The 25-year-old nursing student orchestrating a hoax that led authorities to assume Carlee Russell vanished after stopping to help a child walking along an Alabama highway in his diapers reported outraged Carlee Russell’s ex-boyfriend.
“Carlee’s actions created hurt, confusion, and dishonesty,” Thomar Latrell Simmons wrote on Instagram on Monday night. “I was made aware of the false narrative after coming to the defense of my ex Carlee Russell.”
Also Read: Will Carlee Russell be charged? Alabama nursing student admits to making up kidnapping incident
He said he and his “family’s nature was to react in love, and genuine concern,” adding that they are “disgusted from the outcome of this entire situation” and that he was “blindsided with Carlee’s actions.”
Who is Thomar Latrell Simmons?
Thomar Latrell Simmons, Carlee Russell’s ex-boyfriend, remarked that even though the investigation is still underway, his family has found “closure” as a result of Russell’s admission and apology.
On Monday, Russell’s attorney Emory Anthony said in a statement read by Hoover Police Chief Nicholas Derzis: “There was no kidnapping … my client did not see a baby.”
“My client did not leave the Hoover area. My client apologizes for her actions to this community … Carlee asks for your forgiveness and prayers,” Anthony wrote.
The night of July 13, shortly after calling 911 to report seeing a toddler in a T-shirt and diaper walking barefoot along a busy Interstate 459, Russell unexpectedly vanished.
When police arrived and discovered her red Mercedes-Benz with her mobile and wig left inside, she had pledged to stay at the site but was nowhere to be located.
Two days later, Russell abruptly returned to her parents’ house, alleging she had been kidnapped and held captive.
She was brought to a hospital, where she consented to a police interrogation before ceasing to assist with the investigation.
She had Googled the Liam Neeson movie “Taken,” in which he plays a retired CIA agent who struggles to save his daughter from kidnappers. This information was later discovered by investigators.
Prior to this, Simmons had removed all traces of Russell from his social media accounts and had also urged people to stop stalking her online.
“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,” Simmons told The Post over the weekend.
“Think about her mental health. She doesn’t deserve that. She doesn’t. Nobody deserves to be cyberbullied,” he added.
Also on Monday, Russell’s mother Talitha Robinson-Russell told The New York Times that “now is not a good time” to discuss the sordid saga.
She earlier claimed that her daughter had “fought for her life” to get away from her supposed captor on NBC’s “Today” show.
Russell has not yet faced any legal action, and Derzis claimed on Monday that her parents are not facing charges in connection with the fraud.
