Carlee Russell fired from spa job, co-workers ‘pissed’ about increasingly suspicious kidnapping story

Carlee Russell has officially disappeared — from the payroll of her Alabama job.

The owner of the Woodhouse spa in Birmingham told The Post that she’s been canned, and that her steaming co-workers are “pissed” about their former colleague’s increasingly suspect kidnapping account.

Owner Stuart Rome said his staffers were stunned after hearing of Russell’s purported disappearance and did everything in their power to help bring her home.

“It was really devastating for them thinking a co-worker was abducted,” he said.

“The following day, Saturday, it was the busiest day of the week, and they had to plug along and work and in the off times pass out flyers and other things.”

But since Russell abruptly resurfaced police have revealed she had searched for bus ticket prices and movies about kidnapping on the day she disappeared, drawing mounting skepticism over her account.

Her co-workers’ concern also started to turn to anger.

“As the information came out that there were some questionable things, we’ve been a little pissed off, mainly because so many people took so much time out to search,” Rome said.

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In addition, the spa has been getting slammed with nasty social media messages and damaging one-star reviews because of its affiliation with Russell.

“Basically, we’ve spent the last day battling to get things deleted,” he said.

“Comments. I’ve had to shut down my comment section on Instagram and Facebook page which hurts us because we do a lot of marketing there. We’re just trying to keep the doors open.” 

Russell, 25, called 911 at 9:34 p.m. July 13 and told a dispatcher that she had spotted a child wearing a T-shirt and diaper walking barefoot along busy a Hoover, Alabama highway.

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Russell pledged to stay at the scene until police arrived but then vanished for two days before returning home and claiming that she had been kidnapped and held captive.

Police found her red Mercedes-Benz, cellphone, and wig at the scene of her supposed disappearance but found no traces of Russell or a missing tot.

Her mother, Talitha Russell, told NBC’s “Today” show Tuesday that her brave daughter had “fought for her life” to escape her captivity – but Police Chief Nick Derzis said his investigators have been “unable to verify most of Carlee’s initial statement.”

She claimed she was abducted by a man who forced her into a car and then an 18-wheeler truck while she was blindfolded.

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Russell said she then held at a home where a female captor gave her cheese crackers, according to Dervis.

Russell told detectives she eventually managed to escape and run through woods back to her neighborhood.

Before she vanished, Russell searched for information about Amber Alerts, the Liam Neeson movie “Taken” and bus tickets to Nashville leaving the day she disappeared, officials said.

She also fired off a series of unusual tweets before dialing 911.

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“Yeah I want a family now,” she posted about 15 minutes before contacting police.

A few minutes earlier, she wrote: “Today was a GREAT day God be looking out I’m telling you!!” and “someone to tell you ‘I love you’ and don’t got a reason.”

Her former employer fumed that if her story is confirmed as a hoax, locals won’t be as quick to unite the next time a similar scenario emerges.

“I think it erodes faith for the next time, it erodes faith when people see somebody who’s been abducted and they’ve been put through this,” he said.

“They’re just not going to respond like they did, which is the worst part.”