AL - Carlethia “Carlee” Russell, 25, faked own abduction, Birmingham, 13 Jul ‘23 #4

[neesaki]

This is believed the last photo of CR wearing the platinum wig before the hoax-- taken at the day spa at the end of her shift. I think she's wearing the same wig in all the photos online from the 4 July trip to NYC with the bf. I was shocked to read the estimated value of the wig -- and why once it was reported that CR left her wig behind, most of the black women in AL knew this was a hoax per the women cited by the NYP, linked by OP.

View attachment 436589

Photo MSM link

Same here. I had no idea wigs cost that much, and take 15 minutes to remove, and are partially glued to the scalp! The dang wig gave her away!

 

[Chewy]

RSBM.

Omg, I didn't realize the vacant home was .3 miles from where she left her car.

It's not her parents house. It's a vacant home for sale in the area. Several of us thought perhaps she realized becausee of her mother's line of work that she could use one to hide out over night. I just randomly looked up houses for sale near where she stopped (Also it's not the actual house, it's just a random example for people to picture)

 

[ElizB]

Thank you so much. Interesting. I didn't realize that she called the gf first and the gf told her to call 911. Boy is this a HUGE messs for Carlee if she honestly was trying to pull an attention stunt. I have a feeling she didn't compute what was going to happen when she called 911 and mentioned a toddler on the side of the road. I've always felt she only called them to back up her claim to her family. I still think she snuck through the woods and stayed a house that's listed for sale a direct line from where she was pulled over. An 8 minute walk. I think she took the toilet paper, robe and snacks just to basically camp out over night and wanted to put a little scare into her family for attention.

And I really think that people are underestimating what likely happened when she dropped her phone. Young people today are glued to their phones. Her not having hers with her would be like going into an underground bunker. This story blew up SO FAST. Imagine her turning on a television or seeing a paper a day later and realizing the entire country knows what lie you told and is out looking for you. OMG I cannot even imagine the horror and panic of realizing your little lie is global.

I really feel sorry for her and people should stop cyber bullying her. I do not think she intended any of this.


Here's an anonymous map of how I think she hid out.

Had she owned up to it immediately, I might have sympathy. Instead, she’s still hiding behind her parents.

 

[Seattle1]

Reporter Ben Hoover of CBS/42 News interviews the parents on Zoom from their vehicle while they were in Atlanta on Friday -- the day after CR was allegedly abducted.

In the first 22 seconds of the news video, when asked by Ben Hoover if a tip that CR was in the Atlanta area prompted the trip to Atlanta and the mother responds, YES, THEY DID RECEIVE A TIP BUT IT DID NOT PROVE VIABLE.

SHE GOES ON TO SAY THAT HAD PREVIOUSLY PLANNED TO VISIT AND SEARCH THE GEORGIA AREA SO IT WAS NOT A WASTED TRIP BECAUSE THEY PROBABLY COVERED ABOUT 20 EXITS WITH FLYERS.

In response to the Reporter Ben Hoover's statement that police are looking at "all possibilities and all theories " in the disappearance of CR, Mrs. Russell defensively responded:

"I'm not sure why they are looking at ALL POSSIBILITIES-- it's very clear she was abducted from the phone call that she last had with one of our relatives, and they heard her scream." And Mr. Russell added... "We're 99% sure she was abducted, and we've felt that way since the beginning."

Carlee Russell's parents speak on her disappearance with CBS 42

Talitha and Carlos Russell, parents of Carlethia "Carlee" Nichole Russell, speak with CBS 42 regarding her disappearance.

www.cbs42.com

 

[Chewy]

Reporter Ben Hoover of CBS/42 News interviews the parents on Zoom from their vehicle while they were in Atlanta on Friday -- the day after CR was allegedly abducted.

In the first 22 seconds of the news video, when asked by Ben Hoover if a tip that CR was in the Atlanta area prompted the trip to Atlanta and the mother responds, YES, THEY DID RECEIVE A TIP BUT IT DID NOT PROVE VIABLE.

SHE GOES ON TO SAY THAT HAD PREVIOUSLY PLANNED TO VISIT AND SEARCH THE GEORGIA AREA SO IT WAS NOT A WASTED TRIP BECAUSE THEY PROBABLY COVERED ABOUT 20 EXITS WITH FLYERS.

