Create a free profile to get unlimited access to exclusive videos, breaking news, sweepstakes, and more!
Carlee Russell's Lawyer Says He Expects Her to be Charged After Meeting with Police: "Responsibilities That We Need to Take Care Of”
After a meeting with police, the lawyer for the Alabama woman who admitted she was not actually kidnapped when she went missing for two days said he expects her to be charged for faking the disappearance.
After a meeting with police, the lawyer for the Alabama woman who admitted she was not actually kidnapped when she went missing for two days said he expects her to be charged for faking the disappearance.
Carlee Russell's defense attorney Emory Anthony met with the Hoover Police Department Tuesday morning for less than 20 minutes, CBS-affiliated TV station WHNT reported.
“It was a great meeting; It was a short meeting,” Anthony told the station. “We tried to identify some things about where we go from here. There’s responsibilities that we need to take care of.”
The meeting came a day after Hoover Police Chief Nick Derzis read a statement from Anthony during a press conference Monday, in which Russell admitted, "There was no kidnapping."
“My client apologizes for her actions to this community, the volunteers who were searching for her, to the Hoover Police Department and other agencies as well, as to her friends and family,” Anthony said in the statement Monday. “We ask for your prayers for Carlee, as she addresses her issues and attempts to move forward, understanding that she made a mistake in this matter. Carlee again asks for your forgiveness.”
Anthony told WHNT Tuesday that he's working to make sure Russell is “dealing with her issues,” and to ensure that the Hoover community feels “comfortable and safe" after the apparent hoax.
“I wanna commend the Hoover Police Department and the chief of police for their action and how they handled everything,” Anthony said. “Hopefully we can get to the end game, as they say, of this particular thing.”
Russell seemingly disappeared July 13 while driving home from work after she called 911 to report a toddler walking along I-549 in Hoover, Alabama. After returning home on foot two days later, she initially told police that she was kidnapped by a man with ginger hair and was taken to a house where she was forced to undress before escaping.
After Russell confessed this week that she was not abducted and never saw a child on the side of the road, police said that they “pretty much” knew that she was lying based on evidence found last week.
Investigators announced last week that they found out that before Russell called 911 to report the purportedly missing child, she had made suspicious internet searches on her cell phone, including queries about Amber alerts, one-way bus tickets and the abduction-centered movie, Taken.
“It is what it is,” Derzis said, according to WVTM13. “The fact that I think last Wednesday pretty much showed that we knew that it was it was a hoax.”
RELATED: Alabama Woman is Missing After Calling 911 to Report a Child Alone Along the Interstate
Derzis said Monday that police are consulting with the Jefferson County District Attorney’s office about potential criminal charges against Russell.
During Monday’s press conference, Derzis did not provide an estimate of how much was spent on the search, but he noted the effort was “all-hands-on-deck.”
When asked how Russell was doing, her attorney said she is doing better, but still dealing with issues.
