Last month, on July 13, an Alabama woman named Carlee Russell called 911 on her way home from work. Russell reported that she saw a young child walking alone on the side of the highway, just outside Birmingham. Immediately after her call with the Hoover Police Department, she called her sister-in-law, who told police that she heard Russell scream before she lost contact with her. When the Hoover Police Department arrived at Russell’s vehicle, they found it empty besides her wig, phone, and purse.
Carlee Russell’s disappearance caused commotion all over the country. Her story was shared over all social media platforms and news outlets. The whole country knew about Russell’s disappearance. The police offered a $25,000 reward for anyone who found Russell. But two days later the search ended when Russell returned home at around 10:45 p.m. on July 15. Shortly after, investigators obtained her initial statement. Although her initial statement was filled with many gaps. This caused controversy in the media, with some questioning if Russell was actually kidnapped. Russell’s story lacked detail, she described her abductor as an older man with red hair, and she said that he told her he was also checking on the child until she was forced into a large vehicle, blindfolded, and taken into a strange house. She claimed she was then forced to undress, followed by her abductors taking images of her. She was then put back into the vehicle, where she then escaped into the woods, and ran home. After her arrival, her parents then took her to the hospital.
In a later investigation, police found many sketchy web searches from before the kidnapping, including searches for the movie about a kidnapping called, “Taken”, “Do you have to pay for an Amber Alert?”, and “How to take money from a register without being caught?”. As well as odd tracking on her iPhone from a downloaded app, her story does not add up with where she actually went. A lack of evidence of a child from anyone, besides Russell also raised discussion. The were no other cars driving on the highway the night she reported seeing a child, and none of the highway cameras captured a child. After further investigation, it was released that Carlee Russell was lying.
On Friday, July 28, Russell turned herself into the Hoover City Jail. She admitted to faking her own kidnapping and was charged with making false reports. The news was very triggering for many. Before Carlee Russell, it was very rare for a missing black woman to get the attention and exposure that she did. While cases like these are rare, this may affect cases for young black women in the future.
