Carlee Russell Arrested and Charged for Faking Her Kidnapping

Carlee Russell is facing legal repercussions for her kidnapping hoax.

During a July 28 press conference in Alabama, Hoover Police Chief Nicholas C. Derzis announced that that the 26-year-old—whose 49-hour disappearance sparked nationwide attention before she admitted to faking her own abduction—turned herself into authorities after they obtained a warrant for her arrest.

After surrendering at the Hoover City Jail, Carlee was arrested on two misdemeanor charges: false reporting to law enforcement authorities and falsely reporting an incident. (Each charge carries up to a year in jail.)

As the police chief noted, Carlee was released from jail after posting bond.

Carlee went missing on July 13 after calling 911 and a family member to report seeing an unaccompanied child on an Alabama highway. The search for Carlee came to an end on July 15, when the nursing student reappeared at her parents’ Hoover, Alabama, residence alone and on foot.

When initially questioned by detectives as to what happened, Carlee alleged she was taken by a man and a woman, who forced her into a car and held her captive, according to police. Authorities said Carlee told them she escaped when she and the purported kidnappers were traveling in the west Hoover area, and that she ran through the woods until finding her way back home.