Alabama Nursing Student Carly Nicole Russell Admits False Kidnapping Claims, Hoover Police Chief Reveals.
Alabama authorities announced on Friday that Carly Nicole Russell, a 25-year-old nursing student, falsely claimed two incidents of kidnapping earlier this month.
Nick Dargis, the Hoover Police Chief, stated that Russell has been charged with making a false report to a law enforcement agency and reporting an incident falsely. Both charges are Class A misdemeanors, carrying a maximum of one year in jail and a $6,000 fine, said Dargis. The allegations have been filed in municipal court, he added.
Russell voluntarily admitted to fabricating the incidents to her law enforcement agency and was processed through the Hoover City Jail, according to Dargis. She was released on a $1,000 bond for each charge, he said.
Dargis mentioned that Russell shared the same frustrations that led people to call and email her office, alleging only misdemeanor offenses against her. He noted that she will now face “enhancements” to the current law for reporting false crimes against state lawmakers.
For further investigation, Dargis requested assistance from Alabama’s Attorney General Steve Marshall. Marshall stated that his office will oversee the case if there is a need for any additional charges and that it is not unusual for his office to be involved in misdemeanor cases.
During a press conference on Friday, a reporter asked whether the police would investigate future missing person cases involving young Black and Brown women with as much cooperation as they did with Russell after her staged abduction. Dargis responded, echoing Marshall’s sentiment, stating that they would handle each case diligently, mentioning his 27 years of experience in law enforcement.
Russell called 911 on July 13, claiming to be a missing child near a highway in Alabama. After subsequently making a call to a family member, she disappeared without a trace, initiating a comprehensive search involving local, state, and federal agencies. Just two days after her disappearance, Russell turned up at her parents’ house at 10:45 PM on July 15, police said.
She told Hoover police that an individual had taken her, forcefully placed her on a bed in a hotel in Hoover, and forced her into a vehicle. Russell claimed that her abductors made her eat cheese crackers while keeping her picture on their phones.
Investigators found her story progressively suspicious as they failed to find any additional evidence of a missing child on the highway, though multiple other vehicles had passed that extended stretch of the highway, said the Hoover Police Department. They had discovered multiple online searches, including “Amber Alert” and “how to get money from a register” conducted before Russell’s alleged abduction.
A week after her return, Russell issued a statement to Alabama’s community through her attorney, saying the abduction was fabricated, there was no child, and “it was an isolated incident.” She sought forgiveness from the community through her attorney and the Hoover Police Department.