In response to the Reporter Ben Hoover's statement that police are looking at "all possibilities and all theories " in the disappearance of CR, Mrs. Russell defensively responded:

"I'm not sure why they are looking at ALL POSSIBILITIES-- it's very clear she was abducted from the phone call that she last had with one of our relatives, and they heard her scream." And Mr. Russell added... "We're 99% sure she was abducted, and we've felt that way since the beginning."

Carlee Russell's parents speak on her disappearance with CBS 42

Talitha and Carlos Russell, parents of Carlethia "Carlee" Nichole Russell, speak with CBS 42 regarding her disappearance.

www.cbs42.com

I feel so bad for these parents.

 

[Kakidoll]

She needs arrested immediately. This has gone on too long. They have the evidence needed.........

 

[imstilla.grandma]

A hoax is a widely publicized falsehood so fashioned as to invite reflexive, unthinking acceptance by the greatest number of people of the most varied social identities and of the highest possible social pretensions to gull its victims into putting up the highest possible social currency in support of the hoax.

Whereas the promoters of frauds, fakes, and scams devise them so that they will withstand the highest degree of scrutiny customary in the affair, hoaxers are confident, justifiably or not, that their representations will receive no scrutiny at all. They have such confidence because their representations belong to a world of notions fundamental to the victims' views of reality, but whose truth and importance they accept without argument or evidence, and so never question.

Hoax - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

*ok, how well did she do? Except for getting busted & put on blast on the Internet. I definitely went back and forth with my thoughts. Why can’t she be charged with fabricating or disposal of evidence? I wanna see that empty cheezit bag lol. She definitely perverted the course of justice. Premeditated Obstruction. If someone else was involved, we have ourselves a conspiracy, don’t we?

 

[Cubby]

I keep wondering her motive. Was she angry at her parents and wanted to punish them? Most parents would be terrified to learn of their daughter's kidnapping. Was she craving attention? Was she desperate and considering self-harm?

She's responsible for wasting LE and the community's time and resources, and creating mental anguish to family and friends. I can't wrap my head around what she could possibly have gained by initiating this hoax. I sympathize if she has mental issues, but she committed crimes and I believe she should be charged.

She's responsible for damage her former employer is trying to clean up, and she has likely done damage to her parents livelihood. She's responsible for alienating her former coworkers. That's just some of the collateral damage as a result of her choices.

We are all human, everyone makes mistakes. Adults own them. I have much more respect for people who own their mistakes. Forgiveness doesn't mean excusing someone for the consequences of their behavior. Justice must be served in this case.

 

[Seattle1]

7/22/23

Sister Of Carlee Russell’s Boyfriend Says Their Family Had No Clue ‘She Fabricated This Story,’ Adds ‘I Pray For Carlee’s Mind’​

Mya Simmons breaks her silence and confirms her brother and their family had no clue about Russell’s “fabricated story.”

Simmons wrote, “Mannnnn here y’all go since y’all literally WAITING on me to speak out on the situation and give my thoughts on it. I just can’t believe she fabricated this whole story. Carlee had my family & I believing her staged play. She had Thomar & I defending her to the utmost. Having me cussed all these people out (which I don’t regret, you all shouldn’t speak on things you don’t know about). My emotions are high. I really could turn my emotions into actions. I mean I could really head butt her loll no seriously do everything under the sun for what she have done.“

[..]

She concluded, “I’m proud of him. He did his part – being a real man and going out, searching hard for his gf like any concerned boyfriend would do. But like I said, God is turning this situation around for our good. He the only one allowed this to play out the way it did. I just wanna thank everyone who reached out to me/us, concerned about how Thomar is feeling .. he is going to be okay. Waaaay better than he was before. She fumbledddddd.”

[..]

MSN

 

[LaborDayRN]

*Oh I can’t get away. I’m intentionally trying to avoid Carlee articles. It’s impossible. Dang it, I didn’t want to come back but here I am.
MSM has OCD!

“The only thing I can say is, I want everyone to stop bullying her. I know what it seems like what she did. Just stop bullying on social media,” Thomar Latrell Simmons told The Post.

