Nearly a year after sending the nation into a frenzy over her disappearance and pleading guilty to faking the abduction, Carlee Russell has broken her silence... again.
In March, Russell pleaded guilty to two misdemeanors for filing a false police report in connection to the July 2023 fiasco. Around this time last year, the 26-year-old called 911 while driving down I-459 to report a lone toddler walking alongside the highway. By the time the Hoover Police Department got to the location, officers said all that was left was her car and personal belongings.
The entire internet went into a frenzy trying to dissect her 911 call and surveillance footage from the highway. The local Hoover neighborhood exercised all their resources scouring the area to look for any signs of her.
In the next 49 hours, authorities said she mysteriously returned home to her family and gave detectives a detailed story of how she was abducted by a couple and taken to a desolate location. However, pressure from the police department (and the public) eventually led her to come clean and admit the abduction was a hoax, per a statement from Hoover Police Chief Nick Derzis.
“I made a grave mistake while trying to fight through various emotional issues and stress. I absolutely regret my decision and in hindsight wish I had cried for help in a totally different manner,” Russell told a judge during a hearing this year.
As you can imagine, that didn’t go over so well with the folks who dedicatedly spent time looking for her and praying she’d make it home safe. Nearly a year after the incident, she finally spoke out again.
Read her statement from FOX 5 Atlanta:
“I wasn’t going to make a birthday post but I would be remiss not to publicly acknowledge the goodness God has shown to me,” Russell wrote on Instagram on Monday. “He not only allowed me to see another year but He changed the trajectory of my life from the negative place I was in this time last year.”
In her birthday post, Russell thanked those close to her for their support during the past months.
“To those who have been there for me, your kindness and support have meant the world to me,” she wrote. “Whether it was a text, call, direct message on social media, post, prayer, thoughtful gift, or words of encouragement, nothing was too little and each helped me to fight to live another day. Thank you sincerely for helping me find the light in the darkest of moments.”
Russell then acknowledged that she still had more challenges to face, writing, “The work is not finished yet.”
“As I step into this next year of life, I am filled with hope and optimism toward continuing to overcome challenges, cherishing those who cherish me, and embracing the future and God’s plan for my life with an open heart and mind,” she wrote.
Well, at least not everyone in the world cancelled her following the chaos. Her motive behind the hoax is still unclear to many. It’s also unclear where she was during the 49 hours she was missing.
However, it appears she’s focused on turning a new leaf instead of answering these lingering questions. The incident still looms over her head as she’s currently serving a probation sentence of 12 months, 100 hours of community service and mental health counseling as a result of her plea, the report says.