Carlee Russell, the Alabama woman whose disappearance earlier this month sparked a two-day search, admitted Monday that the entire incident was a hoax.
"There was no kidnapping on Thursday, July 13th, 2023. My client did not see a baby on the side of the road," her lawyer said in a statement read by police. "My client apologizes for her actions to this community."
Prosecutors are expected to meet on Tuesday to decide whether Russell will face criminal charges.
"There was no kidnapping on Thursday, July 13th, 2023. My client did not see a baby on the side of the road," her lawyer said in a statement read by police. "My client apologizes for her actions to this community."
Prosecutors are expected to meet on Tuesday to decide whether Russell will face criminal charges.
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NewsTranscript
00:00 Good afternoon. Thanks to everyone for attending again today. I want to thank
00:07 the members of our department and all of law enforcement who played a role in
00:10 investigation of this case. Last Wednesday, July 19th, we held a press
00:15 conference and provided you with the facts of the Carly Russell
00:17 disappearance. We told you the investigation was ongoing. We hope to
00:22 determine where Carly was in the 49 hours of her disappearance. Today I've
00:26 talked to and received a statement from Mr. Emery Anthony, attorney for Carly
00:31 Russell. Mr. Anthony has scheduled a meeting for Carly to meet with
00:34 investigators early this afternoon, but then I received an email stating that a
00:38 statement was being provided by him on her behalf. Mr. Anthony asked that I read
00:44 the statement in its entirety, which I will do now.
00:47 My client has given me permission to make the following statement on her
00:54 behalf. There was no kidnapping on Thursday, July 9th, 13th 2023. My
01:02 client did not see a baby on the side of the road. My client did not leave
01:07 the Hoover area when she was identified as a missing person.
01:10 My client did not have any help in this incident, but this was a single act
01:16 done by herself. My client was not with anyone or any hotel with anyone from
01:22 the time she was missing. My client apologizes for actions to this
01:26 community. The volunteers who were searching for her to the Hoover Police
01:31 Department and other agencies as well as to her friends and family. We ask for
01:36 your prayers for Carly as she addresses her issues and attempts to move forward,
01:41 understanding that she made a mistake in this matter. Carly again as for your
01:46 forgiveness and prayers.
01:50 We have a meeting scheduled Mr Anthony to further discuss this case. We're
01:54 currently in discussions with the Jefferson County District Attorney's
01:57 Office in Bessemer about possible criminal charges related to this case,
02:02 and we will announce those charges when and if they're filed.
02:06 All right, with that, we'll take a few questions as an officer. Hail seven
02:10 calling you. Please state your name and your affiliation. Yes, sir. Chief
02:13 Mims W. A. G. G. 16 100.1 FM Summit Media Chief. Do we at this time of
02:21 visiting the police department know the whereabouts of Carly Russell during
02:27 that 49 hour period that she was supposedly missing? As I said the other
02:32 day was talking facts and everything. If I said anything today would be
02:35 speculation. Actual facts. We do not
02:38 13.
02:42 Excuse me. What?
02:42 I wish I could tell you. I think only a car knows that maybe returning now.
02:48 But again, the statement that we see from him does not indicate any
02:51 RC.
02:53 That was strictly be up to the district attorney's office.
02:59 42. Can you
03:01 there is a meeting scheduled for this afternoon with the family?
03:08 No, not a meeting with the attorney, not family or Carly. We have a meeting
03:12 scheduled with the attorney, and that will take place some point tomorrow.
03:15 Not scheduled. No, sir.
03:19 Well, again, we want to talk to talk to Mr Anthony tomorrow and see if he has
03:30 any anymore to discuss about about the case. We'll certainly be asking if we
03:35 will get an opportunity to again interview Carly like we've wanted to
03:39 since since she returned
03:40 Chief Steve Quinn. Yes, sir. Your reaction now knowing that Carly is
03:47 admitted that this was made up. Well, I'm glad that we got this. You know,
03:51 we we certainly laid the facts out to the to the to the to you guys and to
03:55 the national media that had a lot of interest in this particular case. Uh,
04:00 the sad thing is that again, there were so many people that that were involved,
04:06 took this thing very, very seriously. And and again, we wanted the focus to
04:11 be bringing her home. She got home. We're very excited about that. Uh, you
04:15 know, just, you know, it is what it is. The facts, I think, last Wednesday
04:19 pretty much showed that we knew that it was it was a hoax.
04:22 Please.
04:24 Do you know the expense you went to during this search? And if you don't
04:30 have a dollar figure for us, just the how big it was. Well, it was it was all
04:36 hands on deck and we don't have a dollar figure yet. But we're certainly
04:40 working towards getting one and not only ours, but there'll be there'll be
04:44 other agencies that that had a lot of a lot of support that they gave us and
04:49 had monetary expenses themselves.
04:51 Jonathan.
04:52 Investigate.
04:54 Are the parents under investigation? You know, as I said the other day, we
05:00 were gonna try to determine exactly those 49 hours. So right now, you know,
05:04 anything's on the table. We're we still don't know what happened. Those 49
05:07 hours where she was. Did she have any help? We have no idea. You know, I read
05:11 the statement from his grant and that's all we know.
05:13 Keep
05:14 the agency.
05:16 Chief, let me ask you this. What do you think prompted or provoked calling to
05:24 do this kind of thing?
05:28 Are there any kind of mental issues that police department or the public
05:33 should be concerned about? You know, not that I'm aware of. I mean, it's, uh,
05:38 you know, this is a very elaborate. This was elaborate deal. When you talk
05:41 about calling the 911 and being up on the interstate again, it would have all
05:46 be conjecture. So really, I don't know. I was hoping that we'd have an
05:50 opportunity to interview and we'd able to ask her those questions.
05:54 Involved in putting this story together for her. Mr Anthony, in his statement,
05:59 says there was not
06:00 living on the county. WPRC Fox six news. You said that you had a meeting
06:05 scheduled and it kind of switched to a statement. Did they give any type of
06:09 reason that that switched? No, they did not. Thank you.
06:12 Well,
06:14 but just for clarification, Carlos was not in custody right now. That is
06:19 correct. That is correct. Last question with David David. Once again. So first
06:24 of all, when did you actually see this letter? And second of all, do these
06:29 admissions and the content of the letter alter the investigation? No, not
06:35 at all. We'll continue to investigate. We're still trying to determine where
06:38 those where she was during those 49 hours. But I am glad that we receive
06:42 this. It at least puts put some of the social media super sleuths hopefully
06:47 arrest for a little bit. As far as what everyone, the conjecture of what
06:50 everybody thinks took place. We know that that by her own admission, it
06:55 didn't happen. And, you know, we thank for that. All right. Thank you guys
06:59 very much.
06:59 [BLANK_AUDIO]