“Think about her mental health. She doesn’t deserve that. She doesn’t. Nobody deserves to be cyberbullied.”

Exclusive | Carlee Russell’s boyfriend asks people to ‘stop bullying her’ amid suspicious abduction claims

Russell, a 25-year-old nursing student, vanished on July 13 after she reported to 911 that she had seen a child dressed in a T-shirt and diaper walking barefoot along busy Interstate 459 in Hoover,…

nypost.com

I would think Carlee and her loved ones would have already stopped looking at social media. Why in the world would they want to look at the hateful comments of others. It's simple. Stop looking at social media and probably the local news as well until this story is old news. Eventually it will be "old news".

 

[SMK777]

More and more I'm seeing her as a victim of social media in this. Like even "stealing the toilet paper" I mean, it's weird but I have taken things home from work or borrowed something and brought it back. I don't think she planned this the way it looks. I do wonder if her parent's trip might have had something to do with why she did it. Seems odd that the timing was the day before. Maybe all she thought was going to happen was they'd cancel their trip and she'd come home the next day and say this creepy guy held her in the woods and she escaped. But then she wakes up the next day and the entire world knows what she did.

I cannot fathom something like this happening. I'm sure she didn't either. I don't think she expected anyone other than her family to do anything. We all know that police often tell people that the person has to be missing for 24-48 hours before they can file a missing personss report (we know this isn't true) but I think she honestly was trying to just disappear for a day and come back.

Yes, I can understand if she was thinking along these lines, but if that was the case there didn’t need to be any 911 call, toddler, call to family. And the escalation to a huge national story was of course natural after the toddler bit and being abducted “live” while on the phone.

Just vanish for a bit, and when you show up, tell family your abduction story.
Of course this would still get you entangled in lying to law enforcement and misleading an official investigation, once your family notified authorities.

The bottom line is, it’s never smart to lie about being abducted.

 

[Seattle1]

The wig has dominated the conversation surrounding Russell’s disappearance — online and off — and is a key element of the story that shifted public perception, particularly among the black community, even before the police released her browser history and cell phone records.

Several hair stylists, wig experts and salon patrons in Russell’s hometown, all of whom are black, told The Post that the wig immediately triggered suspicions that something seemed off, even before Russell reappeared.

She would have certainly worn the wig at work, and it’s unimaginable that she would have taken it off in the car — It would be like someone taking their underwear, they said.

The stylists said the wig appeared to be an expensive, front-lace wig that looked like a “613” color — a premium shade of platinum blonde.

[..]

“That was when the majority of Birmingham was like, ‘She’s lying.’ That’s when it was split down the middle where there was those that believed her and those that thought she was lying. It was the wig,” hair stylist Kyra Joyner, 23, from Hoover, told The Post.

[..]

Andrea Townsend, a salon patron from Helena, said it’s unthinkable that a black woman would ever leave her wig behind in her car.

“When it happened we were in shock. But once we saw the wig, just to know that wig was left behind— we don’t do that. We don’t do that. People were talking about it,” she said.

Martha Harton, a nurse from Fayette, told The Post that all black women immediately knew Russell was lying — and it’s because of the wig.

“We all knew,” she said.

“A black woman’s hair is her glory. There are three things a black woman has that you don’t mess with: Her kids, her money, and her hair. That’s what gave her away.”

Exclusive | Carlee Russell’s boyfriend asks people to ‘stop bullying her’ amid suspicious abduction claims

Russell, a 25-year-old nursing student, vanished on July 13 after she reported to 911 that she had seen a child dressed in a T-shirt and diaper walking barefoot along busy Interstate 459 in Hoover,…

nypost.com

 

[shotgun09]

CR pushed the "RED BUTTON" for cryin out loud!

She called 911 !!

She is 26! ( Not 4 ) And knows what happens when you call 911 !!

She purposefully lied , and activated a huge civil response, which was intended.

No excuses!! IMO, She is not a victim here, sorry.

{{ Grabbing my box of Cheez-itz now }}

MOO and Peace

 

[arielilane]

She doesn’t deserve to be cyber bullied.
But she does need to be officially held accountable for her actions, as would be the case if any of us had done similar.
Supposing one of us had done something like this to get attention on Websleuths as an abducted person?

