Carlee Russell’s boyfriend has made a public plea for people to ‘stop bullying’ the nursing student after Alabama police throw doubt on her kidnapping story.
‘The only thing I can say is, I want everyone to stop bullying her. I know what it seems like what she did. Just stop bullying on social media,’ boyfriend Thomar Lattrel Simmons told the New York Post.
‘Think about her mental health. She doesn’t deserve that. She doesn’t. Nobody deserves to be cyberbullied’ he added.
Russell, 25, claims she was abducted at the side of a road on July 13 after stopping to help a toddler and was held captive for two days before escaping, but local police have said they cannot corroborate any of her claims.
Some have raised concerns with her claims, while lawyers have said she could face charge if she made false accusations.
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Carlee Russell with her boyfriend Thomar Simmons before she vanished. Simmons has now said ‘I want everyone to stop bullying her. I know what it seems like what she did’
Simmons and Russell recently visited New York together over July 4. He has since deleted her from his photos of the trip
When Russell was missing, her boyfriend Simmons frantically appealed for information on social media
After Russell first vanished, Simmons posted frantic appeals for information on social media and then made a supportive post once Russell returned home.
He has not only deleted his posts about her disappearance but has also erased every photo of her and them together that had been there before. He has also unfollowed her on social media.
Carlee’s Twitter account also suggests all was not well in the relationship in the weeks before the ordeal.
She complained about men throwing ‘everything away’ for ‘a ‘h** or stripper.’
‘I always say one thing I WON’T do is stay with someone who cheated on me,’ read another of her tweets.
In that instance, she seemed to be referring to another Twitter user and not Simmons.
But it was clear romance was on her mind.
‘Everyone wants to feel wanted,’ she tweeted at 3.08am on July 8, five days before she vanished.
Last month, she hinted at being betrayed.
‘You think you have a bond with someone until they show you you never did,’ she tweeted.
Russell’s tweets in the days and weeks leading up to her disappearance paint a picture of a melancholic young woman who was sick of her job and unlucky in love
Russell has now stopped cooperating with officers, but initially told authorities she was taken by a white man with ‘orange hair’ who appeared from the trees on the side of I-459 after she saw a ‘baby boy in a diaper’ around 9.30pm July 13.
Her parents are also believed to be shielding from further interrogation.
Russell went missing after reporting she called 911 to say she saw a toddler walking barefoot along the highway in Hoover, Alabama.
That sparked a massive, 49-hour manhunt for Russell. Family members pleaded for her safe return as sleuths across the nation tried to locate her.
Russell was found days later when she walked alone to the home she shared with her parents. She initially gave police a statement that she was abducted – and family have continued to echo those statements.
But police have said they have found little evidence to support her version. They said there were no other calls about the wandering child.
On July 13, she was caught on surveillance camera stealing a dark bathrobe and toilet paper before leaving work for the day. She was later fired from that job at The Woodhouse Day Spa in Birmingham, Alabama.
It was also revealed that she searched online the Liam Neeson kidnap film ‘Taken’ and researched whether an Amber Alert would be issued for someone her age.
Simmons has now scrubbed Carlee from his Instagram page and has called on the public to respect his girlfriend’s mental health
An Alabama attorney has said he cannot believe Carlee Russell has not been arrested for filing a false police report.
Filing a false police report in Alabama is a Class A misdemeanor with a penalty of up to one year in prison and a fine of $6,000.
Experienced lawyer Eric Guster has said the police are using every means possible to avoid saying she lied, but he believes it is clear Russell wasted police’s time and money.
‘She says she was kidnapped, and a kidnapping didn’t happen. [They say] our citizens are safe. There’s not a kidnapper out there. So, they use every other synonym for lie except saying she lied,’ he told WVTM.
Guster says Police Chief Nick Derzis has outlined three crimes they believe Carlee committed: theft, lying to authorities and filing a false police report.
He says in light of that, he’s shocked she hasn’t already been arrested.
Guster also told the outlet he is worried this case could affect future missing persons cases, for African American women in particular.
‘It’s going to be much more difficult for African American women to be believed, and it may actually decrease the number of actual reports of things because people are already afraid that they won’t be believed’ he said.
Guster said he expects Carlee will be charged with filing a false police report, but says police are likely waiting to complete their investigation first.