Alabama kidnapping hoaxer Carlee Russell, 25, is found GUILTY of faking her disappearance and wasting police time – as she’s fined $18,000 and judge suggests a YEAR behind bars

Alabama fraudster Carlee Russell was found guilty of faking her disappearance and wasting police time.

The 25-year-old was found guilty of two felony charges on Wednesday after he lied to cops about seeing a child on a highway and being kidnapped. Each charge is classified as a class A misdemeanor and carries a potential of up to a year in jail.

Nursing student Russell, 25, grabbed headlines after she went missing on July 13 while on a 911 call, during which she reported finding a toddler on the side of the road.

She then called her brother’s girlfriend, claiming the same sight, and yelled into the phone.

After arriving two days later and claiming that a man with ‘orange hair’ had kidnapped her, she told police that she had been kidnapped and spun an elaborate story about escaping to her freedom.

Alabama kidnapper Carlee Russell was found guilty of faking her disappearance and wasting police time.

There has been a huge search for Russell, with her now ex-boyfriend sharing loving photos of the couple together after she was initially found and mentioning that he was falsely accused of being involved in her disappearance – but he ‘she keep faith’ and continued the desperate search for his girlfriend.

Thomar Latrell Simmons described his ‘non-stop’ hunt for her – saying he wouldn’t give up ‘until I saw her face again’.

‘I don’t even know how to start this post but just to say thank you to my lord and savior Jesus Christ for saving my girlfriend’s life!

Hoover police then revealed the spa therapist’s incriminating Google search history that included the terms ‘should you pay for an Amber Alert’ and research on the movie Taken.

Russell later admitted she made up the whole saga and admitted in a written statement that the abduction never happened and that it was “a mistake”.

On July 28, Hoover Police Chief Nick Derzis announced criminal charges against her.

A judge ordered her to pay nearly $18,000 in restitution and the charges and suggested she serve up to a year in prison.

Russell plans to appeal the ruling in circuit court, even though he previously admitted to falsifying the story.

Russell was reported missing on July 13 after she made a bizarre phone call to 911 in which she claimed to have found a toddler on the side of a highway.

The video taken the night Carlee Russell faked her disappearance in Alabama appears to show the moment she pulled over on a freeway to help a child

“We stipulated and appealed the case and the reason for that was that they were trying to ask for jail time, which we completely disagree with,” Russell’s attorney Emory Anthony explained.

‘So, in fairness, there’s no need to have a hearing here, knowing their position. We have therefore stipulated and appealed the case and we will start anew in the Bessemer circuit court.’

Russell, 25, was driving home from work in Hoover, Alabama on July 13 when she called 911 and claimed she saw a toddler in a diaper on the side of the road.

The Russell family lives in an $800,000 house and has steady jobs – her mother is a realtor and her father is a VP at a bank.

Russell’s parents have yet to comment on her arrest and she has yet to explain why she lied.

In a previous statement, her lawyer said: ‘My client has given me permission to make the following statement on her behalf:

‘There was no kidnapping on 13 July 2023. My client did not see a baby on the side of the road. My client had not left the Hoover area when she was identified as a missing person. My client had no help in this incident, but it was a single act done by herself.

‘My client was not with anyone or at any hotel during the time she was missing.

Russell disappeared from a highway, sparking a nationwide search for her, which ended days later when she returned home alone

Simmons (left), Carlee’s ex-boyfriend, initially revealed she was ‘fighting for her life for 48 hours’ after she disappeared from Alabama Interstate 459

“My client apologizes for her actions to the community, the volunteers who searched for her, the Hoover Police Department and other agencies, as well as her friends and family.

“We ask for your prayers for Carlee as she addresses her issues and intends to create understanding that she made a mistake.

“Carlee again asks for your forgiveness and prayers.”

The reason why the spa therapist made up her story remains unclear.

It was rumored that she was trying to win back the attention of her recently divorced boyfriend when she staged the hoax.