscured because she’s a juvenile.
The girl reportedly told deputies she got the idea to prank 911 after viewing a challenge video on TikTok and she thought it “would be funny.”
Meanwhile, Carlee Russell, the 26-year-old Hoover, Alabama woman who reported a toddler walking on the side of a highway on July 13, still has not been charged.
Hoover police are seeking two charges against the former nursing student, Fox News reports.
Police intend to charge Russell with false reporting to law enforcement authorities and falsely reporting an incident, both of which are Class A misdemeanors. Each charge carries a maximum punishment of one year in jail and a $5,000 fine.
Russell is still walking free while an 11-year-old girl is in jail for the same crime.
The Hoover Police Department declined to respond to Fox News when contacted for comment.
