MESSY

Local Attorney ‘Shocked’ Carlee Russell Hasn’t Been Arrested Yet

Eric Guster, a local criminal defense attorney, says police have repeatedly insinuated that she lied about being abducted.

An Alabama attorney says he’s “shocked” Carlee Russell, the 25-year-old who claims she was abducted last week before escaping, hasn’t been arrested yet for making the whole thing up. Eric Guster told WVTM 13 he suspects police will soon slap Russell with charges of theft, lying to authorities, and filing a false police report, pointing to authorities’ comments insinuating she lied. “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 said. Russell hasn’t spoken publicly since the ordeal, which grabbed national attention last week. While poking several holes in Russell’s story, police revealed Tuesday that Russell made strange Google searches—about Amber Alerts and the movie Taken—just before she disappeared. Her boyfriend, Thomar Latrell Simmons, also quietly deleted posts online that said Russell was “fighting for her life for 48 hours”—adding to the mystery.