GONE GIRL

She vanished, sparking a nationwide search involving police dogs and helicopters, then returned home – now she’s been charged with faking an elaborate abduction

- JANICE BECKETT-MSIZA

SHE made headlines when she vanished from the side of a highway shortly after calling emergency services to report a toddler wandering alone on the freeway.

Two days later Carlee Russell turned up dishevelled at her parents’ door after escaping from her kidnappers – and she had a shocking story to tell.

She’d been abducted by a man and a woman in Hoover, Alabama, after they’d used the baby to lure her out of her car, she said. The couple held her captive, forced her to strip and took pictures of her naked body before she broke free and ran home. 

But it was all a lie.

There was no baby, there was no kidnapping and there was no daring escape. Carlee (25) confessed through her attorney to making it all up – and she’s now making headlines across America all over again because of the depth of her deception.

She’d googled Taken, a movie starring Liam Neeson as a retired CIA agent who travels across Europe to save his kidnapped daughter. Carlee left takeaway food and her wig in her abandoned car as part of her elaborate ruse.

It also emerged she’d stolen a bathrobe and toilet paper from the spa she worked at before she staged her abduction, which police believe she used during her disappearance. She’s since been fired from the spa and could face up to a year in jail for falsely reporting an incident to law-enforcement authorities.

Carlee’s disappearance sparked fears about human trafficking and a massive manhunt ensued involving volunteers, police officers, dog units and helicopter support.