Alabama woman faces jail for falsely claiming she was abducted; expert says hoaxes on rise due to social media

The strange saga of an Alabama woman who faked her own kidnapping this summer came to a close last week as she received a one-year jail sentence. From the focus of concern and sympathy to facing incarceration and being maligned as a fabulist, 26-year-old Carlee Russell is the latest hoaxer to capture national attention.

Ted Williams, a Fox News contributor and former homicide detective, said these kinds of hoaxes are both frustrating to law enforcement and also hurtful to true crime victims. He added that "attention" is the primary motive for those who have committed these kinds of acts, the most famous being Jussie Smollett in 2019.

"Law enforcement officers will tell you that as demoralizing as investigations of victims faking crimes are, they still conduct each investigation to its conclusion," Williams told Fox News Digital. "The primary reason for faking crimes are individuals desperately seeking attention. Fake victims of crimes are occurring more and more in present day society because of the rise of social media and other means of mass communications that gives these fake victims of crime the attention and platform they so desire."

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Hoover Municipal Court Judge Thomas Brad Bishop last week found Russell guilty on charges of false reporting of an incident and false reporting to law enforcement, both misdemeanors. The state recommended one year in jail, the maximum, which is six months for each charge. They also recommended a fine of $831 and restitution of $17,974.88.

Carlee Russell's attorney, Emory Anthony addresses the media outside Hoover Municipal Court Wednesday, October 11, 2023. Russell was found guilty on charges related to faking her own abduction in July. (Dana Mixer for Fox News Digital)

Russell's attorney Emory Anthony told reporters they would appeal the jail sentence but accepted the restitution payment. Anthony didn't respond to an additional request for comment.

Russell dialed 911 on July 13 at around 9:34 p.m. to report a toddler walking along the southbound side of Interstate 459 near Birmingham, according to the Hoover Police Department. After the 911 call, Russell called a relative and then went to check on the alleged child, called her family to report she was checking on the youngster and then lost contact while the line remained open.

That started a media frenzy and frantic search for her, but she returned home on July 15 at around 10:45 p.m. near where police say she was seen walking along the sidewalk beforehand. She later claimed to police that she had been abducted and had managed to escape.

But police were unable to verify her claims, and in a statement Russell eventually made through her attorney to the police department, she admitted to never seeing a child on Interstate 459. Before that, more than $60,000 was donated to Crime Stoppers to help in the search for her, according to the New York Post. She also admitted to not being kidnapped and was slapped with false report charges.

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"My client did not have any help in this incident. This was a single act done by herself," the statement said. "My client was not with anyone or any hotel with anyone from the time she was missing. 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 and to her friends and family." 

Carlee Russell exits Hoover Municipal Court Wednesday, October 11, 2023. Russell was found guilty on charges relating to her faking her own abduction in July. (Dana Mixer for Fox News Digital)

"I would love to say what Ms. Russell did was something new to the criminal justice system," Williams told Fox News Digital. "We have found through the years that there are individuals who will make up criminal acts that never took place and as a result of that, they have a way of burdening the system."

Hoover Police Chief Nick Derzis scolded Russell in a statement in August for creating unneeded "panic and alarm."

"Her decisions that night created panic and alarm for citizens of our city and even across the nation as concern grew that a kidnapper was on the loose using a small child as bait," he said, according to the Associated Press. "Numerous law enforcement agencies, both local and federal, began working tirelessly not only to bring Carlee home to her family but locate a kidnapper that we know now never existed. Many private citizens volunteered their time and energy in looking for a potential kidnapping victim that we know now was never in any danger."

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Fox News' Adam Sabes contributed to this report.