Cops ‘pretty much’ knew Carlee Russell lied about kidnapping before confession: police chief

Alabama investigators “pretty knew” nursing student Carlee Russell had fabricated her kidnapping story when they first discussed the troubling evidence last week, the police chief in charge of the effort admitted.

“It is what it is. The fact that I think last Wednesday pretty much showed that we knew that it was a hoax,” Hoover Police Chief Nick Derzis told WVMT13 on Tuesday.

Meanwhile, Russell has enlisted the guidance of Emory Anthony, a prominent Birmingham criminal defense attorney.

“[We are trying] to identify some things about where we go from here,” Anthony told ABC 33/40 Tuesday morning of his ongoing discussion with his client and law enforcement.

“[There are responsibilities] to take care of,” he added, noting that he is working to make sure that Russell is “taken care of” and the City of Hoover and Hoover Police Department are “comfortable.”

Police on Monday read a statement from Russell’s lawyer that confirmed the 25-year-old made up her claims that she was abducted from the side of the highway and held captive for two days.

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Russell disappeared on the night of July 13, shortly after she called 911 to report a sighting of a toddler wearing a t-shirt and diaper walking barefoot down 459 in Hoover.

She showed up at her parents’ doorstep just two days later, after a frantic 49-hour search.

After initially claiming that she had been kidnapped by a white man with orange hair, Russell later confessed to lying about the bizarre story, Hoover police said Monday.

“The police chief went and talked to her family and said, ‘Hey, I have everything. I have everything. Do you still want to go forward with this?’ and they stood in that lie for a week,” former criminal defense attorney Eric Guster told WVMT13 of the early days of the investigation.

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“It was frustrating that it took a week to get here because this should have been done last Monday or Tuesday. And if it was done Monday or Tuesday, we wouldn’t be talking about it now. A lot of people would have probably forgotten her name by Thursday or Friday,” he said of the eventual confession.

In the intervening days after she went missing, she had also searched for the kidnap action film “Taken” and AMBER Alerts, police said.

On Monday, Derzis confirmed that no charges had been filed against Russell – though some legal sources predict she could be staring down some hefty consequences.

“Depending on what she told law enforcement and what agency she told it to she could be looking at obstruction of justice,” Hoover attorney Edward Merrell told ABC 33/40.

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“She could be looking at filing false police reports. All of which in Alabama are class A misdemeanors.”

Such charges could warrant a maximum prison term of one year, or a fine of up to $6,000, per state law.

According to Merrell, Russell could also be found liable for the extensive resources used during the frantic two-day search.

“She could be found liable civilly,” he explained.

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“Based on the amount of resources that were exhausted the feds could come in and ask for a bill. The city could ask for a bill, whoever participated in it could ask that she have to pay back the resources and time.”

While the decision to pursue charges lies with the district attorney, Merrell anticipated that Anthony is already gearing up for courtroom proceedings.

“As a defense attorney you want to mitigate those penalties. Trying to point out to the prosecutors what her mental condition was at the time. And show that most likely she wasn’t thinking,“ he told the outlet.

“[They will] try to avoid the long term effects like a jail sentence. She may be looking at pleading to something in order to avoid a jail sentence.”

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Despite the controversy, Russel’s parents’ neighbor, Steve Parker, told WVTM13 that he was glad he stood by the family during her brief disappearance.

“I’m really glad that community rallied around. We as a community here —we’re very supportive of the Russells and would do it again,” he said.

“I think there should be consequences for anything when something like that happens. We’ll see how that plays out.”

Russell’s boyfriend – who defended her from naysayers last week – released a statement Tuesday saying that he was “blindsided” and “disgusted” by her actions.

Russell was also fired from her job at Woodhouse Spa in Birmingham last week amid whispers that she was lying about her alleged ordeal.