Agreed! No one deserves to be bullied. Had she known how cruel people can be sitting behind a monitor she probably would not have done any of it to begin with, imo. It's easy to take your own insecurities and frustration about life out on someone else, target them. In general, an insecure person will overachieve at it.

As I've stated previously, she needs to pay for the consequences because of her actions, and charges hopefully will be filed. All a matter of opinion.

 

[GoBuckeyes]

Quick question When did Carlee's parents find out she was missing? I guess I just assumed they immediatedly were notified. But it occurred to me that the brother's girlfriend might not have immediately thought something "so serious" happened just because she screamed.

She was expected home after work, taking food home to her Mom. I'm not sure how long it took for LE to go talk to the family though. Maybe someone else knows??

 

[squareandrabbet]

Thank you so much. Interesting. I didn't realize that she called the gf first and the gf told her to call 911. Boy is this a HUGE messs for Carlee if she honestly was trying to pull an attention stunt. I have a feeling she didn't compute what was going to happen when she called 911 and mentioned a toddler on the side of the road. I've always felt she only called them to back up her claim to her family. I still think she snuck through the woods and stayed a house that's listed for sale a direct line from where she was pulled over. An 8 minute walk. I think she took the toilet paper, robe and snacks just to basically camp out over night and wanted to put a little scare into her family for attention.

And I really think that people are underestimating what likely happened when she dropped her phone. Young people today are glued to their phones. Her not having hers with her would be like going into an underground bunker. This story blew up SO FAST. Imagine her turning on a television or seeing a paper a day later and realizing the entire country knows what lie you told and is out looking for you. OMG I cannot even imagine the horror and panic of realizing your little lie is global.

I really feel sorry for her and people should stop cyber bullying her. I do not think she intended any of this.


Here's an anonymous map of how I think she hid out.

Maybe she "didn't fully compute" what would happen if she called 911, but she fully always intended to call 911.

We know this, IMO, because of the fact that she searched up "do you have to pay for an Amber Alert".

And if she didn't do enough research as a result of/after that, in order to learn that 25-year-olds don't qualify for Amber Alerts and that she'd have to make up an under-18 person being threatened; well, then I feel sorry for her intellect.

 

[Chewy]

Maybe she "didn't fully compute" what would happen if she called 911, but she fully always intended to call 911.

We know this, IMO, because of the fact that she searched up "do you have to pay for an Amber Alert".

And if she didn't do enough research as a result of/after that, in order to learn that 25-year-olds don't qualify for Amber Alerts and that she'd have to make up an under-18 person being threatened; well, then I feel sorry for her intellect.

See I actually take this as a clue that she didn't want it to blow up. I think she wanted to make sure they wouldn't do an Amber Alert on HER because she wanted it to fly under the radar. And that she didn't fake the scream on the 911 call (rather than with the GF) is also a clue to me that she wasn't really thinking about scamming the cops etc.


I will say it's going to be nice to see some cops sit her butt down and read her the riot act with all the things she could be charrged with for wasting their time.

 

[bestill]

Agreed! No one deserves to be bullied. Had she known how cruel people can be sitting behind a monitor she probably would not have done any of it to begin with, imo. It's easy to take your own insecurities and frustration about life out on someone else, target them. In general, an insecure person will overachieve at it.

As I've stated previously, she needs to pay for the consequences because of her actions, and charges hopefully will be filed. All a matter of opinion.

BBM - I believe Carlee is very savvy with social media and pretty sure she knows how cruel people are on SM. She certainly posted quite a bit on it and seemed a bit of a bully herself with her retweets. JMO

 

[charminglane]

I'm wondering if Carlee desperately wanted something "big" specifically for her birthday and had already been told she would not be receiving it.
I'll show them.
Behold, the Golden Child has returned to us!
Present given?

 

[bestill]

I'm wondering if Carlee desperately wanted something "big" specifically for her birthday and had already been told she would not be receiving it.
I'll show them.
Behold, the Golden Child has returned to us!
Present given?

I am curious about this happening a week before her birthday too. Interesting thought about manipulating her parents, I also think it was for attention from the ex too. I would love to know more about her past and if creating drama is normal for her.