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The Alabama woman who went missing for two days and admitted to fabricating a story about seeing a toddler walking on the highway and being abducted is now facing criminal charges, police announced Friday.
The Hoover Police Department said Carlethia “Carlee” Russell has been charged with false reporting to law enforcement authorities and falsely reporting an incident, both Class A misdemeanors that each carry up to a year in jail and a $6,000 fine if she is convicted.
“Her decisions that night created panic and alarm for the citizens of our city and even across the nation as the concern grew that a kidnapper was on the loose using a small child as bait,” Police Chief Nick Derzis said at a news conference.
Russell went missing in Hoover, Alabama, on July 13 and reappeared at her house about 49 hours later. She told police she had been abducted, but earlier this week her lawyer, Emory Anthony, sent Hoover police a letter saying she had made everything up.
“There was no kidnapping,” Derzis read from the letter during a news conference earlier this week. “My client did not see a baby on the side of the road.”
On Friday, Russell turned herself in and was released from jail after posting bond, Derzis said. Each charge carried a $1,000 bond.
Derzis said police still don’t have any idea where Russell was during the 49 hours she was missing, while multiple law enforcement agencies launched a massive search for her.
“I know many are shocked and appalled that Ms. Russell is only being charged with two misdemeanors,” Derzis said Friday. “I, too, share the same frustration.”
Derzis said current law only allows her to be charged with misdemeanors, and he said he would contact state legislators and urge them to amend the law to add stiffer consequences when somebody falsely reports kidnapping or other violent crimes.
Keith Czeskleba, public information officer for Hoover police, told USA TODAY earlier this week that the department had met with Anthony, who did not respond to messages seeking comment.
WATCH:Alabama police update Carlee Russell case developments
What happened to Carlee Russell?
Police announced this week that Russell admitted her story was fabricated, but there were still unanswered questions about where she was during the two days she was missing and what her motive was for making the whole thing up.
Russell called 911 on July 13 and said she was driving on the interstate between Birmingham and Hoover when she saw a toddler in a diaper walking on the side of the highway. She said she pulled over to keep an eye on the baby. Her brother’s girlfriend also reported being on the phone with Russell and hearing her scream before losing contact.
When police arrived, they found her car, cellphone, some belongings, but no Russell and no sign of a child. An intense search drew national attention until two days later when she turned up at her home and knocked on the door. Russell told police she’d been taken and held by a man with orange hair and a bald spot until she was able to escape.
Police earlier said they couldn’t verify most of her claims and found searches in her internet history about Amber Alerts, a movie about an abduction and bus tickets to Nashville for the day of her disappearance.
“The sad thing is again there were so many people that were involved (and) took this thing very seriously,” Derzis said at a news conference.
What do criminal charges mean?
Authorities may decide to press charges in a case like this to send a message, Michael Alcazar, a former detective with the New York Police Department and professor at the John Jay College of Criminal Justice at the City University of New York, told USA TODAY before Russell had admitted to fabricating her story.
“They may arrest her to make an example so that it doesn’t encourage any copycats,” Alcazar said last week.
FIXATION ON CARLEE RUSSELL:What about other missing Black women?
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