Watch Live: Police give update on Carlee Russell investigation

For the first time since her suspicious disappearance last month, an attorney for Carlethia “Carlee” Nichole Russell has issued a statement. Russell went missing shortly after calling 911 on July 13 to report a toddler in a diaper walking along an Alabama highway. Police said Russell mysteriously returned home on foot around 10:45 p.m. two days later.Hoover Police Chief Nick Derzis said police were unable to verify most of the 25-year-old’s initial statement to investigators, including a claim that a man with orange hair abducted her when she got out of the vehicle to check on the child. On Monday, Derzis said in a news conference that Russell, through a statement from her attorney, has admitted that no kidnapping took place and that there was no toddler on the highway as she claimed to dispatchers that day.A statement from Russell’s attorney, Emery Anthony, reads as follows:”There was no kidnapping on Thursday, July 13, 2023. My client did not see a baby on the side of the road. My client did not leave the Hoover area when she was identified as a missing person. My client did not have any help in this incident — this was a single act done by herself. 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. We ask for your prayers for Carlee as she addresses her issues and attempts to move forward, understanding that she made a mistake in this matter.”During Monday’s news conference, Derzis said police were scheduled to meet with Russell and her attorney, but were sent this statement instead. Police are working with prosecutors to discuss potential criminal charges in the case, he added. Last week, Derzis said, police discovered web searches for “Do you have to pay for an Amber Alert?” and for the movie “Taken” on Russell’s cell phone.”There are many questions left to be answered, but only Carlee can provide those answers,” Derzis said at a news conference last week. Russell’s mother, Talitha Robinson-Russell, said she believes her daughter was abducted before returning home. “Carlee has given detectives her statement and hopefully they are pursuing her abductor,” Robinson-Russell said in a statement to CNN affiliate WBRC.A meeting is set for the attorney to speak with the Hoover Police Department Tuesday. Can’t see the graphic? Click here.