Police ‘Pretty Much’ Knew Carlee Russell Abduction Was A Hoax: ‘It Is What It Is’

The police chief in Hoover, Alabama, admitted authorities knew Carlee Russell was lying about the factors surrounding her disappearance last week when they held a press conference.

Authorities came forward with details of Russell’s suspicious abduction claims last week in a press conference days after she mysteriously returned home after missing for 49 hours. They noted questions still needed to be answered and said Russell was the only one who could provide those truths.

Now, after Russell admitted to lying about her kidnapping on Monday, July 24, 2023, police are revealing when it realized she was fabricating her claims.

“It is what it is,” Hoover Police Chief Nick Derzis told WVTM 13 the next day.

“The fact that I think last Wednesday pretty much showed that we knew that it was it was a hoax.”

Russell sent police on a manhunt Thursday, July 13, 2023, when she called 911 to report a toddler walking on I-459 after leaving work. After two days missing, Russell returned home with questionable details about her disappearance.

It took another week for Russell to own up to her lie in a statement released Monday, July 24, 2023, where she apologized “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.”

But now with police revealing their knowledge of the kidnapping being a hoax, one former lawyer thinks authorities should’ve spoken up sooner.

“The police chief went and talked to her family and said, ‘Hey, I have everything. I have everything. Do you still want to go forward with this?’ and they stood in that lie for a week,” former criminal defense attorney Eric Guster said.

“It was frustrating that it took a week to get here because this should have been done last Monday or Tuesday,” he continued.

“And if it was done Monday or Tuesday, we wouldn’t be talking about it now. A lot of people would have probably forgotten her name by Thursday or Friday.”

Russell’s now-ex-boyfriend, Thomar Latrell Simmons, released a statement on Instagram calling out the “hurt, confusion, and dishonesty,” she caused with her fake kidnapping.

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A post shared by Thomar Latrell Simmons (@tee_sims28)

“Myself and my family’s nature was to react in love, and genuine concern,” he wrote. “We are disgusted from the outcome of this entire situation. I strongly feel exactly like you all, blindsided with Carlee’s actions.”